DISD Ed Tech News
February 12, 2018
Google Update - Using Drop Shadows in Google Slides & Drawings
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
ClassroomScreen: Great Free Classroom Tool!
Written by Lori Gracey, TCEA Executive Director, Jan. 30, 2018
If you think you don’t need any more amazing resources for your classroom, think again. ClassroomScreen is simple, but life changing for a teacher!
Here’s a new, quick, fun, and FREE resource that I discovered recently. It’s called ClassroomScreen and it has a very simple purpose. It was created by Laurens Koppers, a teacher in the Netherlands, and is designed for educators to use as a teaching screen in their classrooms. Simply connect your device to a projector, launch a browser, and go to the website. While the Chrome browser is recommended, it works in any browser, even on your smartphone.
What ClassroomScreen Offers
Once loaded, the site offers first a beautiful background picture that is different every time you open it. (I could use just that feature alone for so many classroom purposes, from writing prompts to descriptive language to math problems to science or geography facts.) Across the bottom of the screen, though, is where the real power of the site is.
Each of the icons above represents a tool that you can use on the screen. And these tools are perfect for the classroom! Here’s what’s currently available (from left to right):
- Language – Yes, you can have the content in a multitude of languages.
- Background – This tool lets you select from a wide variety of stunning images or upload your own.
- Random Name – Create a .txt file with all of your students’ names and upload it. Then this tool will randomly select a student. This same tool also lets you roll one, two, or three dice for a random number.
- Sound Level – Follow a few simple steps and allow the site to use your computer’s microphone one time. Then set the maximum noise level you want in the classroom. This tool will show a a red or green progress bar to help your class know when they need to get quieter. And it’s good to know that the site does not record any sound or save any of the noises.
- QR Code – This is a favorite resource of all the tools for the teachers I talked with. Type in a URL you want your class to access and it will automatically create a QR code for it. It’s so simple!
- Drawing – Use this to bring up a drawing screen that includes simple pens and shapes and a graph paper background.
- Text – Insert a text box on your screen with basic word processing tools. This is great to use for simple instructions you want the class to follow.
- Work Symbols – This is one of my favorite resources. It pulls up a reminder for the students about how they are working in class today, whether it is in Silence, Whisper, Ask Neighbor, or Work Together. It’s a great way to set expectations.
- Traffic Light – Want to remind your students? Bring up this stop light and tap on either green, yellow, or red to show them the current room condition.
- Timer – This opens a simple hour-glass timer that you can set for however long you want and it will count down. It also includes a lap timer, for PE teachers.
- Clock – This is a simple clock that also shows the date.
All of the tools can be moved around the screen to wherever you want them, and you can have multiple tool windows open at the same time, even of the same tool. So if you have groups of students working on different things, each group can have their own widget. I’ve even heard of students who run ClasroomScreen on their own devices to help them stay on task or even using the Traffic Light to show their current understanding of a lesson or the status of their project. (Hint - click the three lines in the upper left of your ClassroomScreen to get tips and tricks on using each of the tools)
Hint - ClassroomScreen has a small YouTube Channel with three quick videos showing how to use each of the widgets and tools available. Check it out here.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Google Document URL Tricks
G Suite for Education (or just G Suite) apps such as Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drawings all allow you to provide shareable links which can be used for publishing a document or for collaboratively editing a document. For others to access your documents you have to select to turn link sharing on in one of two ways. You can click on the Share button in an open document which will give you the option to Get a sharable link. Turning this on makes your document sharable and copies the link to your clipboard. The default setting when you do this is Anyone with the link can View. You can can also change this to Anyone with the link can "comment" or "edit".
You can now paste the shareable link that was automatically copied to your clipboard into a document, webpage, link shortener, presentation, etc. But there are also some neat things you can do with that URL to change how it "shares" your document. On his post about these tricks, Tony has a glanceable graphic for each kind of link. Visit his website here to view those. He also goes into more detail on each type of link.
1. How to change the Share option to give a Preview, or clutter-free, faster-loading view of the document
2. How to force persons clicking the link to Make a Copy so that your original copy is left private. The person making the copy of the original now has a copy fully owned by them and placed in their Google Drive.
3. How to share your document as a Template so that people clicking the link can choose to Use Template to keep a copy of your document as a template in their gallery.
4. How to share a copy of your Doc, Sheet, Slide or Drawing as a PDF instead of as an editable file.
Please check out Tony's full post here to get more detailed descriptions and tips for using these edited URLs.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tech Trainings for Teachers
There are also ten recorded webinar e-courses available in Eduphoria that teachers can sign up for. These one-hour recorded webinars cover a variety of classroom tech tools and teachers can view the webinar and answer questions as they view to earn credit for the course. To access these courses go to Eduphoria and click on e-Courses. The instructions for accessing each online course are in the Notes section of the course after you register for it in Eduphoria.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
DISD Instructional Technology
Jenetta Baxter, Instr. Software Specialist
Email: rhonda.artho@dumasisd.org
Website: http://www.dumasisd.org/about-education-instructional-technology
Location: Teacher Training Center, DHS
Phone: 806-935-6461 1029