eLearn Update (October 2017)

Updates

• Exploring Contemporary Art with Google Arts & Culture – Working with more than 180 partners all over the world, Google Arts & Culture is shining a light on contemporary art, with a new collection of online stories and rich digital content at g.co/ContemporaryArt.
• Bringing Google Earth to Expeditions with Seurat – Seurat is a powerful tool for bringing immersive experiences with high fidelity graphics to mobile VR.
• Google Drive reporting will show activity-based metrics in the Admin console – Google is making changes to reporting in the Admin console to better reflect the Google Drive activity happening in your domain.
• Announcing our new YouTube Creators Site – Google unveils a new creators site for YouTube to better keep up-to-date with the latest news, events and platform updates.
• Space out with planets in Google Maps – Google announce that you can now visit various planets and moons in Google Maps right from your computer
• A cleaner, safer web with Chrome Cleanup – Google have rolled out three changes to help Chrome for Windows users recover from unwanted software infections.
• New security protections, tailored to you – Google are announcing two new protections to help you stay safer online — an upgrade to our Security Checkup and new phishing protections in Chrome.
• Time for a refresh: meet the new Google Calendar for web – Google is taking what works with Calendar’s mobile application, like the modern colour palette and sleek design, and bringing it to the web with a responsive layout that auto-adjusts to your screen size.
• Say “yes” to HTTPS: Chrome secures the web, one site at a time – Google recently announced managed SSL for Google App Engine, and has started securing entire top-level Google domains like .foo and .dev by default with HSTS. These advances help make HTTPS automatic and painless, to make sure we’re moving towards a web that’s secure by default.
• Turns out, security drives cloud adoption — not the other way around – A MIT Sloan Management Review survey of more than 500 IT and business executives cited the increased need for agility and speed and increased confidence in cloud security as the primary drivers of increased cloud usage.
• Do more from your inbox with Gmail Add-ons – With Gmail Add-ons, your inbox can contextually surface your go-to app based on messages you receive to help you get things done faster.
• Expanded page hierarchy in the new Google Sites – Google are making it possible to nest five levels of pages in the new Google Sites, up from the two levels previously allowed.
• Data Studio: Richer Visualizations and Analytical Functions – The Data Studio team has been hard at work launching new features to allow for richer visualization and new views on data.
• The meeting room, by G Suite – Google have announced a range of upgrades to Hangouts Meet, including Hangouts Meet hardware, the ability to record to drive and bring in up to fifty people.
• Ten third-party applications added to the G Suite pre-integrated SSO apps catalog – Google is adding SAML integration for ten additional applications: Aha!, Atlassian Cloud, Datadog, Desk, Github Business, HackerOne, Mavenlink, Mixpanel, SpringerLink, and Springerlink Test.

Posts & Resources

DRIVE

• How to Force Copy of Drive File and Shorten URL for Easy Sharing – Richard Byrne explains how to share a copy of a file in Drive.
• Upload Drive Files to the Google Template Gallery – Richard Byrne explains how to add templates to the gallery associated with a particular instance of GSuite.
• Google Drive: Star Your Documents – Alice Keeler suggests starring anything you will come back to.

CHROME & BOOKS

• X-Ray Goggles Help Students See How Webpages Are Made – Richard Byrne provides a guide to using X-Ray Goggles to see the web.
• Google’s new Pixelbook is a $1000 Chromebook you’ll actually want – Karissa Bell unboxes the new Pixelbook.
• 10 Multimedia Things you can do on a Chromebook – Chris Betcher summarises ten amazing web-based tools that provide users with a surprising amount of rich media functionality in the browser.
• Read&Write Assistive Technology App – Richard Bryne discusses some of the benefits of the Read and Write extension, including the free access for educators.
• Use More Tab – Alice Keeper discusses all the different uses of the tab key.
• QR Code Generators and Readers for Chromebooks – Richard Bryne provides some options for reading QR codes with a Chromebook
• Mercury Reader Chrome Extension – Richard Byrne discusses Mercury Reader, an extension designed to support distraction free reading.
• Seven Summarization Tools for Students – Eric Curts collects together a number of tools to support the summarisation of information
• How to Match Colors Using ColorPick Eyedropper – Richard Byrne outlines ColorPick Eyedropper, a Chrome extension that allows you select a color from a webpage.
• Chrome Extensions to Help You Stay Focused – Richard Byrne provides a list of Chrome extensions that might help you remain on task if you spend long hours working online or if you tend to get easily distracted.
• Using Android Apps on Chromebooks – Eric Curts goes through some tips and tricks assocaited with using Android Apps on a Chromebook.
• ll Canberra secondary public school students to get Chromebook in 2018 – Emily Baker discusses the the news that off 2018 every public school student from year 7 to 11 will receive an Acer Chromebook when school returns next year.

RESEARCH

• Google scraps controversial policy that gave free access to paywalled articles through search – Thuy Ong explains how Google is ending its controversial First Click Free (FCF) policy that allowed Google search results access to news articles hidden behind a paywall.
• Advanced Google Search to Gain Different Perspectives – Richard Byrne explains how to change the region where your search takes place in settings to generate different perspectives and points of view.

DOCS

• 3 Google Docs Tools – Alice Keeler documents items worth checking out in the Tools menu of Docs.
• Enter CheckMark – Chris Craft introduces CheckMark, a brand new Chrome extension designed to give teachers the ability to provide students feedback quickly and easily
• CheckMark Extension for Providing Feedback on Google Docs – Richard Byrne discusses a new extension for Docs which allows you to use canned responses to provide feedback
• Three Options for Adding Voice Comments in Google Docs – Richard Byrne provides three different options for providing voice comments, including Kaizena, Read&Write and Talk & Comment.
• Add-on: Doc to Slides – Alice Keeler documents a new add-on that allows users to populate a slidedeck from text in a Google Doc.

GMAIL

• Using Canned Responses in Gmail – Richard Byrne unpacks the labs associated with Gmail, focusing on canned responses.
• Five Gmail Extensions to Increase Productivity – Richard Byrne takes a look at some apps and extensions that help increase productivity with Gmail, including Boomerang and email templates.
• Teaching Email Signatures by @dyerksjr1 – Don Yerks demonstrates the importance of having an email signature, how to create one, and how to use it to answer an “Exit Ticket.”
• Google Just Made Gmail the Most Secure Email Provider on the Planet – Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai explains that anyone with a Gmail account can now activate what the company calls “Advanced Protection,” a set of features that make it harder to hack into your Google account.
• 5 New Productive Gmail Apps and Extensions You Should Try – Mihir Patkar shares a range of extensions and add-ons to help users become more productive in their use of Gmail.
• Five More Gmail Extensions to Increase Productivity – Richard Byrne provides a list of add-ons in Gmail can help with productivity, including scheduling and newsletter creation.

CALENDAR

• How to Avoid a Common Google Calendar Mistake – Richard Byrne demonstrates how to avoid confusion by removing the Google Hangout link from Calendar invitations.
• Top 10 G Suite Calendar Updates – Monica Martinez visualises the recent updates to Calendar in an infographic.

SLIDES

• New! Google Slides: Grid View – Alice Keeler highlights some of the benefits of the grid view, including applying transitions and adding a comment.
• How to Use Grid View In Google Slides – Richard Byrne documents how to access the new grid view associated with Google Slides.
• How can New Google Slides features be used in your school? – Jeff Bradbury and the TeacherCast team unpack the new features associated with Google Slides.
• Google Slides Explore Tool Color Match – Alice Keeler shows how to use both the Explore tool and the master to customise the colour and templates associated with Slides.
• Top 10 Tips GSuite Slides Add On- Pear Deck – Monica Martinez demonstrates some of the potentionals associated with Slides add-ons throught he use of Pear Deck.
• Google Publishes Series Of Video Instructions About Creating Online “Choose Your Own Adventure” Stories – Larry Ferlazzo collects together a series of instructional videos about using Google Slides to create these kinds of stories online.
• Free photos, icons, magic and more with Google Slides add-ons – Matt Miller unpacks the add-ons made available with the changes to Google Slides.
• Changing the color of all links in Google Slides with Google Apps Script – Martin Hawksey explains how to use Google Apps Script to change the default link colour.
• Google Slides: Find an Individual Student’s Slide – Alice Keeler provides a few tips associated with using Google Slides to collaborate.
• Create your own “My School App” in Google Slides for mobile devices #edtech – Micah Shippee explains how to make a basic school app for communicating information home.
• Add-on: Doc to Slides – Alice Keeler documents a new add-on that allows users to populate a slidedeck from text in a Google Doc.

FORMS

• 24 Tips for Google Forms Quizzes – Eric Curts shows how allowing multiple correct answers allows you to ask more sophisticated questions that have more than one correct answer, as well as account for variations in the correct answer.
• 24 Tips for Google Forms Quizzes – Eric Curts provides a video documenting (at least) 24 tips and tricks for getting the most out of the new features in Google Forms when making online quizzes.
• Five Great Add-ons for Google Forms – Richard Byrne provides a quick guide to using add-ons with Forms, as well as a summary of some useful options.

SHEETS & SCRIPTS

• It’s My Birthday, Make Me a Spreadsheet – Alice Keeler provides some tips and tricks associated with spreadsheets.
• 10 techniques to use when building budget templates in Google Sheets – Ben Collins shows some useful techniques in Sheets that you can use for building your own budget templates.

SITES

• Google Sites: From Beginner to Ninja – Christine Hayes breaks down the new Google Sites and explains how to create one.
• A Google Calendar Widget for Google Sites created with Google Apps Script – Martin Hawksey builds upon the Google Calendar Chrome Extension to create a widget for the new Google Sites.
• Embedding almost anything like a Twitter Search widget in new Google Sites with Google Apps Script – Martin Hawksey explains how Apps Script has a HTML Service which lets you create and serve HTML content. This means you can copy any embed code you get from a third party site like Twitter, publish it with Google Apps Script and then embed this in your new Google Site.
• Embedding Slides in “New” Google Sites – Jake Miller runs through how to embed a slideshow in the new Google Sites.
• Why You Should Give Google Sites Another Try – Richard Byrne reflects on some of the developments associated with the new Google Sites, suggesting if it has been a while since you used it, that it might be a great time to give it another try.

CLASSROOM

• Enhance Your Google Classroom Experience – Richard Byrne takes a look at some apps and extensions that help make Classroom even better.
• 4 Must-Have Google Classroom Skills for Teachers – Kasey Bell shows how to maximize the options associated with setting assignments in Google Classroom to meet the needs of students and save valuable time.

DRAWINGS

• Mosaic Art Geometry Project with Google Drawing – Jenn Judkins discusses using shapes in Drawings to create art work that explores shapes.

GEO GOOGLE

• Street View goes to the “top of the world” – Emma Upton shares the story behind one of the new Street View collections that captures Canada’s Quttinirpaaq National Park.
• Meet Pegman – Richard Byrne discussess pegman, the icon in Google Earth and Steet View that allows users to move around
• Google Street View App – Richard Byrne discusses some of the purposes and potentials associated with the Google Street View App on iOS and Android.
• Games to Sharpen Geography Skills – Richard Byrne documents some games that provide students with fun and engaging ways to learn geography

CONNECTING CLASSROOMS

• How Google Hangouts helped us scale one of our Googleyest programs – Ann Farmer explains how Hangouts has helped scale Talks at Google and unite the Google workers under one common interest: listening and learning

YOUTUBE

• Book Review: Streampunks (YouTube and the Rebels Remaking Media) – Kevin Hodgsen reviews a book from Robert Kyncl, YouTube Chief Business Officer, taking a look underneath the hood.

PHOTOS

• Top 10 Tips for G Suite Snapseed – Monica Martinez provides a range of tips assocaited with the Snapseed App.

GENERAL

• Thinking Maps in Slides, Post in Classroom – Christine Pinto explains how to create thinking maps using Slides and then share using Classroom.
• Google’s new browser experiment lets you learn about basic AI – James Vincent provides an introduction to Teachable Machine, a new experiment from Google for learning about AI.
• EdTechTeam Virtual Summit: #BestYearYet – The EdTechTeam ran a day long virtual conference exploring the topics of communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking.
• Lions, Tigers, and Google Feedback Oh My! – GTT027 – Kasey Bell and Matt Miller unpack the various ways that you can provide feedback using GSuite
• Artificial Intelligence and High School Students — Trying AIY for the First Time! – James McLurkin describes what happens when a few students are allowed to design with an AIY device for a few days.