Canvas recently came out with an update that allows students to screen capture on their Chromebooks using Studio. We have tested this, and it works beautifully.
Click link for more information: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Studio/Studio-Release-Notes-2021-03-30/ta-p/454482
No joking, there are exciting updates that have come to popular Google tools.
First, Version History is finally available on Jamboard! Now, if you or a student accidentally clear a frame, you can easily restore it. Also, if you re-use a Jamboard with different classes throughout the day, you no longer need to create a version for each class. You can name each version and restore the original. If you need some ideas for how to use Jamboard, check out these great templates for SEL activities. For a quick video on how to use Version History, check out this video.
Second, when you click present on a Google Slides presentation you will have a cleaner menu for advancing slides. The old version was rather big and had a tendency to get in the way. Below is the new menu in the bottom, left corner. If there are other controls you need to access, click the “More Actions” option (three dots, snowman, TimBits).
As of March 31, there is new wording to the assignment buttons for students. When students are viewing the details of an assignment, they will see a button that says “Start Assignment” instead of “Submit Assignment.”
When a student adds work or uploads a file, the “Submit Assignment” button will appear. If the student is given multiple attempts or is asked to resubmit an assignment (new feature as of March 20) the student will see a button that says “New Attempt.” To see more information, go here.
NOTE: This does not apply to Google Assignments.
Below, you will find a list of free virtual courses that are being offered through REMC for the month of April. Each of these courses are offering 10 SCECHs each. The courses start April 5th and the registration deadline is April 2nd.
As the weather warms, you may find yourself looking for new ways to keep your students engaged. Or perhaps you are at the secondary level and want to include more SEL check-ins as students navigate the upcoming schedule changes. Educator Esther Park has a large number of free templates for you to use. She has experience as a high school ELL teacher so she has several templates for vocabulary acquisition which is great for any content area. She has templates (Jamboard and Slides) for daily check-ins, story elements, brain breaks, and group discussion frames. Be sure to check out her website as you look for new ways to engage your students. https://mrspark.org/free AND https://www.mrspark.org/tech-tips
Speaking of Jamboard, be on the look out for a new update that will have Version History which should be arriving any day now.
Did you know Canvas has discussion boards? They are a powerful learning tool when we are remote or in-person. Using this medium encourages all students to participate, not just a few vocal students. Additionally, by writing comments as a “rehearsal” for a live discussion you may get more thoughtful contributions. Here are a few main points to note:
When you begin using discussion boards, you might find that students need help cultivating quality responses. Setting expectations from the beginning help reduce frustration.
Canvas has annual updates which include items such as new features, “bug” fixes, and enhancements to make the Canvas experience more efficient. On March 20th, Canvas will be releasing a fairly significant update that will benefit all users. Below is a list of notable features:
March is Women’s History Month. Here is a choice board that can be used by students to help students explore influential women and create something using their new knowledge. You can explore it yourself to find things that relate more specifically to your content. These are geared toward upper grade levels.
To find more lesson plans based for all grade levels try these resource collections:
March is Reading Month. To celebrate, use this “activity board” for students to explore books and create their own literary works. Be sure to preview the links yourself and File/Make a Copy if you want to make modifications. You’ll need to review the “Create a Reading Fort” link to insert your own place where students can share what they create, perhaps they could post a picture to the Canvas discussion board. You can also share this particular resource with the short link: bit.ly/readacross21 Happy Reading Month!
John Sowash’s monthly EDU newsletter always lists ten or more links he briefly describes and commends for educators to check out. Some recent ones he’s called out are:
On February 17th Google announced several updates for Google Workspace for Education. John’s newsletter has organized some of them into infographics shown below.
FOR CHROMEBOOKS….
The screen recording updates are very exciting, encouraging students to press record for formative and summative assessments which can be very powerful and now more easily done on a Chromebook! Stay tuned to see if this will also allow students to record their screen via Canvas Studio.
FOR GOOGLE DRIVE….
There are also several updates apparently coming soon to Google Drive. The two that will most likely impact students and teachers are Form draft responses and revision history in Jamboard. In Google Forms, students will be able to stop and return to a form at a later date and time. Please note this is set to launch, “later in 2021” so do not plan to utilize this functionality just yet. One of the biggest frustrations with Jamboard has been the fact that frames can be easily removed and those changes are very difficult to track. Soon, it will be much easier to track changes and revert to previous versions in Jamboard.
