2 Minute Tech Tips
Here you will find all of the 2 Minute Tech Tips that have been done, with the most recent at the top. Remember, the videos are meant only to introduce you to a topic or service, not make you an expert. Please do not walk away from any of them feeling overwhelmed or intimidated by what is shown. If you see something you like, and you want some 1-on-1 help with getting started with it, or just learning more, please contact me (mdalton@malonecsd.org); I'm here to help.
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Locked Mode for Quizzes in Google Forms
One of the common concerns teachers have when giving students assessments online is how easy it is to flip between tabs, providing a pretty easy means of cheating. After more than a year of waiting, locked mode has finally come to Google Forms for our domain. Now, you can give a quiz and have all parts of the Chrome interface taken away so the students are required to stay on the quiz until they finish. |
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Gmail's Confidential Mode
As educators and professionals working in a school district, we should be taking every precaution we can to protect sensitive information about our students. Google has recognized this need in G Suite districts, and this week rolled out Confidential Mode for Gmail. Take a look at this video to find out what that is, and how to use it. |
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Malone Teacher Resources
Teachers' lives are hectic. It can be hard to keep up on what online resources are available to you, and what the district has purchased licenses for. This tip reminds you of where to go to see what you have access to, and how to go about getting into those sites. |
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Pack Up Your Drive & Move
When someone, staff or student, leaves the district, they lose access to their district accounts, including Google Drive. Google has an easy way to copy and transfer the contents of one Drive (and Gmail) account into another. This 2 Minute Tech Tip points you toward the page on this site with the step-by-step directions. |
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Live Stream YouTube
Ever find yourself wishing you could explain a complicated set of directions or concept to your students or substitute on a day you're going to be absent? Or maybe you're looking for a way for students to be able to get on-demand instruction from you, meaning they can hear you explain some piece of content whenever they want, however many times they want. If so, check out the new, streamlined live streaming feature from YouTube, found at youtube.com/webcam. What is so useful about it is that besides letting you stream to the internet live, which you may or may not use, it instantly puts a recording of the live stream on your YouTube channel when you're done. So you can use this feature to easily record videos to be shared after the fact. |
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Combining Your Email
Yes, it is frustrating that we have two email addresses (@malonecsd.org and @maloneschools.org), and two different email systems. If you're tired of checking both, or don't check both and sometimes wonder what you're missing in the other account, watch this super-sized tip to find out how to get all your email in one spot. |
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econedlink
Created by the Council for Economic Education, this site is a completely free resource. On it you will find lessons and interactive tools to help teach students (K-12) about economics, specifically as it will impact them in real life. There are some great tie-ins with other disciples and curricula as well. Definitely worth checking out is their series for high schools students that connects math and economics and real life. |
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The New Google Earth
You might be familiar with the desktop version of Google Earth. While a great and robust program, it had some issues in a school setting, one being that it sometimes runs a bit slowly. Google has just revamped Earth and now it's a browser-based service. For people using Chromebooks, this is fantastic! It might not have all the bells and whistles of the desktop version (which is still available), but the new streamlined interface is, in many ways, more user friendly. |
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Team Drives
Google has rolled out a new feature in G Suite for Education: Team Drives. This feature allows you to create a Google Drive that is shared among users that you specify. Unlike sharing a folder with a group of people, there are no issues of ownership that happen if one or more of the members of the team leave the group or the district altogether. It's also a great way to organize and distribute materials to groups of staff and/or students. |
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Checking on Student Google Accounts
If you've ever needed to know if one of your students has a district Google account, or if you've needed to verify a username (does it have a middle initial or not, for example), then watch this. You'll see a quick and easy way to look usernames up on your own. |
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Differentiate Google Classroom
If you have ever wished that you could reassign something one or more of your students in Google Classroom, but not a whole class, or you would like to be able to offer enrichment activities or remediation to a subset of the class, then see how the newest Classroom feature can make these things possible. |
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Global Speed Chat
If you are looking for an easy way to get your students connecting to the larger global community, check out www.globalspeedchat.com. The site offers monthly tasks to be completed by students along with supporting teacher materials. It's a fantastic, high-impact tool that doesn't require a great deal of skill or time; and it was co-created by Malone Middle School's Jen Hesseltine. |
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Use a Link to Give a Copy
Learn how to use a link to a file in your Google Drive to give a copy of that file to someone else. This leaves your master copy intact and unshared. |
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Read&Write Chrome Extension
Our district has purchased a license to give all staff and student access to this Chrome extension. Read&Write provides a number of very useful tools, such as text-to-speech on any webpage, highlighting (and collection of highlights into a Google doc), ability to build custom vocabulary lists from a webpage, and much more. |
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Google Drive Sharing Settings
Google just rolled out a new setting available for all files shared in Drive, expiration date. Also, there are other settings available whether you're sharing an individual file or a whole folder that give you more control over your documents. |
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Readymag
This site is very intuitive and user-friendly, and lets you and your students create beautiful, professional looking digital publications. Students will need to create an account, but they can do so using their @maloneschools.org Gmail addresses. Free accounts are limited to 10 pages per publication, but in most instances, this will be plenty. |
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EdPuzzle
This site requires you and your students to register, but it is 100% free, and students do not need to put in an email address, so any age can use it. Once you have your account, you can turn make YouTube videos interactive by adding your own narration and questions (which will be graded for you if they're multiple choice). |
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SAS Curriculum Pathways
SAS Curriculum Pathways is a free service with thousands of Common Core aligned resources. |
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Biteable
Biteable.com is a free, online service for creating very polished looking, and sounding, animated videos. You could use it yourself for introducing topics, providing writing prompts, sharing info with parents, etc. Or, you could have your students use it to present and share information. Sample Video |
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Vibby
Vibby is a free site that will let you take any YouTube video, highlight portions of it to watch, add questions/prompts, and then share it with your students. |
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Chrome Extensions
Learn how to customize your Chrome browser with extensions. These mini-programs will make Chrome do all kinds of cool things. |
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Google URL Shortener
Learn how to create a much shorter URL (website address) for any existing webpage, and create a QR code for that page while you're at it using a free Google tool. |
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Core Connect
Core Connect is a web-based service all MCSD employees have access to thanks to our partnership with A+ Educators. If you've forgotten how to log in, contact me (mdalton@malonecsd.org) and I'll give you the info. |
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Flippity
Flippity.net is a free service that provides you with Google docs templates for interactive flashcards and Jeopardy games. If you'd like more information on using Flippity, check the miscellaneous section of the How-To Videos page for a step-by-step on making flashcards. |
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Smart Exchange
Smart Exchange is a site where teachers can find, or share, ready-made resources for use with a SmartBoard. There are some premium resources on the site, but many are free Notebook or Smart Ideas files which you can download and then use as is, or modify to fit your class. |
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Discovery Education
Discovery Education is a premium resource for which we have a district license. Take a look at the video to see what it has to offer, and contact your building's Library Media Specialist for information on setting up your account. |
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Remind
Remind is a free service that teachers or coaches could use to provide one-way communication with students and parents. |