Digital Learning at Grant Wood AEA
  • Home
  • Learn
    • Summer Summit
    • ITEC 2019
    • Iowa 1 to 1
    • Green Screen
    • Stop Motion
    • Physical Computing
    • Free Media
    • AR/VR in Schools
  • Think
    • Blog
    • BrightBytes
    • Tech Coaches
    • Blended Learning
    • Think Make Innovate
    • Edtech Take Out
  • Grow
    • Pear Deck Resources
    • Makerspaces
    • Google Expeditions
    • GWAEA Online Resources
    • OER
    • Computer Science
  • COVID19
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Learn
    • Summer Summit
    • ITEC 2019
    • Iowa 1 to 1
    • Green Screen
    • Stop Motion
    • Physical Computing
    • Free Media
    • AR/VR in Schools
  • Think
    • Blog
    • BrightBytes
    • Tech Coaches
    • Blended Learning
    • Think Make Innovate
    • Edtech Take Out
  • Grow
    • Pear Deck Resources
    • Makerspaces
    • Google Expeditions
    • GWAEA Online Resources
    • OER
    • Computer Science
  • COVID19
  • Contact

What's New With #GAFE: 2016 Back to School Edition

8/22/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
As much as we might like technology companies to take a break over the summer months, they don't. This means teachers sometimes miss learning about some of the latest updates to their favorite edtech tools while on vacation or while busily getting ready for the new school year. So, with that in mind, here is a quick roundup of some of the more useful updates to Google Apps for Education that happened in the summer months of 2016. This is not an exhaustive list, but it has some great new features that are worth exploring in the coming school year.

Google Expeditions

Have your tried Google Expeditions yet? There are now over 200 virtual reality tours that you can take your students on to immerse them in different cultures, environments, and places that they would otherwise not be able to experience. The International Space Station, the Great Barrier Reef, the Grand Canyon, Buckingham Palace and many more sites are now available. So far, Expeditions has only been available to Android users, but an iOS app is slated for release soon and that means iPad users will soon be able to take advantage of this unique experience too.

Are you interested in trying Google Expeditions with your students? The Digital Learning Team at Grant Wood has their own Expeditions kit that we will be looking bring to area schools soon. Stay tuned for upcoming professional development opportunities with more information, or contact us to find out more.
Picture

Google Forms

There have been a number of useful updates to Google Forms this summer. The first was the ability to create quizzes. With this new feature, teachers can auto-grade multiple choice and checkbox questions in order to spend less time grading and more time teaching. They can also add review materials like websites of videos for students that may need more help understanding the concepts they are being assessed on. You can also disable the option to let students send a copy of their results to themselves.

Also new in Forms is the ability to add images to questions and to answers. Both are really interesting options for schools and have the potential to be used in all kinds of different ways. Check out this great post by Richard Byrne with ideas on how to get started with both of these new features.
Picture

Google Classroom

Parent participation arrived in Google Classroom this summer with the ability for you to share summaries of student work with parents. This automated feature is available from inside your Google Classroom settings. You can invite parents and guardians by entering their email and then turn on summaries which are automatically sent to the connected adults. Teachers can also email parents from Classroom with this new feature. More information here: http://bit.ly/2bGSANn

Another new feature in Classroom is the addition of annotations in the Google Classroom mobile apps. Google says that "using annotations, students can complete assignments, sketch out math problems or even create visuals of creative ideas directly on their devices." However, teachers can also use annotations to mark up student assignments and to draw or write directly on to the student's work.

Lastly, you can now add labels to discussions in Classroom. This lets you more quickly sort discussion posts by topic so that you (and your students) can find exactly what you are looking for without having to scroll endlessly through all the posts on the Classroom homepage.

Google Slides

Just before the summer, Google released a new Q&A feature that lets you interact with your audience. It adds a unique URL at the top of your slides that students or staff can use to ask a question at any time on their own device. The questions can be voted on by others watching the presentation and ranked according to which ones receive the most votes. The feature is available for Mac, PC and Chromebooks. You can also use Google Slides Q&A with iPads or Android devices. Find out more information here, or in the video below.

Google Cast for Education

Have you heard about the new Google Cast for Education yet? It's a free Chrome app that allows students and teachers to share their screens wirelessly from anywhere in the classroom. Google Cast for Education carries video and audio across complex school networks, has built-in controls for teachers, and works seamlessly with Google Classroom. The app runs on the teacher's computer, and no additional hardware or installations are required on student devices. Students simply use the new Cast functionality that is built-in to the latest version of Chrome. Sounds too good to be true, right? More information here and in the video below.

Training for Google Apps

Recently, Google acquired a company called Synergyse that was responsible for the Synergyse Training for Google Apps service. It was a paid app and was largely aimed at businesses who wanted to provide quick and easy help for their employees with anything to do with Google Apps. This interactive training resource is now free for schools to take advantage of and has been launched under a new name - Training for Google Apps. It is designed to give you step by step help with anything from composing and email to building a Form. More information here.
Picture

The NEW Google Sites

Google has been working on a brand new version of Google Sites that is more modern, easier to use, and much nicer to look at. The new Google Sites are designed to look great on any device, regardless of screen size, and they include the same real-time co-editing experience that you are used to in Google Docs.

Right now, the new Google Sites are not available to everyone because they are currently being tested by a number of early adopters that were given access to the program. While they have a lot of great new features, many of the existing features have yet to be added. The Google Sites you are using right now is guaranteed to stick around for another year or so, and options will be given for people who want to move their content from the old Google Sites to the new Google Sites. So because this update is not yet publicly available, file this one under "good to know" and wait for future updates.

What's New for You?

Are you excited about the new features coming to Google Apps for Education? Which ones do you see a use for in your classroom, and why? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Jonathan Wylie, Technology Consultant, Grant Wood AEA

For more posts like this, please subscribe to our blog! You can also connect with us on social media if you Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter or add us to your circles on Google+. We even have our own podcast you can listen to and a Makerspace video show!
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Connect



    Blog Feed

    RSS Feed


    Like Us on Facebook

    Digital Learning at Grant Wood Area Education Agency

    Promote Your Page Too

    Our YouTube Show

    Picture

    Our Podcast

    Picture

    Our Tweets!

    Tweets by @DLGWAEA

    Authors

    Stacy Behmer
    Jonathan Wylie
    Gina Rogers
    Amber Bridge
    Beth Swantz

    Mindy Cairney
    Lynn Kleinmeyer
    Corey Rogers


    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014


    Categories

    All
    3d Printing
    4Cs
    Assessment
    Augmented Reality
    Best Of The Web
    Blogging
    Board Games
    Coding
    Collaboration
    Communication
    Computer Science
    Connected Classrooms
    Creativity
    Device Deployment
    Digital Citizenship
    Digital Classrooms
    Elementary
    Flipped Classroom
    Formative Assessment
    GAFE
    Google
    Google Apps EDU
    Google Expeditions
    Green Screen
    Hattie
    Innovate
    Ipad
    ISTE
    Literacy
    Make
    Makerspace
    Office 365
    Pear Deck
    Personalized Learning
    PLN
    Podcast
    Professional Learning
    Research
    Service Learning
    Student Choice
    Think
    ThinkMakeInnovate
    Update
    Video
    Virual Reality
    Wakelet
    Web 2.0
    Youtube

Grant Wood Area Education Agency extends equal opportunities in its employment practices, educational programs and services, and does not discriminate on the basis of color, gender, race, national origin, religion, creed, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, veteran status or as otherwise prohibited by law. If you believe you or your child has been discriminated against or treated unjustly, please contact the Agency’s Equity Coordinator, Maria Cashman, at 319-399-6847 or 800-332-8488. Grant Wood AEA, 4401 Sixth St SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404.

It is the goal of Grant Wood Area Education Agency that the information on our website be accessible to individuals with visual, hearing or cognitive disabilities. Good faith efforts have been made to ensure that our site complies with the world wide web consortium’s web content accessibility guidelines. Learn more here.