Google Drive: Workflow to use with Students

This awesome article is by Kyle B. Pace, Instructional Technology Specialist and Google Certified Teacher

Kyle writes, "When you’re wanting to use Google Docs/Drive with students, figuring out which workflow works best for you is one of the biggest challenges. How to access something I want students to turn in to me? How do I put a file out there for my students to have access to? I wanted to share a couple ways that teachers in my district have been doing that. I know they aren’t the only ways it can be done but teachers have had a lot of success with them." . . . read the entire article here

Print your Google Calendar!

Print or create a PDF of your Google Calendar!

Something new to me - the ability to print out or save various views of my Google calendar or agenda!

Here's how:

1. Go to the calendar you want to print or save
2. Click on MORE and Print
3. You will automatically be in Print Preview and you can make adjustments as needed
4. If you'd like to convert your view to a PDF, click on Save As

*Note: I needed to expand the window to full size in Chrome to see the Save As option on the bottom right corner

I love being able to print out specific calendars and agenda in Google! Sometimes being able to hand a calendar page to a colleague, print out my personal calendar or having the ability to write notes on the week's work agenda is helpful!

Tour Builder - a Google Earth Experiment

Tool Builder by Google is a tool for recording and sharing stories with maps, a real breakthrough that may be utilized in all levels of education. It's a must-see! 

Here's a link to a sample: Catlin Seaview Survey Underwater Streetview Tour

PC & MAC: I had no problem viewing the Tour Builder sample with Chrome. I didn't need to install anything. 
MAC: I was successful using Safari. You'll need to install the Google Earth extension if you haven't already, and Safari walks you through that process.

Tell your stories or teach your students with Google's Tour Builder!

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2013 from Jane Hart

Twitter is #1!

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2013 from Jane Hart

MindMapping!

If you haven't tried mindmapping, you're missing out on a fantastic tool!

I discovered mindmapping a few years ago when I was looking for a way to organize and plan a website step-by-step in a visual environment without using paper and pencil. Not only does mindmapping allow you great flexibility in planning, it serves as a system whereby you can brainstorm and organize at the same time. It's easy to create, edit, delete and move your ideas around on the screen. Currently, I use MindMeister.

I also designed our department events workflow here at UHM Center for Teaching Excellence. When the workflow changes or evolves, I jump on MindMeister and update it in a minute or two!

Mindmapping in Education caught my eye recently when I read this article from EmergingEdTech:

Teaching Creativity – The Case for Mind Mapping by Jane Karwoski, PhD on October 10, 2013

Google Forms: Embed YouTube Videos!

You can now embed a video right inside your Google Form!

This is a big WOW! Here's how:

To add a video to your form, click the Insert menu, and select Video. To pick a video, either provide a YouTube video’s URL, or use the search box to search for a video. After selecting one, you can add a title and a caption to the video. You can click and drag one of the video's corners to resize it, and you can align the video to the left, right, or center of the page by choosing one of the alignment options.

Try it out! It couldn't be easier! 

Educators: You can create quizzes with questions directly related to the video embedded in the Google Form!

iBooks Author for Education

The UH Manoa Center for Teaching Excellence presents iBooks Author for Education free iBook!

Thursday, October 3 will be our iBooks Author for Education hands-on session here on the UH Manoa campus in Webster 101.

The handout for our 3-part series will be available as a FREE iBook in the iTunes store. Drop us your name and email address and we'll make an announcement when it's available!

Click HERE for details on how you can learn to create an interactive masterpiece in iBooks Author!

Apple iPad Quick Reference Guide

This Apple iPad Quick Reference Guide is invaluable for those who are eager to learn to navigate their iPad! Check it out!

Link to Guide

iPad Screen Shots and Photo Sharing

How can I share a screenshot with my iPad?

It's surprising how many people don't realize how easy it is to take and share a screenshot with their iPad! Try it out!

Take a screenshot Share your image

Press and release the Sleep/Wake button at the top right of your iPad and the Home button at the same time. You’ll see the screen ‘flash’ white and hear a camera ‘clicking’ sound. Now open the Photos app on your iPad. The screenshot is added to your Camera Roll album. Tap the thumbnail to view the screenshot.  Tap the Share button (arrow) at the top left of your screen. A window will open up where to can choose email, Twitter, print, Facebook, etc. Tap the appropriate icon to share or post online.

Gmail Tip: Signing out of all Sessions

I'm not sure if I signed out from that other computer on campus! Help!

Normally, if you want to sign out of Gmail or Google Apps, it's just a matter of clicking on your email address in the top right of your screen and selecting Sign out.

But what if you have been on more than one computer and one of them was in a public location like on campus or in a library? What if you closed the browser but later realized you forgot to sign out of Gmail or other Google accounts? 

To sign out of all sessions go to any computer with an internet connection and do the following:

1. Open your Gmail account and click on the Details link at the bottom of your screen.
 
2. Choose to Sign out of all other sessions (it will leave you logged in your Google account on the current computer only).

Gmail Tip: Adding Groups of Contacts

I want to add a bunch of contacts at once in Gmail, such as large groups of students!

To import contacts to Gmail:

1. Create a custom CSV file, or export the address book from your other webmail provider or email client as a CSV file.
2. Sign in to Gmail.
3. Click Gmail at the top-left corner of your Gmail page, then choose Contacts.
4. Click the More button above the contacts list and select Import....
5. Click the Choose File button.
6. Select the file you'd like to upload and click the Import button.

When it's done, Gmail will display the number of contacts imported.
If you receive any error messages during the import, you might need to edit your CSV file.

Note: These CSV files work with Outlook, Outlook Express, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, Eudora, and some other email providers. But the CSV files that these applications produce might not contain all of the supported contact fields. For example, when Outlook exports to a CSV file, it omits data including attachments, distribution lists, contact pictures, the "file as" field, the "alias" field, and text formatting in the "notes" field. Google Contacts doesn’t have a way to know what was omitted, so we suggest that you manually copy over any important information in these fields after you import your contacts.

Coursera MOOC Student Map!

LIVE map of all the students signed up for this Coursera MOOC

LIVE MOOC MAP

Creativity, Innovation, and Change
from Penn State University

Google Forms Self-Grading Quiz Tool!

Flubaroo does it for you and will even email scores to students!

Watch this 3-minute video to find out how easy it is!

Flubaroo User Guide

Flubaroo is a free tool for Google Docs Forms that helps you quickly grade multiple-choice or fill-in-blank assignments.

That's not all! Flubaroo also:

• Computes average assignment score.
• Computes average score per question, and flags low-scoring questions.
• Shows you a grade distribution graph.
  
• Gives you the option to email each student their grade, and an answer key.
• Lets you send individualized feedback to each student.
  
  
  Please note: Flubaroo will work with most browsers, but may not always be pretty. Suggest: Google Chrome
  
  Feel free to leave comments if you've tried it out!Important Disclaimer: Flubaroo is a tool offered for use in conjunction with Google Docs, but is not itself a Google product or service.

Google Fonts!

Little known Google Tools: Google Fonts

Google Fonts offers open source web fonts for all to use privately or commercially. As of now, there are 629 font families available. Filter fonts by thickness, slant, width and script.

Check it out here: http://www.google.com/fonts/

If you've used Google Fonts, leave a comment with your impression!

Gmail Tips: Saving a Message Template

How do I create a message template in Gmail for future use?

 Step 1 
To enable message templates in Gmail:

• Click the Settings gear in your Gmail's toolbar.
• Select Settings from the menu.
• Go to the Labs tab.
• Make sure Enable is selected for Canned Responses.
• Click Save Changes. 

 Step 2 

To save an email for future use as a template in Gmail:

• Make sure "Canned Responses" is enabled. (see above)
• Compose your message in Gmail.
• You may leave your signature in place if you want it to appear in messages sent using the template.
• Leave both the Subject: and To: fields empty. They are not saved together with the template. (You can populate the Subject if you want to use it as your template's name)
• At the bottom of the compose window next to the trash can, click on the little down arrow [MORE OPTIONS] and then select Canned responses.
• Select New canned response... under Save.
• Type the desired name for your template.
• Click OK. 

When you are ready to use your template: 

• Select COMPOSE
• Enter your recipients and subject 
• Click on the little arrow [MORE OPTIONS] at the bottom right of the compose window
• Select Canned responses & then Insert the template name you just created.

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STAY TUNED FOR MORE GOOGLE APPS TIPS AND INFO!

Dropbox FAQ

Check out this Dropbox FAQ & link to Help Center Basics

1. How do I share folders with other people? 
2. How do I add or upload files to my Dropbox?
3. How do I sync files between computers?
4. Can I share files with non-Dropbox users?
5. How do I link to a file or folder?
6. How do I install Dropbox? (video tutorial available)

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Click here for DropBox Help Center Basics

Coursera MOOC - Signature Track & Web Cam

Coursera MOOC Signature Track & the Web Cam Experience

Aloha everyone! Today I signed up for Signature Track using a web cam and Coursera's online secure identity verification process. Since I didn't have a web cam on my PC, I used a Mac with Safari.

It was a quick process from start to finish - 5 minutes at the most. 

First, I clicked on the Signature Track button on my course page. Then it took me to another page with a couple boxes where I typed the same sentence twice. That recorded my personal typing style, which will be verified throughout the course! Wow! 

Next I took a picture of myself with the webcam. Coursera walks you through the process. Then, I held up my driver's license to the webcam and took a picture of that, which Coursera saves to validate your identity. 

Last, I paid the $14.50 fee for Signature Track with my 1/2 off voucher. In case you missed my earlier post, here's the link: Signature Track Guidebook.

I received an email that takes me to a nice course page with the syllabus and all the other materials necessary to complete

Foundations of Teaching for Learning 1: Introduction.

If you're curious about the course, here's a PDF you can check out:  http://www.cte.hawaii.edu/blog/edsquared/Intro2Teaching4LearningAug2013.pdf

Please comment here if you've tried a Coursera or other Mooc!

iBooks Author for Education: 3-Part Series!

Want to create an interactive masterpiece? Now anyone can produce classroom textbooks, history books, research books, and more for the iPad.

The Center for Teaching Excellence is proud to present a 3-part series on iBooks Author for Education at UHM in fall 2013. Look for our announcement, or check out our calendar: www.cte.hawaii.edu/OnlineReg.html

Coursera MOOC

MOOC Experience w/Suzy

I don't know if I'm a typical MOOC student, but I've signed up for at least 3 courses out of curiosity over the last year or so on Coursera and haven't found the time to try out even one of them. But things are getting interesting. I signed up for the first in a series: Foundations of Teaching in Learning 1: Introduction! starting on August 5th for 4 weeks.

What's interesting is that Coursera emailed me with an invitation to join the "Signature Track" for this particular course. What's that? Here's what Coursera states on their Signature Track Guidebook page:

Signature Track is a new option that will give students in select classes the opportunity to earn a Verified Certificate for completing their Coursera course. Signature Track securely links your coursework to your identity, allowing you to confidently show the world what you’ve achieved on Coursera.

My invitation included an early bird 50% off voucher. The cost for Signature Track? $29.00. With my voucher, I'll pay $14.50. If I don't want to join the Signature track, I will still receive the standard Statement of Accomplishment if I successfully complete the free course. What's different about the Signature Track? It allows you to connect your certificate with your identity using their secure identity verification system.

I wonder if paying $14.50 for a verifiable certificate is enough incentive for me to put out the effort to see the course through completion? 
Next step: the online verification process. 

Comment below if you've tried a Coursera or other MOOC!