📰 eLearn Updates (May 2018)

Here is a collection of links and resources associated with GSuite for May 2018.

Updates

• Introducing Google Maps Platform – Google are simplifying their18 individual APIs into three core products—Maps, Routes and Places, to make it easier for develops to find, explore and add new features to your apps and sites.
• Introducing Google AI – Google will reorganise their focus on research to focus on AI. These channels will continue to showcase the breadth of Google research, innovation and publications, in addition to a lot more new and exciting content to come.
• The State of the Web at Google I/O 2018 – Malte Ubl and Ben Galbraith catalog some of our recent efforts to help the web continue to thrive, including Service Worker and AMP.
• SUBJECT: Write emails faster with Smart Compose in Gmail – From your greeting to your closing (and common phrases in between), Smart Compose suggests complete sentences in your emails so that you can draft them with ease. Because it operates in the background, you can write an email like you normally would, and Smart Compose will offer suggestions as you type. When you see a suggestion that you like, click the “tab” button to use it.
• Google Lens: real-time answers to questions about the world around you – Google announced that Lens will now be available directly in the camera app on supported devices from LGE, Motorola, Xiaomi, Sony Mobile, HMD/Nokia, Transsion, TCL, OnePlus, BQ, Asus, and of course the Google Pixel.
• The new Google News: AI meets human intelligence – Google are rolling out the new Google News, which uses artificial intelligence to surface the best journalism ‘for you’ froim around the world.
• Chromebooks are ready for your next coding project – Google are making it possible for users to code on Chromebooks by running Linux inside a virtual machine.
• Work offline in the new Gmail – People using the new Gmail in a Chrome browser (v61 or higher) can now search, write, delete, and archive up to 90 days of messages, even when they’re offline.
• Google I/O 2018: Solving problems with AI for everyone – Sundar Pichai discusses the power and potential of AI.
• Now students can create their own VR tours – Tour Creator enables students, teachers, and anyone with a story to tell, to make a VR tour using imagery from Google Street View or their own 360 photos, as well as publish them to Poly, Google’s library of 3D content.
• Define rules to handle Gmail confidential mode messages – As a G Suite admin, you can define rules to handle confidential mode messages sent from consumer users to G Suite users in your domain. Confidential mode is currently unavailable for G Suite.
• 6 ways Quizzes in Google Forms are getting smarter – Google has released six new features based on valuable feedback from teachers and designed to help educators continue using Quizzes in Google Forms in creative ways. A lot of this revolves around the use of AI.
• 100 things we announced at I/O ‘18 – Google provide an extensive summary of all the announcements assocaited with I/O 18.
• Our preparations for Europe’s new data protection law – Google discuss the new GDPR laws.
• Export all your G Suite data in one step – In line with GDPR requirements, Google are introducing data export for admins, a new feature to make it even easier to export and download a copy of an organisations data securely.
• Automatic Photography with Google Clips – Google demonstrate how they combine the objective, semantic content of photographs with subjective human preferences to build the AI behind Google Clips.
• Gmail will now remind you to respond – The new Gmail will now “nudge” users to reply to emails they may have missed and to follow up on emails for which they haven’t received a response.
• Gmail will now remind you to respond – The new Gmail will now “nudge” users to reply to emails they may have missed and to follow up on emails for which they haven’t received a response.
• .app is now open for general registration – Google announced the newest top-level domain (TLD) from Google Registry.
• It’s spring cleaning time for Blogger – In preparation for some coming updates, Google are making some changes to Blogger, including more flexibility in sharing with Google+, the removal of the ‘Next Blog’ button and removal of third party gadgets.
• Making Admin Quarantine easier, quicker, and safer – In response to feedback, Google are making it easier to see why emails have been quarantined directly in the Admin Quarantine interface. This information will make it quicker to review emails and easier to identify the right action.
• Introducing YouTube Premium – YouTube Red is becoming YouTube Premium and will include the addition of YouTube Music, which allows for the features associated with YouTube Red in a standalone music app.
• Evolving Chrome’s security indicators – Since Google will soon start marking all HTTP pages as “not secure”, they will take step further towards removing Chrome’s positive security indicators so that the default unmarked state is secure.
• YouTube Music, a new music streaming service, is coming soon to Australia. – YouTube Music is a new music streaming service made for music: official songs, albums, thousands of playlists and artist radio plus YouTube’s tremendous catalog of remixes, live performances, covers and music videos that you can’t find anywhere else – all simply organised and personalised. For the first time, all the ways music moves you can be found in one place.
• White color brushes and Bluetooth conferencing with the latest Jamboard release – Google have continued to add new features to Jamboard including white colour brushes and bluetooth connectivity.
• Google Photos now has a Favorites feature – Chris Welch reports on the addition of a ‘favourite’ function within Google Photos.
• Self-diagnose ICS-related issues with improved Google Calendar audit logs – To help better investigate situations when events are changed, Google have added new information to the audit logs associated with Calendar.
• Expanding Braille support in Google Sheets – As part of Google’s ongoing effort to make their products more accessible, they are expanding support for Sheets on Windows computers via the latest versions of the JAWS and NVDA screen readers.
• Admin preview for Google Sites automatic conversion tool – Google is introducing a tool that makes it fast and easy to move a site created in classic Sites to the new Google Sites interface. This will be available to admins from May 22nd, and will start to become available to end users who own eligible sites on June 19th.
• See what the world is searching for with the updated Google Trends – Gavri Smith discusses some of the changes to the revamped Trends, including the addition of severl Google News Initiatives.
• More tools for homeschoolers – Google will start allowing G Suite for Education applications from homeschool co-ops
• Updates to Hangouts Meet home screen and screensaver on in-room displays – Google have added some new features to the Hangouts Meet TV display, such as a more informative home screen, screensaver, and custom wallpapers, to quickly orient users.
• Changes to embedded content on classic Google Sites – Google are upgrading how HTML boxes work on classic Sites. This is designed to improve performance and security, but may also change the look and feel of some embedded elements.
• Migrating all G Suite domains from classic Hangouts to Hangouts Meet – Google are enabling Hangouts Meet for all G Suite domains that are automatically upgrading on Google’s recommended schedule.
• Copy a site in the new Google Sites – Google are making it possible to copy a site created in the new Google Sites.
• Migrating all G Suite domains from classic Hangouts to Hangouts Meet – Google are progressively moving GSuite uses away from class Hangouts to Hangouts Meet.
• Introducing Machine Learning Practica – Google are making their interactive course, Learn with Google AI, available for the public.
• Built-in protections and controls for Team Drives – Google have added the ability for users* to modify the settings for any Team Drive to specify whether the files in that Team Drive can be: Shared with users who are not in their domain; Shared with users who are not members of the Team Drive or Downloaded, copied; or printed by commenters and viewers.
• Kaizena Now Offers Rubrics to Go With Voice Comments on Google Docs – Rubrics are now available in Kaizena! While skills let you rate students on specific skills that they demonstrate on their work, rubrics allow you to group sets of skills
• Making it even easier to join meetings from more third-party clients – With this launch, people using Google Calendar clients that don’t display meeting instructions natively (e.g., Samsung S Planner) no longer need to go to Google Calendar on the web to join their meetings.
• Creating AR Experiences for I/O: Our Process – Google discuss a number of additions to AI associated with I/O, including Just a Line app and multiplayer Light Board game.
• Include a message when changing meeting details in Google Calendar – Going forward, when you change or delete an existing meeting, you’ll see a dialog box where you can enter a message for other guests of the meeting.
• Bring abstract concepts to life with AR expeditions – Google announce the release of Expeditions AR and the ability to create your own expeditions.
• New insights in Google Docs Activity dashboard – In just a few clicks, users can pick recipients, customize, and send a follow-up email with the link to the file
• Introducing the Data Studio Community Connector Codelab – Community Connectors for Data Studio let you build connectors to any internet-accessible data source using Google Apps Script.

Resources

Drive

• 7 Google Drive Tips – Alice Keeler summarises a range of tips and tricks with Google Drive.
• A Clearer Google Docs Revision History View – Tom Woodward shares a screencast documenting how to use named versions to organise revision history.

Chrome

• SketchUp on Chromebooks! – Jake Miller provides a short introduction to Sketchup and the news that it is now available via the web.
• The “Just Add Wikipedia In the Omnibar” Trick – Mike Caulfield explains how to add Wikipedia to the omnibar to support fact-checking.
• Google and the Rise of the Digital Well-Being – Arielle Pardes argues that Google says “digital wellness” is now part of the company’s ethos, but not once during the Google I/O keynote did anyone mention “privacy.”
• Chromebooks as Tools for Creativity – In this EdTechTeam webinar, Chris Moore, Austin Houp and Amanda Taylor share the ways in which they engage with creativity using Chromebooks.
• Russia-linked Facebook Ads Targeted a Sketchy Chrome Extension at Teen Girls – Issie Lapowsky discusses the use of a Chrome Extension to collect data and send out messages through Facebook.
• Google’s Big AI Advance Is… Script Theory? – Mike Caulfield explains that after years of sucking up all our data Google’s big AI advance is… Script Theory. Which requires none of this.
• Google’s ‘deceitful’ AI assistant to identify itself as a robot during calls – Alex Hern reports that Google’s AI assistant will identify itself as a robot when calling up businesses on behalf of human users following accusations that the technology was deceitful and unethical.
• Side-stepping Google – Dave Winer shares his idea of a route-around for accessing HTTP sets in Chrome.
• (Auto)complete fail: how search suggestions keep catching Google out – With the latest report outlining how Google are inadvertently comprimising the identify of rape victims, Alex Hern documents some of the other incidents over time where search has gone wrong.
• Five Options for Creating Animated Videos on Your Chromebook – Richard Byrne details five options for animations on the Chromebook, including Toontastic, Powtoon and MySimpleShow.

Research

• The Guardian view on digitising culture: make manuscripts more illuminating – The Guardian reports that there are now tens of thousands of once unique documents which have been digitised and placed online for anyone to access all around the world, and this is a vast, democratising wonder.

Docs

• More Google Apps Script Coding – Alice Keeler provides a guide to creating a Google Apps Script that works with Docs.
• A Quick Google Docs Formatting Tip – Richard Byrne provides a short tutorial on the ‘clear formatting’ function in Docs that is often overlooked by many users.
• Hyperdocs Literacy Task Boards and Flipgrid Reading Circles – Laura Dennis shares with Vicki Davis the way in which she uses Hyperdocs to support literacy by providing students with a range of options, therefore allowing for more differentiation.
• 4 Tricks For When You Copy and Paste Off the Internet – Alice Keeler shares some tricks when copying content from the web, such as CTRL+SHIFT+V to paste without formatting or using format painter to copy particular formatting.

Slides

• CheckMark Now Works in Google Slides! – Chris Craft announces the addition of the CheckMark add-on to Google Slides.
• Slides for Interactive Assessment – Justin Brickbichler shows how to use Slides to quickly create a set of test cards for students to use to prepare for testing.
• Use These Two Google Slides Add-ons to Create Audio Slideshows – Richard Byrne provides a simple workflow for using the Audio Player for Slides Add-on to create presentations containing audio using Google Slides.
• Google Slides: Same Slides, Multiple Classes – Alice Keeler suggests using ‘Named Versions’ to use slides across multiple classes and days.
• Google Slides: Frayer Model – Alice Keeler shares a template for creating a Frayer Model with a range of multi-media objects.
• The Do’s and Don’ts of Google Slides – Emma Cottier shares a range of tips and tricks associated with creating clear presentations.
• How to Embed Your Slideshows Into Your Blog – Richard Byrne explains how to embed presentations within a blog.
• Kasey Bell’s 8 Great Ways to use Google Slides – Kasey Bell shares a number of tips and add-ons assocaited with Slides on Vicki Davis’ podcast..
• Beyond Presentations: Customize Google Slides to any Dimension – Andy Losik says that customizing slide size is just another way a lot of creativity can be fostered through Google Slides.
• 25 Things You Didn’t Know Google Slides Could Do – Kasey Bell shares some tricks that help you create interactive learning experiences, create images and eBooks, insert audio, charts, and diagrams, as well as, easy stop motion animation.

Forms

• Google Forms: Subscribe to Changes – Alice Keeler explains how to subscribe to new responses to forms, rather than having to check all of the time.
• Google Forms: Creating a Branching Quiz – Alice Keeler provides a guide for creating branching quizzes (and forms)
• If Google Forms Can Google It… It’s Obsolete – Alice Keeler reflects on the new updates to Google Forms and uses this to think about the way we use technology.
• 7 Google Forms Hacks Teachers Need to Know – Shawn Beard provides a guide to seven aspects to Google Forms that everyone should know, including the ability to limit responses or extend responses using add-ons.
• A Complete Video Guide to Google Forms – Alice Keeler provides a range of short tutorials for using Google Forms.
• Try These Google Forms Options to Organize Responses – Richard Byrne documents a number of add-ons and options to organise Google Forms.

Sheets

• What the world’s richest man can teach us about averages – Ben Collins explains how to generate mode, mean and median with Google Sheets.
• More Google Apps Script Coding – Alice Keeler provides a guide to creating a Google Apps Script that works with Docs.
• Google Sheets: Add Page Breaks – Alice Keeler demonstrates how you can custom set your page breaks.
• How to create and interpret a Scatterplot in Google Sheets – Ben Collins takes a look at scatterplots, the data they use and ways in which this can be interpreted.
• GDPR compliance in Google Apps Script and G Suite Add-ons: Should you be concerned? – Martin Hawksey and Steven Webster unpack the implications of GDPR on Google Apps Script.
• GDPR compliance in Google Apps Script and G Suite Add-ons: Your add-on uses personal data – 12 steps to take now – Martin Hawksey and Steven Webster provide a number of steps to take around the use of Google Apps Script.
• G Suite Pro Tips: how to sync one spreadsheet to another in Google Sheets – Joanna Smith demonstrates how with Sheets users are able to combine data into one spreadsheet to create a single source of truth.
• How to Automate Google Sheets With Macros—No Coding Required – Matthew Guay demonstrates how to make a macro in Sheets and explains how it can be used as a way of creating custom shortcuts.
• Google Sheets: Fill Down Square – Alice Keeler demonstrates how to use the fill down square in Google Sheets to copy and paste faster.

Sites

• How to Place Videos Side-by-Side in a Google Sites Page – Richard Byrne provides a short tutoral demonstrating how to resize videos in order to place them side-by-side in Google Sites.
• How to Include a Flickr Slideshow in Google Sites – Richard Byrne explains how to embed a Flickr album in Google Sites.

Classroom

• Google Classroom: Control 1 Return to Gmail – Alice Keeler shares her workflow in regards to managing Classroom and notifications.
• Google Classroom: Archive Your Class For the Summer – Alice Keeler shares some tips for archiving old classrooms and subsequently reviewing the content for the new year.

Drawings

• Google’s Quickdraw – More Cultural Dominance in Machine Learning (a kind of AI) – Maha Bali shares some of the cultural biases built into the AI assocaited with Quickdraw.

Geo Tools

• Insane, shocking, outrageous: Developers react to changes in Google Maps API – Ishveena Singh discusses changes to Google Maps APIs, including pay-as-you-go and the requirement of a valid key to use them.
• A Google Maps and Earth Activity for Art Classes – Richard Byrne demonstrates the potential for Google Earth to support learners in developing a deeper understanding of the context associated with art by mapping where a piece is housed, where it was created, where the artist lived, and the places that inspired the artist.
• How to Add Points of Interest to Virtual Reality Tours in Google’s Tour Creator – Richard Byrne provides a tutorial that shows you how to include featured points of interest within each scene in your tour.
• 360 View of You: A Global Collaboration Project – Edward Dougherty discusses 360 View of You, a global collaboration project designed for students and teachers to share a snapshot of what life is like for them at their school.

Keep

• Using G Suite for Education to Capture the Whole Learner – Michael Mohammed shares the use of Drive, Slides and Keep to create a student portfolio.

YouTube

• Practical Pointers for YouTube – Tony Vincent has curated a number of pointers to support all aspects of YouTube.

Blogger

• The Edublogger’s Guide To Global Collaboration – Edublogs have created a new guide for breaking down different entry points for connected classrooms with lots of tips and ideas
• Three Ways to Keep Track of Students’ Blog Entries – Richard Byrne provides three strategies for keeping track of student blogs.

General

• Google’s Got Our Kids – Joanne Petr explores Google’s entry into education through GSuite and advergames, such as Interland, arguing that by starting early they have a grip on the future.
• I’m excited to outsource every difficult conversation to my Google Assistant – Casey Johnston provides some other uses for Google Duplex, such as “Tell my landlord I’ll send the rent uhhh next week” or “Break up with my boyfriend”
• Google Certified Educator Level 2 Challenge Tasks – Kasey Bell provides a number of activities to prepare for the Google certification program.
• Welcome to the Google Extended Universe – Paris Martineau reports on Google’s host of new plans and products, most of which appear to be designed to work in tandem, silently sharing your data, habits, and preferences from one app to another.
• Did Google Duplex just pass the Turing Test? – Lance Ulanoff explains that eventually, we’ll have our Duplex voices call each other, handling pleasantries and making plans, which Google Assistant can then drop in our Google Calendar.
• Google’s AI sounds like a human on the phone — should we be worried? – James Vincent suggests we need to have a conversation about all this, before the robots start doing the talking for us.
• Ok Google, What Does it All Mean: A no-bullshit guide to Google I/O 2018 – The team from The Outline make sense of the Google I/O.
• Google sells the future, powered by your personal data – Ben Popken discusses the data that Google collects and reflects on what changes might be brought about by GDPR.
• Should our machines sound human? – Jason Kottke collects together a number of perspectives on Google’s new AI called Duplex, which allows Assistant to make calls and book appointments for you.
• A dozen Google employees quit over military drone project – Ron Amadeo reports on the controversial program, called “Project Maven,” that sees Google applying its usual machine-learning and image-recognition expertise to millions of hours of drone footage collected by the military.
• What Google isn’t telling us about its AI demo – … discusses two point in response to Duplex. was it staged and is it secure?
• 10 Essential G Suite Skills – Alice Keeler provides an update to the basics associated with GSuite, including the new look and feel.
• Google Removes ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Clause From Its Code Of Conduct – Kate Conger reports that Google has removed the phrase “don’t be evil” from the core part of its code of conduct.
• Putting the theory of big data into practice – on a massive scale! – Future Tense speak with Adam Greenfield about Google’s Sidewalk Labs exploring the possibilities of a smart city in Toronto.
• Google Report Reveals State of K-12 Computer Science Education – Authored by Paulo Blikstein, assistant professor of education and (by courtesy) computer science at Stanford, the report — Pre-College Computer Science Education: A Survey of the Field — was commissioned by Google to shine a light on where CS education stands today and where it needs to go.
• How a Pentagon Contract Became an Identity Crisis for Google – Scott Shane, Cade Metz and Daisuke Wakabayashi report on Google’s internal concerns with Google’s contract with the Pentagon and what that might mean for the organisation’s work with artificial intelligence.
• Google plan for data-driven ‘smart city’ sparks privacy, democracy concerns – Antony Funnell explores Google’s venture into creating a model smart city – creating a neighbourhood “from the internet up” – in Toronto and some of the feedback on it.