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Google Academy Breakouts TCEA17

As the first day is wrapping up (and before I forget) I wanted to get a few things down.

Today was a successful day.  As stated in a previous post, the opening keynote by Dr. Rios offered some great things to think about when working with our students.  There were several other sessions that well worth the crowd.  Every session I attend, I try to walk away with one or two ideas I can use or pass along immediately.  Much more than that and I will never accomplish any of them because there are just too many ideas, especially at an event of this scale.  Here are a few that I want to share from today.



The Magic of Google Addons

I have used Google Addons before, but there were a few that were introduced that I haven't used before.

  • Flubaroo-This one I have used, but what stands out to me is the comparison to the new features in Google Forms.  If you are giving an assessment that requires more than just multiple choice responses, you need to use Flubaroo.  You can also assign different point values to different questions.

  • Autocrat-This is one of my favorites.  Essentially a mail merge, but it can import information from Google Sheets to create form letters, etc.  It can also be configured to send them out once completed.

  • Flippity-I have never tried this one.  It looks like a great tool to use in the classroom-creates flashcards, gameboards, etc from information in Google sheets.

  • Avery Label Merge-Connects data in Sheets & creates labels for printing in Google Docs.

  • EasyBib-Great for generating a bibliography/resource page for your writing and reports.  Great way to demonstrate how to correctly cite in Google.

  • Form Notifications-Will notify multiple parties when form information has been submitted.  It doesn't require each user to set their own alerts for the form data.

  • Form Ranger-Great tool for eliminating choices in a form after a designated number of responses.

Digital Signage Using Google

This is one that I attended out of frustration.  I have been searching for an alternative for our digital signs in our district.  We don't have very many at the moment, in fact we really don't have any due to failing hardware.  I have tried to find something that is cost effective & easy to use. I never realized until reading the session description that Google offered an option.  Essentially, you connect a managed Chrome device (Chromebook, Chromebox, Chromebit) to a display.  Set it up as a Kiosk with the Chrome Sign Builder app autostarted in kiosk mode.  After creating & exporting your schedule you are up and running.  Using Youtube playlists, Google Slides and Docs you can easily update the content without needing to access the device or device manager.  Super simple, especially compared to other signage software.

Get'em Googled

There were many ideas that were shared by this crew, but the one idea that stood out to me the most was Google Certification for students.  Having struggled with making learning meaningful for some of our students, this may help.

I will post later about the closing keynote.  It has been a great day so far.

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