Tomorrow's Tech in Today's Schools: Google + Classrooms

Tomorrow's Tech in Today's Schools: Google + Classrooms: A year and half ago, Google released Google+ to a select few power-users and slowly opened up to the public.  It was called many names and...

Grovo - Great Online Training Videos

If you have every wanted to call your favorite "Tech Guy" because you needed to quickly find out how to use that awesome new online or cloud based service.......

Then you need to check out Grovo!  It is by far my favorite place to find high quality online training (If you can call learning it in 3 minutes flat training) with real-time video updates to the websites, mobile apps and online tools that I use the most!  AND IT'S FREE!!!

Check it out and sign up today!  Grovo | Online Training and Video Tutorials

Check how this teacher used Grovo in her class and "Students' grades improved as much as 25%"

Use Google+ Hangouts on the iPad

Google+ hangouts on the iPad are a great way to video chat with students, staff and even other classrooms!  Download the Google+ iPad app to start hanging out!  Google Hangouts are a central part of the Google+ social network, allowing up to 10 users to video chat across devices and notebooks, without the single participant and Apple only restrictions of FaceTime.  

Want to learn more on how to use Google+ Hangouts on the iPad

Gmail - Using filtered Search

Use Filtered Search
Gmail’s search bar is very handy for finding that message you got months ago, but most people don’t realize how easy it is to access advanced search. Just click the downward facing arrow on the right-hand side of the search bar and you will be presented with a number of different search options. You can narrow your search down to the person who sent it, the subject, words used, and the dates it would have been sent.  Learn more about Gmail search

Google Drive iOS app

Upload photos faster and get more done with the Google Drive iOS app

The Drive iOS app recently got some updates to help you save time and get work done. You can now quickly upload multiple photos and videos from your last conference or team event into Google Drive to share with your team. Learn more: http://goo.gl/yJsc6

Drive on iPad is now integrated with Quickoffice to make it easy to edit Microsoft Office files you’ve stored in Drive. Simply open your Microsoft Office files in Drive, edit them using Quickoffice, and save them back to Drive.

Other new features in this release include:
+ Diagonal scroll in Sheets
+ Improved formatting in Google Sheets for decimals, currency, dates and more
+ Improvements to slideshow and animations in Slides
+ Pinch to zoom on Slides

Download Google Drive for iOS: http://goo.gl/5Zgc3
Download Quickoffice for Google App for Business: http://goo.gl/3DZ8b

Google Forms are Addictive

For a few days now I've been trying to write a blog on the wonders of using Google forms in the classroom and find myself so overwhelmed with ideas that it quickly becomes too much for a simple blog.  So my goal is to introduce you to the simplicity of forms and to spark your imaginations with endless ways to use them.

The short and sweet of using forms is this; if you want to collect information, no matter how simple or complicated the subject matter, a form will gather, verify, organize and report... instantly.

"Sounds great, but how many hours will it take me to learn and create a form?  I just don't have time to learn something new when what I've always done is working fine."

Oh the fear and struggle of something new.  Now I know when I say something is really easy the first thought that runs through some of your minds is; "Sure it's easy for you.  You do this tech stuff all the time." and there is some truth in that.  However, SERIOUSLY, this is so easy I guarantee when you're done you will be asking "Is that it???"

I have a few forms I interact with daily at NRMPS.  Many of you have used them and may not have realized it was a simple Google form.

With Google Docs, you can quickly create a form or survey, send it to students, parents, teachers, or staff, and keep track of the answers in one spreadsheet.

Since forms are filled out online, there’s no need to enter in results manually. Responses are collected and displayed immediately in a corresponding Google Docs spreadsheet which allows you to sort, analyze, and visualize the information.

You can send forms to anyone - even those outside of the NRMPS system. Respondants can access the form via email, a published webpage, or embedded on a site.  Forms also generates an automatic summary with charts, graphs, and statistics about your form responses and can notify you when new responses are submitted.

Here are some live examples of forms you can preview and try:

• Collecting mailing addresses
• US History pop quiz for grade school
• Student group welcome form
• Club event requests

And other ideas that could be conducted using forms:

• Structured peer editing and feedback
• Assignment checklist and submissions
• Applications for positions in clubs, students, government
• Peer evaluation
• Formative assessment
• Book Reviews
• Survey before and after a lesson/discussion
• Collect science data
• Organize groups
• Volunteer opportunities
• Student feedback
• Online reading record
• Find out more about your students' interests

"So let me at it!  Where do I start?"

Here are links to easy instructions for creating froms.

• Create and Customize Forms
• Create a Form - Grovo.com - 1:30 video.  Quick and easy for attention deficit folks like me :)  You will need to create a Grovo account if you don't already have one.  HIGHLY recommended.  Grovo is awesome.
• Create a Google Form