DISD Ed Tech News
November 2, 2017
What's New in Google Calendar
To begin using the new calendar, on a computer, open your Google Calendar. On the top right of your screen click Use new Calendar. To go back to the old Calendar at any time, click the Settings gear and select Back to Classic Calendar. DISD users can expect to see a gradual roll-out of features over the next month and the old Calendar interface will no longer be available after Feb. 28, 2018.
J.P. Hale from Taylor ISD has a nice four minute video overview of the changes you will see in Google Calendar here. Google also has several resources available to help you learn the new features and look. You can find those at the links below.
- Help Center: New Calendar UI transition guide for users
- G Suite Learning Center: Calendar
- G Suite Learning Center: Getting started with Calendar
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Space Out with Planets in Google Maps!
Twenty years ago, the spacecraft Cassini launched from Cape Canaveral on a journey to uncover the secrets of Saturn and its many moons. During its mission, Cassini recorded and sent nearly half a million pictures back to Earth, allowing scientists to reconstruct these distant worlds in unprecedented detail. Now you can visit these places—along with many other planets and moons—in Google Maps right from your computer. For extra fun, try zooming out from the Earth until you're in space!
Explore the icy plains of Enceladus, where Cassini discovered water beneath the moon's crust—suggesting signs of life. Peer beneath the thick clouds of Titan to see methane lakes. Inspect the massive crater of Mimas—while it might seem like a sci-fi look-a-like, it is a moon, not a space station. And yes, you can click on the 3D button in the lower right to get a much more immersive experience of flying over the surface of the planet or moon! Click on the name of one of the features on the surface to learn more about its size and the origin of the feature's name. Didn't you always wonder where they came up with some of those names? Now you can find out!
Special thanks goes to astronomical artist Björn Jónsson, who assembled the planetary maps of Europa, Ganymede, Rhea, and Mimas by working with imagery from NASA and the European Space Agency.
The fun doesn't stop there—they've added Pluto, Venus, and several other moons for a total of 12 new worlds for you to explore. Grab your spacesuit and check out the rest of this corner of the galaxy that we call home. And for some extra fun you can also explore the interior of the International Space Station. Once inside you can view the Earth as seen from its portholes and click on the informational icons to learn more about the tools and equipment found inside the Space Station.
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Live Cams Provide Yet Another Way to Bring the World to Your Students
There was a recent presentation by park rangers in Katmai National Park in Alaska explaining the different ways that the Alaskan Brown Bears could be seen fishing for salmon as the salmon migrated upstream to lay eggs. They answered questions and discussed the different adaptations of the bears to their environment. Polar Bears International will begin their presentations shortly during the annual Polar Bear migration and many of the different live cams will catch natural events happening around the globe in the coming months. Many of the Nature Talks are recorded and can be viewed at your convenience in the "highlights" section of each live cam. For example, the Channel Islands National Park in California (Kelp Forests) does a Nature Talk each Wednesday that classes can tune in live to view and ask questions of the rangers. In this particular case the park ranger is scuba diving underwater in the Kelp Forest showing students the aquatic creatures that live there and answering questions live as they discuss the habitat and the need to preserve it.
In addition to each live cam feed, watchers can find maps of the location of the live cam, links to websites and facts about the animals being observed and question & answer boards. All in all it is a beautiful teaching resource.
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DriveSlides - Featured Extension for Google Chrome
Now think back to all of the times when you had to make a presentation and go find each individual image you wanted for that presentation and insert them individually into each slide. This little extension makes creating those presentations with images super easy. It does all the photo uploading, adding and sizing for you. It also lets student pull in photos of their work - or of the content they're studying - and add text, speech bubbles and comments. To see a short overview video of this extension and how to use it you can view Matt Miller's tutorial here. You can see his full post on this tool and possible uses in the classroom at this link.
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Creating a Custom Search Engine for Your Class
1) Go to the Google Custom Search web page and click on Add a New Search Engine.
2) Specify the websites you want to add to your search engine, separated by a comma. Don’t worry, you can always come back later and delete or add new websites. To allow all subpages on a website, add /* to the name of the site.
3) In the next view you can get an embed code to add your search engine to your web page, get a link to share your search engine directly with students or click Control Panel to further edit it such as giving it a description, turning image search on or off, selecting the default language or adding more sites to your search engine.
4) In Control panel you can change various features of your Search Engine or add another person in the Admin Tab to help build and refine your Search Engine. You could build a search engine to share between teachers in your department or grade.
5) Click on Look and Feel in the left-hand menu to customize how your Search Engine will look to others. Select the layout and theme you want. These directions can also be found in PDF format on the DISD Instructional Technology Google webpage.
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DISD Instructional Technology
Email: rhonda.artho@dumasisd.org
Website: http://www.dumasisd.org/about-education-instructional-technology
Location: TTC - Dumas High School
Phone: 806-935-6461 1029