Adobe Voice is now Spark and it is on the Desktop!

With the latest update to Adobe Voice, the tried and true video creator for the iPad that our teachers have loved has become changed names and added browser access. 

Adobe Voice is now Adobe Spark and the browser allows teachers to use their chromebooks and desktops to create awesome multimedia projects with their students.

The one link: spark.adobe.com  gives students free access to creating videos with voice narration, graphic images, and easy flowing pages to create web stories that are shareable via links and through social media to add to your teaching tool box!
 
The apps are still there, just the names have changed and updated.  If you have iPads these are must have apps for any grade level:

• Adobe Spark Video - Easily Create Videos in Minutes
• Adobe Spark Post - Create Stunning Graphics 
• Adobe Spark Page - Create Stunning Web Pages from your Words and Images

I created a recap of my BreakoutEDU sessions quickly through the desktop version to try out the features...just like the apps, it is clean, easy to use, and no ads!

Often Overlooked When Using Google - Templates!

With all the updates to many of the Google tools, many of us miss out on the templates that docs, slides, etc.. have to offer.  

How did you miss them?  That's easy!  Many of us access docs, slides, forms all through our Google Drive.  When we do this, a new document just pops up and is ready to type.  If we open our new document or slide through the icon in the app (or waffle) menu near your name in the upper right hand corner you will find an amazing library of already created templates!



Tip:  Make sure to click the "MORE" in the right hand corner to check them all out!

These templates are available in forms, sheets, docs, and slides.

Why not just start from scratch?  If you are new to the tool or in a time crunch and need a quick exit ticket, using the template of the form allows you to simply change the words and push it out to students.  If students are working on a project and the many different fonts, funky colors, and wonky visually unappealing presentations are eating at you, have them start with a template and discuss the graphic design of the template that makes it more visually appealing.  Have fun exploring the templates!

Push a website out to your students with Share to Classroom extension!

"Share to Classroom" is such a great extension for any teacher who is using Google Classroom with their students.

One extra feature that this extension can do that I wanted to share requires that students are in class - logged into their chrome on a desktop or on a chromebook AND the students have this same extension installed.

The PUSH option in the "Share to Classroom" extension allows the teacher to instantly push a website to the students on their computer or chromebook.  It instantly opens a new tab and the website appears in front of the students.  This is an easy way to get students to a site without having to post a link, or worse, have the students type the address in the browser.

It took less than 5 minutes to walk a classroom of 3rd graders through adding this extension to all the chromebooks.  If your chromebooks are set up through a management system the extension can be added that way as well.  Once the extension is added it will stay with that student's log in on both the chromebook and in the chrome browser when on a desktop computer.

Chromebook Basics - Thinglink

Just wanted to share a quick resource that awesome edtech guru Melissa Lim from Portland Public Schools created to help explain the ins and outs of Chromebooks.   Check it out!


If you have never played with Thinglink before - check it out! It's a fun twist on making interactive images.

Need Pictures for Projects? Photos for Class

The struggle to help students find safe and copyright free images to use in class projects is ongoing.  Free Technology for Teachers shared a site last week called Photos for Class that allows for students to search through Flickr and find G rated CC licensed photos for school use.   Using the search term "cougars" my results were 15+ pages of images ranging from the animals to the automobile.  All images were school appropriate.   It was quick and easy, no log ins or ads.  This site can be used on the iPad as well.  Choose download under the image, tap and hold on the loaded image, and then "save photo".  This will put the photo in the camera roll with the proper attribution at the bottom.

What sets Photos for Class apart is the fact that when you download the image the proper citing information is along the bottom of the image.  Even though to some students taking a screen shot from Google will be easier, properly attributing is an important skill to develop in our students starting at a very young age.  

Great New Features on Google Classroom!

Those of you that have started using Google Classroom need to check out the new features!  These are things that often came up in trainings this Fall as "wishes" for easier classroom management... the first being the ability to control who can and can't post to the stream!

Options include:  Students can post and comment, Students can only comment, or only teacher can post and comment.  This action can be done for individual students by checking the box next to their name or choosing the whole class. 

The second added feature is the ability for a student to choose to turn in an assignment without having an actual file to upload by choosing "Mark as Done".    This means, no more "late" assignments for items such as "read pages 120 - 130 in the text and be ready to discuss tomorrow in class".  Once done, they can mark that they have finished that item.  During earlier fall trainings before this was possible, we suggested posting these kind of assignments as an announcement.  The downfall of that is that it wouldn't show up in their list of upcoming assignments, but the benefit was they wouldn't end up with a list of "late" assignments since their was nothing to digitally turn in! This resolves that.  Awesome!

Other features added - the ability to go back and look at comments that were deleted.  Also being able to download a csv for all assignments at once, not just one and the ability to sort their list of students by first or last name.   These added features make this tool even more powerful in the classroom.  

Snagit - Screenshots and Screencasting on Chrome

TechSmith Snagit for Google Chrome is a handy free extension and app that allows nice integration between taking screenshots or screencasting and your Google Drive account.  This is great for those that utilize the Chrome browser or have Chromebooks.

For screenshots, the extension allows you to choose the section of the screen you would like a image of. Once the image is taken there is then the option of using a variety of annotation tools and a variety of color options.  The image then saves into the Snagit App library as well as into a folder labeled "TechSmith" in the Google Drive account.

The screencasting tool is in the Snagit App.  By pressing the + symbol, a new recording will begin, giving you the option of recording the screen or a specific tab.  Adjustments to audio can be made in the settings of the app.  When finished, the recording can be uploaded to youtube and saved into the Google Drive account in the TechSmith folder.  

To make Snagit work, you must install both the extension and the app from the Google Chrome Store. There are a few settings in your chrome browser that may need to be adjusted, which TechSmith does a great job explaining in the two video chops below.  Original Hang Out from TechSmith announcing the new screen recording feature can be found HERE (15 minutes total viewing time). 

Granted, if I am using my Windows 7 computer, I do have access to the snipping tool in the accessories folder for quick screenshots.  The benefits of using the snagit extension over the snipping tool are the extra annotation tools to mark on the image with and the fact that it is automatically saved into a folder in my Google Drive. I use my Google Drive for a lot and this makes pulling in images easy.