Tech Tip Tuesday: Google Classroom to Schoology App

Google Classroom released a new app connecting Classroom to Schoology. Using this new application available under the Schoology App Center, you can import your Google Classroom content over to Schoology. You will no longer have to manually recreate material you had previously used in Google Classroom. The new tool is completely self-service and automated and can be run at your convenience when needed.​ Using this tool, you can have the same experience as with Google Classroom on Schoology. So for those of you who use both platforms, this should make your life easier.

Just go to the Schoology ap center –> locate the Google Classroom App (Use Command + F and search Google) –> then click on the title –> click Install LTI –> choose your courses.

Hope this helps!

Tech Tip Tuesday: NEW Google Appointment Scheduler

Google has always had the ability to create appointment slots on your calendar, and allow people to book them. But now, Google has recently released a new version called Appointment Scheduler. Unlike Appointment slots, where time slots are added to your calendar and people can click on a button to book it, the new scheduler creates a landing page, complete with your booking calendar which includes a booking form, email confirmation, event updates, cancellation ability, and more.

This is actually a premium Google feature (which we have). To get it, you will need to go to Google Calendar first –> open the settings (gear icon) –> click settings –> scroll to the bottom of the general tab and checkmark the box for appointment schedules –> then refresh your google calendar page.

Now…

1. At the top left, click Create .
2. and select the NEW Appointment schedule.
3. Enter a title.
   • The title is visible to anyone who has the link to your booking page.
   • The title appears on your calendar for schedules and bookings.
4. Set your appointment duration.
   • To set a custom duration, next to “30 minutes,” click the Down arrow .
   • Appointments must be at least 15 minutes long.
5. Set the date and time of your appointments.
   • You can set up a one-time appointment or a recurring schedule.
6. To set how far in advance appointments can be booked, next to “Scheduling window,” click the Down arrow .
   • By default, someone can book an appointment with you anywhere from 12 hours to 60 days in advance.
7. Click Next.
8. Optional: You can change your photo, set where the meeting takes place, and more. Learn how to edit your appointment schedule.
9. After you edit your appointment schedule, click Save.

Google then creates a professional landing page that you can send via link to those you want to book you! Pretty awesome.

Tech Tip Tuesday: NEW Gmail Customized Layouts

Google has recently (and quietly) introduced a new Gmail feature called Layouts. This is a great tool to send out more polished/branded emails. To do this:

1. Go to Gmail.
2. In the top left, click Compose .
3. At the bottom of the window, click Layouts . This is the new button.
4. Select a layout.
5. Click Insert.
6. After you add the layout to the body of the email, you can add text and images or remove sections you don’t want.
   • If you include a button, make sure you set a link for the button.
   • If you add images, Google recommends you include alt text in case an image is not rendered. Alt text also helps people who use screen readers better understand your branded email.
   • To change an image in an email template:
     1. Click the image  Change image.
     2. Select an image.
     3. Click Next.
     4. Crop the image as needed.
     5. Click Insert.

It is a pretty neat feature! Might make for some nice branding for a department, sport, or club!

Hope this helps!

Tech Tip Tuesday: Walden, A Virtual Game

So the English teacher in me saw this and couldn’t resist…

Walden, a game is an exploratory narrative and open-world simulation of the life of American philosopher Henry David Thoreau during his experiment in self-reliant living at Walden Pond. The game begins in the summer of 1845 when Thoreau moved to the Pond and built his cabin there.

Players follow in his footsteps, surviving in the woods by finding food and fuel and maintaining their shelter and clothing. At the same time, players are surrounded by the beauty of the woods and the Pond, which hold a promise of a sublime life beyond these basic needs. The game follows the loose narrative of Thoreau’s first year in the woods, with each season holding its own challenges for survival and possibilities for inspiration. 

How cool is this? They also have an educator version (still in BETA) where you can register for a license to test it out with your students. If I was still in the classroom, I would be all over this. Here is the direct link to the educator side of it: https://www.waldengame.com/educators

Hope this helps!

Tech Tip Tuesday: Mark Complete Forms in Frontline

This is a repost

I’ve been asked for a reminder about what to do once a form has been pre-approved in Frontline. Regardless of what form you submitted (Field Trip, Professional Leave, PLC, Quarterly Assessment, SGO, etc) once your prior approvals are complete, the form will make its way back to you, before it can be final approved and awarded credit. The reason for this is so you can upload and attach any necessary documentation, certificates, etc. Here is what you will need to do:

– Click on the LearningPlan tab at the top right of the screen in Frontline.
– Locate the form you submitted.
– Click on the blue MANAGE button directly to the left of the form.
– In the window that opens, click on MARK COMPLETE
– The form will open. Note:This is when you will attach any documents you need to. If this is for SGO/Quarterly then you can skip attaching anything.
– Scroll to the bottom and click SUBMIT.

That’s it! The form will make its way over to me for approval and you will be awarded credit (if applicable) shortly after.

Quick Tip: To attach files to a form, first you need to click on your FILE LIBRARY. From there click UPLOAD, and find and open the file from your hard drive. It will save it in here. When you go to mark a form complete, there is a “files” section that will list all files in your file library. Check off the box next to the forms you want to attach and then proceed to submit.
Hope this helps!

Tech Tip Tuesday: Schoology Updates

Schoology recently released a few updates to the platform. Two of which stuck out to me and you may have already noticed.

• Immersive Reader- this sits in the background but you may have noticed the button floating around on Schoology. Immersive Reader helps students with disabilities utilize resources/tools that work on their site. Specifically, it helps them use screen readers to read the materials/assignments you create aloud. It allows them to use text decoding tools to assist with reading. And they can now translate information/text to a target language of their choosing.
• Another update lets teachers see the overall student performance and item performance on an assessment in a new tab called Assessment Reporting. It will help with more analysis of grades and questions.

Hope this helps!

Tech Tip Tuesday: Online Trivia Games/Brain Break

Students love trivia. Check out this free website: https://www.triviaplaza.com/. There are a variety of topics to choose from including music. Then each category is further broken down by a list of trivia games such as “composers”, “performer and instrument”, “characters and operas”, etc. With the end of the year quickly approaching, these could be fun to utilize in the classroom.

Tech Tip Tuesday: Turn a Website into a Mac Dock App

Any website that you are on can be added to your Mac Dock as long as you are using Safari. All you have to do is click on the URL, hold, then drag the UR back to your Dock in the “recently used” section. This will make it faster to launch because you can click from that spot alongside all your apps.

Tech Tip Tuesday: Chrome Updates

It is important to stay up to date on Chrome updates. Normally, these happen automatically in the background. But since most of us have a tendency to NOT shut down our computers or browsers, the updates usually pend this happening. I have recently had some staff come to me about certain features not working, only to find out that once they updated Chrome, everything worked again.

To update Chrome do this:

• In the top right corner –> to the right of your profile, you will see an update button. Green means something was released 2 days ago and is available for update. Orange means within 5 days, and red means 1 week.
• Then click “relaunch to update chrome”
• Chrome will reboot and should bring all of your closed browser tabs upon update.

However, if you do not see this “update” button, click the 3 dots (more options button) then you should see an option to update chrome.

Tech Tip Tuesday: Make Your School Google Account the Default

I recently had a few teachers tell me that when students open a google document that they shared with them, and go back to access it later, they cannot find it. They later come to find out that the file was saved to their personal Google account and not the school one. This happens all of the time and it is easy to be logged into multiple Google accounts at the same time. Yes, you can switch your account by clocking on your profile in the top right corner –> and selecting the account you need but there is another way.

Did you know that the first account you signed into is actually set as the default account for Google? Probably not! So what you need to do is click your profile in the upper rifght corner –> and sign out of all accounts. Then re-sign in using your school account first. If you still need your personal account, then sign in again with that account. Although you can switch between accounts, you should no longer have the issue of Google saving your documents to the wrong account if it is needed for school. Now that you know how to do this, pass this tip on to your students!

Hope this helps.