Edgaged

Disclaimer: I wrote this being completely free of Microsoft Office since the spring of 2015. I understand updates I have not experienced have occurred since then. Google Drive  It was six years ago that I first experienced using Google Drive. I've been a fan of Docs, Sheets, and Slides ever since. It long was before Microsoft had any live collaborative capabilities; prior to any decent cloud storage they had to offer. Access has always been the trump card over the Office counterparts. Though it isn't as prevalent as it was six years ago, I still get naysayers that love their Office and fire back that it isn't fully functional. I can't really argue that point. For the most part, it is true that Office is much more powerful in regards to function. For the majority of tasks, Google will do the job. Especially for educators, Google will do the job. In some scenarios, Google does it better. Common Slides questions Since the dawn of Google Slides, I get some prett...

How do I download my stuff? It was spring of 2016 and our senior class at Angola High School moved on to bigger and better things. I had just finished my first year at MSD of Steuben. My technology director, Chantell Manahan , had started in January and it was her first time in a position in the technology world as she was fresh out of the classroom. Admittedly, we had (still have) much to learn and much of that occurs through mistakes. It was at this time that Chantell and myself started to receive emails from parents and students requesting access to content that students had created in their Google Drive.  We had made the senior class accounts go dormant in the summer of 2016. It had apparently slipped our minds that this would be a necessary step. In our Google Admin Console, we have it set so that students cannot log out of their school account nor utilize an incognito window . The current plan is to allow our senior class to launch an incognito window in the final qu...

Goodbye Hangouts For the last year, there has been much discussion about the fate of Google Hangouts . Google announced the launch of Allo and Duo as messaging and video conference apps that would be available on mobile devices in the consumer market. Questions of what would happen to Hangouts flooded the Google world. It was then announced that Hangouts would remain for enterprise accounts (GSuite for Education). This was great. My teachers and staff have been using Hangouts all year. This has been especially helpful for my elementary teachers as they often do grade-level collaboration via Hangouts so that they can all meet at 3:00, finish at 3:30, and never leave the comfort of their classroom.  Change is brewing In February, a new player emerged:  Google Meet.  Hangouts are still in existence and still being used. However, Google Meet is now available. It even appears very similar to Google Hangouts. Much of the same functions and interface are the...

Hyperdocs I love doing presentations on hyperdocs. Laying out learning experiences for students via Google Slides or Google Docs and using it for opportunities to differentiate and/or personalize learning is powerful. I love doing the same thing for teachers so that they can organize their thoughts and collaborate. As I was presenting on hyperdocs this week, we discussed why digital collaboration is valuable to a face-to-face meeting. One of my teachers said, "It is a springboard for the conversation." It creates focus. It creates purpose. I found it to be very profound. I recently presented on the Indestructible Hyperdoc at the Indiana Google Summit . It is about editing the master in slides to organize and create learning experience for kids that they cannot easily destroy. Let's face it, you don't want kids deleting your questions or links to resources on the templates that you create for them. Using Google Slides resolves that issue. I also was always a b...

"Done is better than perfect..." - Eric Curts Keeping up with educational technology is not easy. To be honest, I can't say that I'm even remotely successful in the task. I know teachers certainly feel this way as this frustration is expressed every time I run a workshop or do a presentation. It is my full-time job to seek out digital tools and train teachers to use them; I certainly feel the pressure. My teachers take comfort in knowing that it is okay to feel behind. I was listening to a podcast this morning on my way to school (time efficient professional development) that featured Eric Curts . The hosts ( Brian Briggs and Ryan O'Donnell ) asked the question of how Eric keeps up with all of the trends and changes that occur in the realm of educational technology. Eric proceeded to mention his method and that many others have different positions on the topic. "Done is better than perfect." was the conclusion to that segment of the podcast.  ...

Chromebook woes Frustration has set in this year as teachers and students alike have struggled with tools such as Screencastify and Nimbus . Performance has been a huge concern in regard to the creation of videos. Audio and video aren't syncing correctly. There are times when the audio is glitching or the video starts to jump. Again, this seems to be an issue directly related to the use of the Chromebook and these resources. These are issues that weren't as prevalent in years past.  Many teachers, like myself, prefer to take their Chromebook home to do grading or create video lessons rather than lugging home a much larger PC laptop. The portability of the Chromebook is great, but only if it is working correctly. So if you are a student or a teacher that has been frustrated due to continual performance issues in regard to recording video; NRec might be the solution . This is also a great option for individuals that do not have an Internet connection. Videos can easily...