Google Classroom Updates – 8/12/14

Google Classroom is starting to be rolled out to schools around the world and there are even a couple of updates from the preview that some had access to over the summer.  You can see my previous postings for Google Classroom here.   There are 2 big changes, one is an About section and the…

2 Quick Tech Tips: Security and Download Drive

With new computers and a new school year there are two things you can do quickly to save yourself some hassle and some time.  The first is to download Google Drive to your computer so that you can quickly backup your files and have them on your computer as well as in your Drive.  This…

New Google Drive – With Office File Editing

Google has released an update to their Drive app and everyone is able to make the change now before it is made for you.  The only issue is that it did not work great on my school account but it worked perfectly on my personal account.  There are some added features that some will really…

No Office – No Problem

As our new school laptops do not have Microsoft Office installed, many people are going to have to learn how to use tools that are readily available to do what they were doing before.  We have LibreOffice installed on the computers and of course we have access to Google Drive.  Both of these allow us…

Samsung Gear Live vs Pebble Smart Watch

As a teacher I was always looking out for new tools that could help improve the learning environment in my classroom as well as help me help my students more efficiently and effectively.  I have tried out many gadgets with a goal of finding out how they can improve something in the classroom or if…

No Such Thing as Digital Natives

One statement that I have been seeing a lot lately, and one that I agree with, is that there is really no such thing as “digital natives”.  Many people, including many teachers, look at todays kids/students and just write off their abilities with technology and the internet as being naturally born with the ability to…

New Suggesting Tool in Google Docs

One of the  changes made to Google Drive and Docs this summer was the addition of the Suggesting option for edits in Google Docs.  Previously if you wanted to suggest any changes in a shared document, you could add a comment to the side or just use a different colored font to add that change.…

Google Classroom – Easy and Effective

Right before I left for ISTE I was given access to Google Classroom and I have been playing with it ever since.  As a teacher I mostly used Moodle as my LMS and used Google Docs, this was before I knew about Doctopus which is what I would have used if it was available then.…

ISTE 2014 Reflections – Part 2: The Sessions

One thing you can definitely say about ISTE 2014 was that there was a session about pretty much anything you wanted in relation to education and technology.  From the flipped classroom to maker spaces, there was something for everyone in the large sessions and in the poster sessions.  With all of the sessions available, making…