Category: Google

Create a Screencast in Google Slides

Google recently added the ability to make a video recording of your Google Slides directly with in their platform. You can record up to 30 minutes, but keep in mind that viewership and attention go down significantly after 6 minutes! After recording you can choose to Re-record or Save to Drive.

Record a slideshow

Important:

There’s a 30-minute limit to every recording.
Information about Slides recordings isn’t available in Revision History.
If you exceed your Drive Storage quota, you can’t create more recordings.
You must have edit access to the slides in order to create a new recording.

To open your presentation, go to Google Slides.
To record your slideshow, in the top right, click Rec Record new video.
To start recording, in the middle, click the red record button.
- To start over, pause and click Re-record.
- To save your recording, pause and click Save to Drive.

Find your recording

On your computer, go to Google Slides.
Open the presentation where you created the recording.
Click Rec .
Select your recording from the list that appears.

Tip: Recordings are saved into a My Drive folder called Slides recordings.

Share your recording

Recordings can be shared to collaborators on the document immediately after creation.

On your computer, go to Google Slides.
Open the presentation where you created the recording.
To share your recording, click the title of the recording from the list.
The video in the full-screen player layout appears.
In the top right, you can find the option to share.
- Select the user, audience, or URL visibility rules.

Tip: Alternatively, you can share a recording like you would share any file in Drive. Learn how to share files from Google Drive.

Student & Teacher Usage Ideas

Record yourself giving directions that you would give the same way to the entire class
Record yourself going through your daily agenda slides and post for absent students
- Tip: If you post the link in Canvas, make sure you click the spacebar so you have a clickable link! Avoid this unclickable link:

Have students insert a picture of their work on a slide and record themselves reflecting on their work
Students can record a presentation they created for class

Tip: If you want to embed videos in Canvas, then Canvas Studio is a better option. Canvas Studio Guide – Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

Google

Google Jamboard now View Only

Reminder: As of October 1, 2024 your existing Jamboards are view-only. On December 31, 2024 you will no longer be able to access the Jamboard app or your Jam files.

What should you do? P-CCS recommends Lucid for Education as a Jamboard replacement. They offer a tool to import your Jams to Lucidspark. Lucid also has strong integration with Canvas, you can embed a collaborative board directly on a page or you can assign each student their own copy of one of the existing Lucid templates.

Resources to Help:

Create a blank Lucid board tutorial
P-CCS Lucid for Education Guide–as we dive deeper this month, we will add to it
- Find plenty of info on integrating with Canvas
- Slide 5 has many more resources for those who were heavy Jamboard users!
Tutorial: Import existing Jamboard files into Lucidspark

miGoogle Conference on November 5

Each year, the “Google expert of Michigan.” John Sowash puts on a conference called miGoogle. This has been hosted in several locations and this year it will be at Northville High School. Even better, it takes place on November 5th, a non-school day. The day will feature workshops led by local educators on a variety of Google topics related to education. Lunch is also included. The keynote is Dave Stuart Jr. speaking on “The Will to Learn: Cultivating Student Motivation in a Hyperconnected, AI-powered Age.” The keynote topic is described as:

“Students only learn when they do work with care. Whether that work is listening, or writing, or reading, or creating — the work, done with care, is what produces transformation. So, here’s the question: as we continue teaching in an AI-powered, hyperconnected age, how do we cultivate a genuine, strong care for learning in our students’ hearts? In this keynote, we’ll explore the Five Key Beliefs and how to cultivate them in the classroom.”

While the district is looking into ways to send some P-CCS educators, if this feels like a “can’t miss” opportunity then you might consider submitting a proposal to present at the conference! Approved speakers can get free admission to conference and a t-shirt, plus a bag full of goodies. Submit your session proposal by October 1. https://www.miedtech.com/rfp/

Learn more here: https://www.miedtech.com/

Goodbye Zoom, Hello Google Meet!

Important Announcement: District-Wide Transition to Google Meet

We’re excited to announce that our district is transitioning to Google Meet as our primary video conferencing platform. To streamline operations and enhance our digital learning environment, we will no longer be utilizing paid Zoom accounts.

Google Meet offers a user-friendly interface, seamless integration with Google Workspace, and robust collaboration tools, making it an ideal platform for our classrooms. Whether you’re hosting a live lesson, meeting with families, or collaborating with colleagues, Google Meet provides the features, including breakout rooms, polling and more, you need to connect and engage effectively.

We understand that this change may require some adjustment, but we believe that Google Meet will work well for our needs.

Please review our Google Meet Teacher Guide for information on how to set up and use Google Meet. Canvas offers an integration with Google Meet that allows for easy student access, when needed. The guide will also show you how to set up a Meet with students without the Canvas integration. We recognize that your Google Meet use cases may be with families or colleagues, so the guide shows you how to set up a Meet through Google Calendar or creating an instant meeting.

If you have questions about Google Meet, please submit a tech ticket.

Google Meet

Some Google for Education newsletter highlights

Stay Connected Over Summer Break with Applied Digital Skills
Our Stay Connected Over Summer Break Collection features engaging lessons that include creating a digital scrapbook, a vision board and much more. While on summer break, this collection helps students learn valuable digital skills while having fun!

Arts & Culture: Portland
Explore the history and culture of Portland in an extensive new resource launched in collaboration with 16 local cultural organizations.

Arts & Culture: Musical Canvas
Encouraging creativity through drawing and music: Musical Canvas is a new experiment by Google Arts & Culture which will generate a soundtrack to your drawing with the help of Google AI.

Arts & Culture: America’s Chinatowns
Discover a new cultural hub celebrating the heritage and impact of Chinatowns with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and 14 cultural organizations , on Google Arts & Culture.

Generative AI for Educators is Now Available

In collaboration with MIT RAISE (Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education), Grow with Google created the Generative AI for Educators course to help teachers save time and enhance student learning with generative AI tools. Learn more.

Explore AI with Applied Digital Skills

We’ve refreshed our Discover AI in our Daily Life lesson by integrating new generative AI concepts throughout the lesson to enhance student engagement! Additionally, we made the popular Verse by Verse extension a core video in the lesson, allowing students to flex their creativity and compose an AI-generated poem.

Arts & Culture: Freshwater, Our Most Precious Resource

Discover startling facts about freshwater, explore an interactive experiment created with data from NASA, and learn how our shared heritage is affected. Understand how we can use water more wisely and how to help protect the planet’s life sustaining ecosystems.

Arts & Culture: Kelp, The Invisible Forest

Discover the underwater ecosystem, home to endangered Giant Kelp forests filled with an array of unique species and wildlife. Expert stories, scientific research, stunning photographs, videos and a lesson plan, makes this an underwater journey for the whole class to explore.

Arts & Culture: Food of Egypt

Explore Egyptian culture and history through its culinary heritage with this new immersive digital experience for those hungry for a taste of Egypt, featuring high-resolution photographs, dozens of expert stories and videos.

Arts & Culture: Rewild the World

Learn about wildlife conservation with Rewild the World, an interactive game developed with the World Wildlife Fund and bringing focus to four threatened species and their habitats: tigers, gorillas, polar bears, and sea turtles.

Black Culture and the Performing Arts

Explore Google Arts & Culture’s new Performing Arts hub, which celebrates Black excellence in the performing arts, from dance to music to theater.

Arts & Culture: Embark on an art-filled quest in The Forever Labyrinth

This new immersive experience invites learners and players to explore and learn about art up-close and to discover unexpected cross cultural connections within an interactive world.

See past issues or sign up for the Google Education Newsletter.

Heads up Google users, Google is changing the look of the sign-in page:

What’s the same

The steps to sign in haven’t changed. You enter the same information you usually do, like your email address and password.
You use your account to sign in securely to the same Google services as before.

Why the page changed

The new sign-in page has a better layout for all screen types, which includes large and wide screens. The sign-in page adjusts to your screen’s size.

Where the change happened

The new sign-in page shows up on:

Computers
Phones
Tablets

You can find it when you sign in to a Google app or a Google service on a browser, like Chrome.

If you use an older version of a browser, you may still find the old sign-in page.

How to help keep your account secure

To take extra steps to strengthen your account’s security:

Do a Security Checkup to review security settings and activity.
Visit the Safety Center to find out about online security and privacy tools.

If you sign in on a device that’s not yours, learn how to browse in private to help protect your account.

New Ways to Use the Address Bar to increase your Productivity!

If you’ve ever found yourself lost in a sea of open tabs or struggled to locate a bookmark buried in folders, Google Chrome’s latest update is here to rescue you. The Chrome address bar on desktop has received a significant upgrade, empowering users to search through tabs, bookmarks, and history directly from the address bar.

@Tabs: Taming the Tab Chaos

For those moments when your tab count resembles an explosion, the new @tabs shortcut becomes your trusty companion. Simply type “@tabs” in the address bar, hit the “search tabs” button, and start typing the title. Watch as Chrome intelligently sifts through your tabs, presenting matching suggestions. Whether you’re planning a trip with numerous tabs about flights, hotels, activities, and rental cars, or you’re managing work projects, @tabs, coupled with tab groups, simplifies the process and helps you stay organized.

@Bookmarks: Navigating Your Bookmarked Universe

If you’ve bookmarked a crucial webpage months ago and now need quick access, the @bookmarks shortcut is your solution. By typing “@bookmarks” in the address bar, you can efficiently locate the bookmark you’re looking for, even among folders of bookmarks. Whether it’s checking the availability of a hotel or revisiting a bookmarked article, @bookmarks streamlines your browsing experience.

@History: Revisiting the Past

Sometimes, the information you seek might not be bookmarked, but fear not. The @history shortcut allows you to search through your browsing history directly from the address bar. Whether you need to find an old website for hiking trails or revisit a page you stumbled upon, @history comes to your rescue.

In the address bar, simply type the desired shortcut, enter the relevant details, and witness the suggestions appear directly, making your browsing experience more efficient and enjoyable.

The Chrome address bar – now referred to as the OMNIBOX – is no longer just a URL input – it’s your gateway to a more organized and accessible browsing experience. Try out these shortcuts today and take control of your tabs, bookmarks, and history like never before.

Happy browsing!

Outdated Google Assignments Deprecated June 2024

The older Google Apps LTI (integration) will no longer be available in Canvas after June 2024. P-CCS turned off the ability to create new assignments with the previous integration in 2021, so a very small number of people will be affected. If you have copied old Google Assignments over from year to year, you may need to convert them to the updated Google Assignment.

What do you do with assignments created with the old integration?

Make a copy of the old assignment
On the right of the assignment, click More>Edit>More Options
Next to “Submission Type,” click the dropdown >External Tool.
Click “Find”, select “Google Assignments (LTI 1.3)”
Link your Google Workspace for Education Account (first time only)
Click Continue, attach the Drive Files needed
Choose your grading tool, make sure to update the due date and points
Click Create.
On the Canvas page, click Select>Save.

Video directions

If you have assignments created with the old integration (this will apply to very few of our teachers), those assignments will NOT BE available after June 2024 UNLESS you update them with the steps outlined above.

What are Google Assignments?

Google Assignments allow you to automatically create a copy of docs/slides/sheets for each student to edit (similar functionality to Google Classroom, if you are familiar with that platform). That document automatically includes their name, is shared with the teacher, is organized in a folder in Drive, and is attached to the assignment for submission. It also allows the teacher to observe student progress and give feedback on their work along the way.

Google and Canvas by Kaelyn Bullock

If you would like to learn how to create a Google Assignment, follow these steps.

Read Google’s guidance for more information about the integration. Please reach out to a TIS if you have questions.

PCCS Introduces Pre-Populated Bookmarks for Enhanced Accessibility!

We’re thrilled to announce a fantastic update for both staff and students at Plymouth-Canton Community Schools (PCCS)! Our commitment to providing a seamless digital experience has led us to introduce pre-populated bookmarks, making it even easier for you to access essential resources. These bookmarks are conveniently organized within a designated folder labeled “PCCS Bookmarks” on any Chrome browser when logged in with your PCCS email.

For Staff:

Clever – Convenient access to Clever services.
Google Dashboard – Aka the Waffle
Mistar-Q – PCCS Student Information System (SIS)
Tech Requests – Submit technology support requests.
Rubicon Atlas – PCCS Curriculum – Explore PCCS curriculum.
Canvas Catalog – PCCS PD – PCCS catalog of PD offerings
PCCS Tech – PCCS technology information and support
NWEA MAP Login – Easily log in to the NWEA MAP assessment platform.

For Students:

Clever – Convenient access to Clever services.
Canvas – Navigate your courses on the Canvas learning platform.
Google Dashboard – Aka the Waffle
Mistar-Student Connection – Access grades, attendance, and other student records
Digital Learning Hub – Explore resources for digital learning.
K-12 Student Handbook – Refer to the comprehensive student handbook.

We want to emphasize that this enhancement won’t affect any bookmarks you’ve already created. You’re still free to add and customize additional bookmarks to suit your individual needs.

These bookmarks will only appear when logged into Chrome with your PCCS email. For those unfamiliar with logging into Chrome with your PCCS email visit this link for support with logging in to your web browser.

At PCCS, we’re dedicated to providing a user-friendly digital environment, and we believe these pre-populated bookmarks will be a game-changer in streamlining your online experience. We hope you enjoy the added convenience and accessibility they bring to your daily routine. Happy browsing!

GIFs in Google Slides

No matter where you fall in the GIF camp (hard or soft G), you can be excited about the new update in Google Slides. You can now directly search and add a GIF from the insert menu, no need for any extensions or add-ons.

You will be able to search for the GIF or sticker you want.

You can filter for stickers or GIFs. Enjoy this new feature!