Showing posts with label Chrome. Show all posts

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Quick Guide to Collaborative Google Presentations

Collaborative presentations can be a great way to start using Google Drive in the classroom because “slides” act as a personal workspace for each student or group of students but with the added ability to view and even co-edit the slides of others. It’s also a great way to demonstrate the power of collaborative cloud based document creation. But remember! - Collaborative means that some decisions can affect the whole group. For instance, changing a theme impacts everyones’ slides. This is a great opportunity to discuss digital citizenship norms and respecting the work of others. Some of the suggestions below will help you to manage a collaborative document and consider the best approach for your classroom.

Step 1 - Create a presentation

Click on the create icon from the Google Drive homepage and select Presentations. You’ll be prompted to pick a theme.

Step 2 - Create a title slide that includes directions for the activity and specifies the slide criteria

Step 3 - Make a model

I find that it’s helpful to have a slide that the teacher creates ahead of time modeling the format and content examples. You can even make a template slide and use the duplicate slide feature to provide each student with a scaffolded workspace.

Step 4 - Pre-number or Pre-name the slides (optional)

You may want to pre-create the slides and label these ahead of time to designate whose space is whose. This is handy especially for first time users.

Step 5 - Sharing

Share by email - if you have a list of every student’s email (Google Forms are great for collecting these) then you can add individual students to the presentation. Click on the blue share tab in the upper right hand corner of the presentation or right click on the file from the Google Drive homepage.

The advantage to this method is that students will have access to the document via the “shared with me” tab of their Google Drive homepage and that all changes to the presentation are tracked to the user who made them. Students who tamper with the presentation can be identified using the revision history and unwanted modifications can be reversed.

Share by weblink - if you can’t add students individual via their email address you can create a public or semi-public link that allows students to access the document anonymously.

The advantage to this method is that it does not require your students to even have a Google Account. The link can be easily shared if the teacher has a webpage or uses a service like Edmodo or Moodle. A URL shortener like bit.ly or tinyurl.com are helpful for making the links shorter in the case of teachers who do not have a classroom website. The disadvantage is that anonymous can sabotage a project if expectations are unclear and monitoring is minimal. The good news is that the revision history may allow you to restore work that was mistakenly or purposely modified.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

How to enable "Offline" access and editing in Google Drive and protect against lost work during a wifi outage

Yesterday a student came to me with a Google Drive issue due to intermittent wifi connectivity at home. Sometime during the night as she was composing her essay she lost wifi connectivity on her Chromebook and subsequently lost all of her work during that period of time.

Fortunately, there is a solution to protect against this type of data loss in Google Drive and as an added bonus have the ability to edit Google Docs, Presentations and Drawings even when there is no internet connection available.

Video Link

Please note that you can only enable "offline" access and editing in Google Drive on a Chromebook or on a computer using the Chrome browser.

How to enable "offline" access and editing in Google Drive

Open the Google Drive menu (Inbox)
Click on the "more" tab on the left hand side menu
Click on "offline"
Syncing should begin immediately for Chromebook users
If you are using the Chrome browser on a computer you will need to click on "enable offline

Be patient when switching between offline and online mode. It can sometimes take a few seconds for changes to be updated when syncing between modes.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Quick Tip: How to spell check in Moodle 2.5 in Chrome or on a Chromebook - #mpsedtech

I had a little surprise a few weeks back when I discovered that Moodle 2.5 changed how you can activate spell check. In the past, you were able to right click on a word that was misspelled to activate and view a spell check menu. Now you must do one additional step by holding the "ctrl" key while you right click. This is definitely a quick tip you will want to share with your students if you are using newer versions of Moodle.

And just a quick reminder that the right click option on a Chromebook is activated using a soft double finger tap.

Video Link

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Did you know? Test reading accommodations using the Chrome Browser or Chromebook

In this video demonstration I show how students can use either the Chrome Speak app or the iSpeech Select and Speak extensions to have questions read aloud in either a Moodle or Edmodo quiz.

Both the text-to-speech tools are available for the Chrome browser and Chromebook.

Video Link

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Opening and editing Word and PDF documents on the Chromebook

In a somewhat ironic follow up to my last post, I want to share a resource I put together for our 1:1 Chromebook program at Marysville High School which outlines some steps for making the opening and editing of Word and PDF documents on the Chromebooks a little less painful. As I mentioned to my staff, the process that I'm sharing is not the only solution, merely one that I hope will reduce some of the steps normally involved. And as I also shared with my staff, this process may be changing soon if Google releases the Quick Office viewer and editing features to Google Drive later this Fall.

Even though I don't advocate asking students to complete digital worksheets, there are sure to be times when viewing and marking up Word or PDF documents found on the web is necessary and helpful.

Opening and editing Word and PDF documents on the Chromebook

Click here to watch the video tutorial

Install the Docs/PDF PowerPoint Viewer extension
Immediately after installing a Docs PDF/Powerpoint Viewer Options tab will open, displaying the file types that will be opened in the Google Drive viewer.
Check the PDF option (Option 1) at the top and then click Save at the bottom of the screen

Click on a word document on any website
The document will now open in the Google Drive Viewer
To open and edit Word or PowerPoint click on the “Edit Online” icon
This will make a new editable copy for the student to work on
For more info on how to collect Google Docs from students go here.
For PDF documents click “Add to Drive” icon
Install PDF Zen Editor and Viewer Chrome App
Locate the PDF file in the Google Drive inbox, right click on the file and select PDF Zen
In PDF zen use editing tools to mark up, click on “Actions” icon to save changes back to Google Drive or to get URL link for sharing or submitting in Moodle/Edmodo.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Chrome Browswer Tips and Tricks for Students - Google Dictionary Extension

The Google Dictionary Extension gives you one click instant access to definitions and pronunciations for words you encounter on the Web.

Lesson idea

Find an article(s) that you would like students to read and which you know contains words that may be misunderstood or unknown
Ask students to add the Google Dictionary Extension to their Chrome Browser
Have students identify unknown words, view the basic definition and the additional resources linked to the definition
Encourage students to click on the audio icon to hear unfamiliar words read outloud
Have students open a Google Doc to collect words they find
Use a Google form to collect an "exemplar" word from each student for accountability and to build a class collaborative resource

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

#UDL reading and writing supports for the Chromebook and Chrome Browser

I've been asked to develop a list of Chrome Apps and Extensions that enable reading and writing supports such as text-to-speech, speech-to text, and dictionary tools for students in my district. Here's my first round picks that I feel address some of these needs. Do you have a Chrome App or Extension that you would recommend? Please feel free to add your suggestions or ideas in the comments section.

For text-to-speech I recommend the Chrome extension - Chrome Speak or Select and Speak. The student highlights the text, right clicks and selects speak.
The Google Dictionary extension will open a definition and audio for any word on any web page by double clicking the word.
The Read & Write extension for Google Drive puts a toolbar on the top of the Google Docs editor that adds text-to-speech, a dictionary tool, visual dictionary tool, and special highlighting tools with extraction features.
The Announcify extension takes online articles on sites like CNN or NYT and strips out all adds and distracting visuals, so that only text is visible, enables text-to-speech, and has easy option for enlarging text.
Voice Recognition is a Chrome app that is equivalent to Dragon Dictation for doing voice-to-text.

Update: Thanks to Mike Marotta via Twitter who suggested Spell and Grammar Checker by Ginger

‏@mmatp55m

@kithard Great post. One other key support in Chrome for struggling writers is the Ginger Spell and grammar extension.

View conversation

#UDL Reading and Writing supports for the Chromebook and Chrome Browser

View more lists from Kit Hard

Saturday, May 11, 2013

A quick introduction to Google Chrome

A quick introduction to Google Chrome

Source: http://tinyurl.com/63rlrca

Quick note about this post: My district pushed out Chrome to all district computers on Thursday. In anticipation of having some questions about this new browser choice I put together this introductory resource.

What is the Chrome web browser? - The Chrome web browser is a piece of software installed on the computer used for accessing the Internet. Other examples of a web browser are Internet Explorer and Firefox. Download Chrome Here

Source: http://tinyurl.com/bqgrpf7

Why do I need two web browsers? Can’t I just use Internet Explorer? - Older versions of Internet Explorer can no longer be updated on district computers. As a result newer websites may not work properly. In some cases information on a page may not display properly or is blank. In other cases the site will not work at all. Examples of this are websites like Google Drive and Edmodo. At the same time there are still occasions when it is better to use Internet Explorer to access older websites. For instance, individuals who use the Bitech software or accessing your district email using the internet. A good troubleshooting strategy is that when something isn’t working on the Internet try opening the website in a different browser.

What’s so special about Chrome? - Lots of things! But the main reasons for using Chrome are because its usually much faster loading websites, it is the best way to use Google Drive (Docs) and other modern websites, and it has really useful add ons called extensions and web apps that make the browser very powerful and more useful. It’s a little bit like using the App Store on your iPad.

When I open Chrome it says to sign-in. Do I have to? - No. You can easily skip this by clicking on the “skip this step” link in the bottom right hand corner of the message.

Can I sign-in to Chrome if i want to? - Yes. But preferably you should be using your Marysville Google Apps account to sign-in. If you don’t know your Marysville Google Apps account but would like to please contact me. By the way, your Marysville Google Apps account is what you also use to access Google Drive (Docs).

Where’s the search bar? - Google Chrome combines the search bar and address bar into one bar called the “omnibox”. Just type in your search terms and Bingo! You're immediately sent to a Google search, or type in a web address like http://edtechkit.com and you’ll be sent directly to that site. This saves a lot of time and browser space.

Can I import my Bookmarks and Favorites from Internet Explorer into Chrome? - Sure. Just click on the settings icon in the upper right hand corner of the browser. Then hover your mouse over “bookmarks” and select “import bookmarks” from the open menu.

Can I make Chrome my default browser? - Yes. Just click on the settings icon in the upper right hand corner of the browser. Then click on settings from the menu. Scroll down on the settings page to the Default browser section. Making Chrome your default browser will force links in emails and documents to open using Chrome rather than Internet Explorer.

What else can Chrome do? - Patience grasshopper. I’ll be sharing more about Chrome in the future and offering some face-to-face sessions about Chrome and Google Drive. But if you can’t wait, let me recommend this blog post as your next step. Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

How to enable diigo bookmarking in Safari on the iPad

While I am no diigo guru, I have come to rely on the bookmarking and highlighting features it offers. I use the diigo browser extension for chrome to make saving websites and web highlights a snap. I recently learned how to enable similar features using the iPad's Safari browser and have create a brief tutorial showing how to set this up. The tutorial assumes that you have downloaded the diigo app for iPad and that you have created a diigo account.

For more information about diigo and its uses in education take a look at this resource.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Love Internet Explorer 7? There's hope. Stuff it full of Chrome.

Chrome Frame brings the best of the modern web to older browsers.

Image Source: http://www.watblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ie-vs-chrome-vs-ff1.png

Even though I moved on from Internet Explorer in the early 2000's, first to Firefox and now to Chrome, many of my colleagues and schools that I work with continue to use Internet Explore 7 (released in 2006) or Internet Explorer 8 (released in 2009). Seeing that it is now 2012 I would love to encourage that they all upgrade to a browser developed in this decade, but alas Internet Explorer 9 is only available on computers running Windows 7. In my building and in most of the schools that I support Windows XP still rules the day making this upgrade an impossibility. And while I could campaign for wider adoption of a modern browser that works on Windows XP, one that automatically installs updates and plays well with the modern internet (...ahem - CHROME!), it has been my experience that folks like what they like or in some case are not allowed to install or use "alternative" browsers. There are also instances where legacy software that schools run on dictates the use of older versions of Internet Explorer.

I could live with this browser based digital divide except for the fact that nearly everyone I work with and many of the schools I support have started using Google Docs. If you have ever opened Google Docs in an older version of IE then you have likely seen, and ignored, the little yellow warning stating that your browser does not fully support Google Docs. Ignoring this message generally results in parts of the web page not opening properly and features not working. In my experience, in spite of the warning, people don't realize that the problems they are experiencing is due to their browser, so they continue to hack at their computers until they cry out in frustration "I give up, Google Docs doesn't work". Believe me, I have seen this scenario more than I care to tell.

This problem led me recently to an open-source plug-in for Internet Explorer called Chrome Frame that essentially takes over whenever you browse to a website that was created using newer web technologies such as HTML5. The free download takes only seconds to load and does not require administrative rights to be installed. Voilà! The modern web all wrapped up in a browser that is still in love with Brangelina and Donald Rumsfeld.

Now for the caveat. I'm working with my IT department to test Chrome Frame a bit further before I extoll its virtues to the people who write my pay check. We want to check it against some of the legacy software we run and to run it in some test cases with users who don't freak out the moment a problem shows up. I'd suggest the you do the same before installing Chrome Frame. And if you need to uninstall here is how.

If you have any experience using Chrome Frame in your schools or at home I'd love to hear what issues you found or success stories if you have them.