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How I Create Google Classroom Group Assignments

10/30/2014

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Until Google comes up with a better way, this is how I create group assignments in Classroom. There may be other methods; this one has worked for me. In this example the groups will be doing a Google Slides presentation.
Let's assume there are 3 groups.

  1. In the Google Drive Classroom folder, create 3 blank slide presentations.
  2. Name the presentations Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3.
  3. Share the group 1 presentation with the students in group 1, giving them edit rights. Do the same for groups 2 & 3.
  4. Since the presentations are shared with only the group members, other students cannot edit it.
  5. To create the assignment in Classroom you will actually create 3 assignments, one for each group. Title them group 1, group 2, group 3.
  6. Insert the correct presentation for each group's assignment, once again giving them edit rights. You do not need to make one available for each student, as they will be working on the shared presentation.
  7. Tell students which group they are in. Students must open the assignment for THEIR group in order to access their slideshow. If they open some other group's assignment, they will not be able to edit the slideshow.
  8. I don't worry about using the "done" and "not done" or the grading feature with group assignments.
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Break the mold

10/25/2014

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Trying to break the mold of the traditional classroom arrangement. My room layout changes on almost a daily basis depending on the activities!
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You i-Draw: Free online alternative to illustrator, coreldraw

10/22/2014

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Why buy new when free online will do?

In my teaching I use as many free web-based apps as possible. Why? They're free. They make great alternatives to expensive software. I don't have to pay for upgrades every few years. There is no installation necessary. Etc.

An excellent alternative to Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw is YouiDraw. It offers a drawing app, a logo creator and a painting app in which you can easily create cool shading in your drawings. 

YouiDraw
Drawing App
The free plan gives you plenty of tools and options. YouiDraw syncs with Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive. The learning curve for the drawing app is a little high, but hey, it's a vector drawing tool! A user manual is available. In the free version, drawings can be exported as png or jpeg.

Logo Creator
Most logo creators I've seen are very limited, offering only pre-made templates in which the designer enters text and changes colors. YouiDraw offers much more freedom of creativity. While it does have templates, you can also start with a blank screen. Not only can you create graphics, but you can import them as well. A user manual is available. In the free version, logos can be exported as png or jpeg files.

Painting App
I love the way I can shade objects with the pen tool in the painting app. My hand-drawing skills are average at best, but I can scan a line drawing and insert it into YouiDraw to touch it up and give it a more professional look! Options for the pen tool are plain, sketchy, shaded, web, trail, ribbon and fur.  I can also color a line drawing with the brush tool. Shapes can also be filled with a solid color, gradient, or pattern. A user manual is available. Paintings can be saved only as png files.

Cons
YouiDraw definitely needs improved selection tools. The only tool available is a rectangle, making it difficult, if not impossible, to select a circle or other curved objects. In addition, layers would make painting much easier. A tool like Illustrator's pathfinder would be icing on the cake!

The Verdict
As of this writing I have only used a mouse for drawing. I will need to connect my pen tablet to see if it will function properly with YouiDraw. I also want to try the app on a Chromebook. Needless to say, I love this app. I am not an artist by any means, but YouiDraw helps my scanned drawings look much more professional! It is less frustrating than trying to learn Illustrator or CorelDraw, but it also lacks some important features.
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3 Screenshot extensions for Chrome

10/20/2014

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You would think one screenshot extension in my Chrome browser would be sufficient. Not for me. I have installed three, not necessarily because I can't make up my mind but because each has its own strengths. I like the ability to choose the best tool for the job. 

Of course, most of the extensions have the typical capture options: visible part of screen, selected area, entire page, and more. They also include annotation tools. All three discussed here sync with Google Drive. 

Snagit and Clipular each offer scrolling capture. I found Clipular's to be rather clunky when trying to select the area to capture, and Snagit's is nothing more than "capture entire page"; you have no control over the scrolling selection. 

Here's a look at some of the special features of each:

Awesome Screenshot
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One of Awesome Screenshot's best features is the delayed capture, which gives you several seconds to perform an action before the shot. For instance, you may want to click on a drop-down menu to capture it in the shot. A.S. also has a Chrome App, which provides additional annotation and image editing capabilities. A.S. has what I consider to be the best annotation tools of the three (click Launch app for advanced annotation).
Clipular
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Clipular is essentially screen capture partnered with bookmarking. Clips can be grouped in "boards" (much like those in Pinterest) and shared to social media. Clipular has both free and paid versions. The free version can be difficult to find once you have "subscribed" to it. Clipular will open an upgrade page, and you need to click dashboard page at the bottom to enter the free version. Clipular also has both an extension and an app.
Snagit
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Snagit offers both screen capture and screen recording - with audio. Both the app and the extension need to be installed from the Chrome Web Store. Snagit works in Chromebooks, as well as in the Chrome browser on other machines. You can place captures directly into a Google doc or other workspaces. And, of course, Snagit has annotation tools and sharing capabilities.

Another great feature is that screen recordings of 20 seconds or less can be saved as animated GIFs (sound not supported). If you don't need sound and can convey your message quickly, a GIF may be the way to go due to the smaller file size

Because Snagit syncs with your Google Drive, all captures and recordings are saved automatically to a TechSmith folder in your drive. Awesome Screenshot and Clipular require manual saving. 

GAFE schools using Google Classroom can create announcements or assignments that include screen recordings from your drive. Students often find video much more engaging than reading a document or tutorial.

One downfall of Snagit for Chrome is it's lack of annotation tools. It contains only the basics: text tool, ellipse tool, rectangle tool, and arrow. Six colors are available for each tool. Text formatting includes bold, Italic, underline, and strike-through. The shape tools do not allow for line thickness formatting. But all-in-all, that is enough for me.

No one of these apps is the best; each has one or more features that the others don't.
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21st Century/Common Core projects with Lucidpress Layout & design

10/8/2014

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I teach a high school desktop publishing class which includes page layout and design. Without a doubt, Lucidpress - Layout and Design is the best web-based desktop publishing application I have found. And believe me, since the closure of the online Aviary Creative Suite, I have searched to the end of cyberspace. My biggest problem was that I wanted an online application that would work on our java-less Chromebooks. The best I found at the time was Lucidchart. It was adequate for creating print media. Lucid Software then released Lucidpress in October, 2013. I was thrilled! Techcrunch featured Lucidpress in a posting on October 2, 2013.

At our small high school in East Dubuque, IL (200 students in 9-12), we decided to stop spending money on the industry-standard software we had been teaching, such as Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office. The software is not only expensive, but requires upgrades every few years to remain current, which led to installing software on all our computers each time we upgraded. We were still using Microsoft Office 2003 when Office 2010 was released! At our small school with a one-man technology department, upgrading required just too much money and time. We decided to go with free applications such as Google Drive (we are now a GAFE school) and other online browser-based software. And why not? The same concepts can be taught to students with the free applications!

Lucidpress includes over 70 templates for creating both print and digital newsletters, brochures, flyers, pamphlets, photo and video books, invitations, and more. It is a perfect application for meeting several English-Language Arts (ELA) Common Core standards, especially CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.6:  "Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others."  Lucidpress provides students with the opportunity to learn many other Common Core/21st Century skills such as creative expression, collaboration, critical thinking, communication, information literacy, and self-direction in a fun and engaging environment. It can be an excellent tool for cross-disciplinary collaborative projects.

LucidPress integrates with Google Drive and is available for Google Chrome in the Chrome Web Store. I especially like the collaboration features, which allow me to create a "team" (class) of all my students, and even teams within a class. Their projects are shared with me, and on my computer I can watch them work in real time! They can also work together on shared documents, which can be published to the Lucidpress site or embedded in a blog or other website. Of course, the projects can also be printed. One of our group projects, which pitted two teams against each other in the style of the TV reality show Celebrity Apprentice, required students to collaborate on collateral materials for a fictional water park. They were able to team up to design a logo, brochure, business card, coupon, billboard, grand opening ad, visitor pass, and more. With Lucidpress, your class could also collaborate on projects with students in some other class or even at another school.

The learning curve for Lucidpress is extremely low, especially if students have used other desktop publishing software. I have found the technical support to be outstanding. My emails are answered promptly, and I’ve also had telephone conversations with members of the small and personable team at Lucidpress. Their support for education is outstanding, and they tell me Lucidpress will always be free for educational purposes. If you are a Google Apps for Education school, Lucidpress can be added to your managed applications, making log-ins through Google Drive a simple task. Check out Lucidpress for your classes. You won’t be sorry.
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Share Chromebook, ipad, iphone screens with pc/mac: Mirroring360

10/3/2014

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Screen Sharing
I wanted to share my chromebook screen with student PCs. But why not just use a projector to share the screen? Engagement. If my screen is shared on their device, they can't be off task very easily. If I am projecting it, they may be checking email, playing games, or surfing the Web. So screen sharing is a great alternative. Simple, right? Not so fast. 

The obvious choice would be a Hangout on Air with screen sharing.
BUZZZZZZZ! Incorrect - not allowed in our GAFE domain.

Okay then, use the Chrome Remote Desktop app from the Chrome Web Store.
BUZZZZZZZ! Incorrect - it allows sharing to a Chromebook, but not from a Chromebook. And all computers involved must have the app installed.

Fine. Use one of many free screen sharing apps available in the Chrome Web Store or online.
BUZZZZZZZ! Incorrect - you get what you pay for. I tried almost every freebie I came across and they are all dicey at best. They proved to be unreliable, incompatible with Chromebooks, or blocked by our school. And I'm not chucking out a monthly fee to share my CB screen.

Mirroring360 - The best solution I have found.
But I think I found a winner: Mirroring360 is designed to wirelessly share a Chromebook, iPad, or iPhone screen with any PC or Mac. It requires downloading software to the PC/Mac and installing two apps: Mirroring360 Receiver on the PC/Mac, and Mirroring360 sender on the device.

While it took me a few tries to get the screen sharing to work, I am happy with the results. I used the free trial to test it. So, no, Mirroring360 is not free. But here is the good news: the cost for a perpetual (forever) license is only $10.99 through October 31 (2014). The regular price is $29.99. The apps are free; the price covers the downloadable software for the PC/Mac. For that price I'll pay out of my own pocket if I must!

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    I have been a secondary educator for 33 years. My passion is educational technology.

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