About a year ago, I came across impressive resources on Google Apps for Education provided by Jeff Utecht on The Thinking Stick website titled, “Become a Google Apps Ninja.” Now I had heard educators having the ability to become Google Certified, a program I would like to complete myself, however the concept of opening this up to students blew my mind. My first thought was, “how can I get this program into my school?” Having students develop online search skills as well has the ability to communicate (online) and troubleshoot is nearly as important as the underlying material the students will learn. Giving students the ability to “fish” will open many more doors with technology. I was sold instantly. Read more…
Reaching 21st Century Students Where they Are
During a visit to the main office, I noticed a elementary student, having what I would call, an extreme bout of confusion. What object could cause a smart, young student this level of confusion? Operating a traditional telephone. Yup, a telephone…with a cord. A land line. Something many students don’t encounter or have knowledge of.
The student, to no fault of his own, didn’t understand the dial tone or where to push “send” to make a call. After assisting the student, I asked if he had “one of these” at home to which he replied, “my family only has cellphones.” Read more…
Extracting Content with Google Takeout
As a power-user and administrator of Google Apps for Education, the availability of extracting my work stored in various Google products is an important option. Although the school owns access to the account, all content, notes and hard work over the years is the end-users. Google has addressed a growing concern of many schools and made it quite easy to download a copy of your work using a simple tool. Users often transition either by graduating or leaving school and as the administrator of the Google Apps for Education program, rather than delete accounts and associated data, it is important that I offer every user the ability to save their content. Read more…
Chromebooks: Ready for PARCC Assessments
With online assessments coming down the pike, especially the “big one” from Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), after some research, I wanted to squelch fears about properly setting up a Google Chromebook for the administration of the exams. Fortunately, our fifth graders will pilot the computer-based PARCC exam early next year, allowing myself to iron out any wrinkles before an official roll-out. Our middle school students are very comfortable using Chromebooks and after a little digging, it’s nice to know Google Chromebooks are comfortable with online assessments. Read more…
Google Scripts Needs Major Update
After a recent discussion on twitter surrounding Google Scripts, I thought it would be wise to take the discussion beyond 140-characters. As much as we all love twitter, without enough space to type up a more formal response, thoughts can can be misconstrued! Lucky there are blogs…
For many educators and administrators, the suite of tools provided by Google Apps for Education has become something of a must-have. Google Apps for Education is feature rich for everyone involved and unmatched in education today. Read more…