Ed Tech Ideas

Tech Integration for Busy Teachers

Category Archives: Google Apps

Google Slides Primer

Leave a comment Posted by @k_ferrell on February 19, 2016

Level up your presentation skills! Learn how to create presentations, edit and customize your presentation, edit and format slides, add animations, share and embed your presentations, and much, much more.

Google Apps, Technology in the Classroom creativity, just in time, productivity, slides

Easily Create Video Presentations Integrated with Google Apps

1 Comment Posted by @k_ferrell on November 19, 2013

Here’s a very slick new tool that allows students and teachers to share a Google Doc or Presentation, record themselves along side the presentation or doc and email or embed the video on a blog. It’s called Movenote, and it’s free.

Go to www.movenote.com
Click login and select Sign in with Google
When the Adobe Flash Player Settings window appears, select Allow and check Remember and then Close
Select Add Content and choose Google Drive
Select a Document or Presentation to upload
After upload is complete, press record to begin recording
Use the left and right arrows above the document or presentation to advance and go back.
When you finish recording, press pause, and then Save & Preview
You can now rename and select More Options to get the embed code

Google Apps, Technology in the Classroom Google Apps, Google Docs, google presentation, video

QR Codes, Voice Recording, and Google Docs

1 Comment Posted by @k_ferrell on February 7, 2013

This is a great project for elementary and beyond. Report/bio/non-fiction writing in a Google Doc with an embedded QR code that links to the student reading excepts from their research. You may print out book style when complete, or create on online flip book using sites such as Issuu, Youblisher or Flipsnack.

Learn how to easily record your voice, generate a corresponding QR code and make your Google Doc come alive!

Google Apps, Technology in the Classroom Google Docs, QR, Voice Recording

Creating a Diagram Within a Google Doc

Leave a comment Posted by @k_ferrell on January 28, 2013

Here’s a short video I just created for a teacher at my school who was wanting her students to be able to work on labeling diagrams within a Google Doc.

Google Apps diagram, doc, drawing, google

Lesson Plans for Integrating Google Apps

Leave a comment Posted by @k_ferrell on April 27, 2012

Google in Education has an index of over 100 free lesson plans, all searchable by products (Docs, Earth, Digital Literacy, Calendar, Sketchup, etc.), Subject, and Age. You can teach students about telling time utilizing Google Calendar; Introduce the scientific method using Google Spreadsheets; Go on a scavenger hunt for capital cities using Google Earth.

Google Apps google, Learning, Lesson Plans

Collaborative Writing – Fifth Graders and Google Docs

2 Comments Posted by @k_ferrell on October 6, 2011

I cannot tell you how excited my 5th graders were to write today. Each of our students in grade 5, for the first time, now has their own Google Apps account and today we dove straight in to collaborating on a personal narrative piece they had previously written in Microsoft Word. The process was as follows: Upload, share, advise, revise.

Upload

After logging in, the students first uploaded their document into Google Docs, named it, and read over it to make sure that everything looked good.

The students then added their collaboration partner by giving them the ability to view and comment on their document.

At this point, they also added their teacher.

Advise

Each student then went back to their Google Docs account and found a new document from their friend waiting for them. After opening it, they were then able to read through and make comments.

Revise

The best part of the day was seeing how enthusiastic the kids were to go back in to fix and improve their writing. After the students made changes to their original piece, they asked if they could add more editors to their document who could review and make comments on their piece. Here’s a short, raw video of part of the process. My favorite part is at 1:25 when a student enthusiastically yells out to the class, “Everybody, everybody, get on mine!”

That’s exciting writing!

Google Apps, Technology in the Classroom, Writing collaboration, Google Docs, writing

Using Google Forms for Simplified Student Data Collection

2 Comments Posted by @k_ferrell on September 15, 2011

At the beginning of each quarter, I have my students take a 1 minute typing test so that we have a quick idea of their keyboarding growth throughout the year. I used to have an Excel spreadsheet which I would have open, and tell the students that they had to come up to my desk and tell me their 3 scores (WPM, Accuracy, and Adjusted WPM). This was problematic is a couple of ways: First, it was time consuming. I only have 40 minute classes with my students and this data collection really ate into that block. Secondly, students would inevitably forget their scores and would need to go back to their computers to check their numbers (that is if they hadn’t already closed out the window).

Simplification

I created a quick form in Google Docs and dropped the link in a shared folder where all of my students can access. They take the 1 minute typing test, minimize their screens, open the link, and input their scores in the form. I then have a time-stamped spreadsheet with their scores and I didn’t have to type in a single number.

I’m no Google Apps guru – in fact, I’m quite the novice as my school has just this year began rolling out Google Apps accounts for our teachers. But this has been one simple way to use one of the countless features in Google Apps that have made my life easier.

Do you use Google Apps with your students? What kind of things are you doing?