Mr. B EdTech Blog

Earlier this year, Google rolled out the "LOCKDOWN" feature on Google Quizzes. According to Google, this feature will block students from being able to open new tabs, thus preventing them from cheating. https://techycoach.com/2019/01/24/google-forms-lockdown-mode/ I do find this tool useful for those that use this type of assessment. However, one question I would ask, Is this type of assessment the best way to assess what students have learned. I find myself moving away from question and answer based assessments and moving toward project based assessments. This philosophy is summed up by saying that I am moving away from having students tell me what they learned to having students show me what they learned, putting the skills to actual use. Though I still see where the old style Q&A assessments can be valid, I am not sure that I would utilize this function often. I would encourage those using technology for assessments to think how to transform their instruct...

Now you can add section headers to your Google Docs. This feature has been in MS Word for quite some time, but it was not built in to Google Docs, until now. This should be available to everyone by the time school starts back up in August. :) More Info https://gsuiteupdates.googleblog.com/2019/07/more-header-footer-options-docs.html

https://www.commonsense.org/education/website/storybird It's easy to imagine using Storybird as a free-write station, to prompt various writing tasks, or as a platform for peer workshopping. With a bit of creativity, storytelling can also be linked to a variety of school subjects, including history, science, and even math...

https://gsuiteupdates.googleblog.com/2019/04/new-tools-sheets.html New features include: Selecting objects like in slides, being able to select multiple objects at once, move, and resize. Copy and Paste an image into a CELL! (Finally!!!) Guides and more...

https://mcdreeamiemusings.com/new-blog/2019/4/13/gsux1h6bnt8lqjd7w2t2mtvfg81uhx PowerPoint was once a powerful, transformative tool in education. In more recent years, this tool has been criticized as being overused, improperly used, and causing disinterest and disengagement from learning. In this example, PowerPoint was used as a tool that lead to the death of 7 astronauts. How did this happen? Learning how to use a presentation assist tool is not always a life and death matter. Making sure your presentation connects with your audience is important. Otherwise, what is the point of doing the presentation? One of the keys to keeping an audience engaged is audience participation and interaction. These interactive components have to relate to the topic and be meaningful, not just ice breakers. Resources on effective slide presentations https://business.tutsplus.com/articles/37-effective-powerpoint-presentation-tips--cms-25421 http://www.ncsl.org/legislators-staff/legislative-s...

Google announced a new app for Gsuite called, Currents. This app is directly replacing Google+, which Google is phasing out. "All of your organization’s existing Google+ content will automatically transfer to Currents once you are enrolled in the beta," Google released in their statement. At this moment, I am uncertain if this app will be available to personal Google accounts or if this is exclusively for Gsuite. For More Information https://gsuiteupdates.googleblog.com/2019/04/currents-for-gsuite.html

Hello everyone, I am at the Illinois Computing Educator's Conference 2019 Today through Thursday. I will post a live feed of my notable conferences and experiences to Twitter throughout the day. Feel free to check it out Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Mr_B_Ed_Tech

See the full list https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2019/01/google-music.html This is a follow up to another article, posted by the same blogger. You can find that post also linked in my blog. This time transition from Art to Music. These are engaging activities and great resources to use in Music or in other subjects that integrate music.

See the full article https://www.techlearning.com/news/innovative-educators-dont-recommend-screen-time-limits What recommendations should we be giving parents and youth when it comes to screen time?  In past limiting some types of screen time made sense. A time when the American Pediatric Association (AAP) made long-standing screen time limits recommendations. However, those were based on research around passive television viewing and violent video games. Since then the AAP has backtracked. This is a very informative article on the merits of limiting screen time. I am not a medical expert and have relied heavily on my own experiences and others' research to form my own opinion on the matter. However, whenever I engage in a debate on the merits of children's screen time, more often than not, people have told me that screen time with children should be limited.  "Kids spend too much time on their screens." "Its making them (kids) antisocial"...

See the full list here: https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2019/01/google-art.html I am always on the lookout for creative or non conventional uses Google's apps. This list shows some very creative uses for integrating Art activities into G suite.

See the full article: https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2019/01/primary-google.html Are you a Primary teacher looking for some activities to do in Google? Do you want to build a snowman? Seriously, this article has some very creative uses for Google's G Suite for use in primary grade levels. Some of my favorites include: Building a snowman Disguise a Turkey Red Fish, Blue Fish sorting My Pickup Has Hiccups Pixel Drawings with Google Sheets and many more on this list. Pixel Drawings with Google Sheets

Google is constantly updating, whether we want them to or not. :) A few of these updates have been geared toward google's G-Suite (Docs, Slides, Sheets...). Some of my favorite are listed below. See the article for more updates Google has made this past month. Assign unique colors to chart elements in Google Sheets Option to embed Google Drawings in Docs Google Classroom updates include drag-and-drop topics and items, and new look and themes See the full article here: https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2019/02/google-news-jan2019.html

https://shakeuplearning.com/blog/shut-the-front-door-digital-differentiation-with-google-forms/ This article does a great job at explaining how to differentiate questions using Google Forms. Learning to do this can also apply to other apps such as making assessments in Google Slides. Each of these use a method this author calls "branching." Basically when looking at your test, you need to ask your self a question each time you the student clicks on something. For example, what should happen if the student clicks the wrong answer? Should the test continue on to the next question as normal? Should it go to a different question? OR should it go to another resource so the student can review the topic?

https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2018/09/collabordependent-slides.html This is an interesting idea that I would not have thought of. It is good to combine the idea of creating passwords and having a purpose behind the password. That idea would be reinforced each time the password is entered.

https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2018/09/story-cubes.html Welcome 2019! That year still sounds far off into the future to me. :) Again, another creative educational use for a tool that is underutilized or overlooked.

http://teacherrebootcamp.com/2018/10/12/kindonline/ I remember one of my first training lessons when I got promoted to a manager at my first job. They taught me about taking complaints over the phone. The biggest thing I remember is "the power behind the phone." People would not say some of things they would say over the phone, if they were talking to you face to face. Some of those things, they wouldn't even normally think. That has proved to be a very valuable lesson and one I believe has helped me in multiple facets of life. I believe that mentality can help those when communicating online as well.

https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2018/10/gif-slides.html A potentially really useful tool. What are some of the create uses you could see for this tool in your classroom?

https://www.techlearning.com/tl-advisor-blog/top-10-k-12-educational-technology-trends Personally I have seen a lot with 1:1, especially with Chrome Devices. However, as we prepare for the next 5 years, will there be a change in the type of devices we use. Thinking back 8 years, it seems easy to forget that there was no such thing as an iPad. Also, 6 years ago there was no such thing as a Chromebook. What will be the next device we can't do without? My guess is it will be some sort of wearable tech. I have already seen some examples of schools that use wearable tech to allow kids into the building or classrooms and so on.

Scroll through this article to find a very detailed list of resources for teaching about Geography and Immigration. https://www.techlearning.com/features/november-is-ideal-for-teaching-geography-and-immigration

https://www.techlearning.com/tl-advisor-blog/tool-to-brand-yourself-or-school-with-a-logo Branding is more important than you may think. Having a specific brand helps others identify your (or your school's) believes, values, and can help with recognition of achievements and success.