Voice Typing

I'm writing this post in a slightly different way than I normally do. I got the idea after having had to do a longer piece of writing for a course that I am taking. I find that the barrier to writing sometimes is a physical one-- namely, having to tap away at the keyboard. So I'm doing what many of us do already when it comes to sending texts messages-- using voice to text software.

There are many different tools available to capture your voice and convert it into text. At the moment, I am using the voice typing tool in Google Docs. it works remarkably well. You can find it in the Tools menu. You can also use voice to text in read and write for Google parentheses which actually uses the same technology.

There is also speech typing (among many other accessibility tools) in the Read and Write for Google extension (which uses the same technology).

Or use tools built into your smartphone. Tapping the microphone to the left of the spacebar on your phone (in Android, you may have to press and hold another icon to see it) does the trick. You can dictate a block of text into your notes app, and then paste into a word processor processor to clean up any errors.

I hope this is a helpful tip that may get you out of a rut the next time you need to do a longer bit of writing. Enjoy the snow this weekend!

Doodle for Google contest

Ever wonder where Google gets their "Doodles" (the graphics that play on the Google logo) from?  Well, sometimes it's from students.  Once a year, Google holds a contest for students in grades K-12.  This year's theme is  "When I grow up, I hope..."

Why not share this with your students and give them a shot?  There are categories for grade levels 8-9 and 10-12.  Their are great prizes, including college scholarships and a visit to Google headquarters.

Here's the info.

And here's a video about last year's winners.

And here's one of the cleverest Doodles of all time-- a playable PacMan game.

Using Google Earth on a Chromebook

First off, in case you missed it...you can use Google Earth completely in the browser (meaning also on a Chromebook).  Earth was an application that you used to have to install, but this is no longer the case.  If you haven't tried it lately, do yourself a favor and have some fun with it!

There is lots of great content in Google Earth. I'd be happy to help you find a match to your curriculum, whether it be exploring the setting for a novel that students are reading, the landscape of a region they're learning about, the mathematics of latitude and longitude...lots of possibilities!

Anyway...
The specific point of this post is that I was working with two 9th science teachers this morning on using Google Earth to study changes in glaciers.  The need was to upload KML files from the National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC) site.

Here's the solution:

• First off, what's a KML file? It's simply a text file that contains information about geographic data.  Google Earth uses these (as well as KMZ files) to show information about places. 
• Download the appropriate file from the site above (or other source). 
• Important note: When you download a file to your Chromebook, it goes (by default) to your Downloads folder (which is a folder that only exists on that particular Chromebook).  If desired, you can drag it into your Drive to be able to access it from any device.   
• In Google Earth, you need to enable KML file uploads.  This is in Settings.  Scroll down to the bottom and turn on. You (and students) only need to do this once.  See the screenshot below.

 

• You're now ready to upload the KML file.  
• Once loaded, you can double-click on any location to "fly" there.

Showing a selected portion of a video in Slides

A common question is whether you can play just a piece of a video in Google Slides.  The answer is yes!  Right-click the video and choose Format options.  Click on Video Playback and you can then set the Start and End times.

Here's a short screencast I recorded that shows how to do it...

Using Google Classroom to create class folders

I've posted about this before, but I wanted to share some work I did with two teachers yesterday that integrates Moodle and Google Classroom.  These are both teachers who use Moodle regularly to post announcements and resources but were looking for an easier way to manage the organization of student work.  Their question was essentially, "what's the easiest way to set up folders for each of my classes so that I don't have to keep checking email to find student work?"

The answer that worked for them (and that I would recommend to others) is Google Classroom.  Using Classroom does not necessarily mean that you're abandoning Moodle or any other system you use for posting resources and facilitating online discussion (although it does both of those things, as well).  You can use Classroom simply as a means for creating folders for students to submit work to.

The advantage of using Classroom (rather than setting up folders on your own) is that it does all the work for you.  Files that students "submit" are automatically shared correctly.  They are organized both by assignment ("show me all of the Hamlet essays") and by student ("show me all of Ella's work").

There's much more you can do with Classroom, but this may be all you're looking for right now.

I'm happy to get you started with this for second semester.

Below is a short doc I made yesterday that covers the very basics listed above.
And here is more comprehensive help from Google.

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Using Classroom for creating a set up class folders

Making the course(s):

• Go to http://classroom.google.com
• Click the + sign, then Create
• Name your class (other info is optional)
• Repeat for multiple sections

Inviting students:

• To share the class code, click on the settings gear, then on the pull-down arrow next to the code.  
• Students go to Google Classroom, then + sign, then Join, then type in code.

To "make a folder":

• Click Classwork
• Click Create
• Name the assignment, set due date and topic (if desired)
• Click Assign to create it right away (students will get an email) or Schedule to post it later
• Classroom will create a folder with the appropriate sharing rights

The student side:

• Students will see the "assignment" in Classroom and will also get an email
• They can click Add to upload a file or Google doc, or Create to create one from scratch.

To see the work:

• Click Classwork
• Click on View Assignment
• Click on the folder

Note that if students click "Turn in" they lose editing rights, but they can "Unsubmit"