Soft Technology

Google Drawing Templates: Please do not request access, open the template you want and create a copy. Thanks to everyone who contributed to these set! Eric Curts , Kasey Bell , and Matt Miller . http://bit.ly/GoogleDrawingTemplates

Guest Post by friEdTech Technical Guru Michael Wallace  reposted from Mike's blog here . Synergyse is Free! Synergyse is now free. For those of you who are not familiar with Synergyse, it is a Chrome extension that can supplement Google training. There are hours of videos that cover basic tasks a person new to Google would want to learn about. They also cover a few in depth topics. At The Village School we purchased Synergyse for the entire staff. I did find the price a bit high, but now that it's free I would recommend it to any organization. There are two ways to install Synergyse, individually, or by Google OU,  I'll cover both. The first way is to install it for your self. In Chrome go to the Chrome Web Store  and search for Synergyse. You should see an extension that looks like this: Click the "Add to Chrome Button" and you should get a pop up like this: Click "Add Extension" and that's it. Now when you go to Gmail, Drive, or a host of other Go...

Part 2 of the series "Get your Computer Ready For Summer" explores the best way to upload ALL your files (or a whole bunch of files) over a longer period of time without having to drag and drop or babysit the process. We'll do this using the downloaded version of Google Drive which you'll install on your computer. This video is for educators who need to back up their files so that their computers can be refreshed for the summer. Don't lose your valuable files, back up now to the cloud! This technique will also let you access your files from any computer or from your phone. Links you'll need: https://www.google.com/drive/download/ http://bit.ly/FileStorageGoogle

Part 1 of the series "Get your Computer Ready For Summer" explores the fastest and easiest way to upload your files to Google Drive. If you have a whole lot of files, wait for Part 2, which will show how to install Google Drive and sync files from your computer's hard drive to the cloud. If this video helps you, then share it! This video is for educators who need to back up their files so that their computers can be refreshed for the summer. Don't lose your valuable files, back up now to Google Drive! This technique will also let you access your files from any computer or from your phone. Links you'll need: http://drive.google.com http://bit.ly/FileStorageGoogle

Google Streeview, as explained here The Cardboard app itself ( Android , iPhone ) which includes the following . . .  Earth: Fly where your fancy takes you on Google Earth Tour Guide: Visit Versailles with a local guide My Videos: Watch your videos on a massive screen Exhibit: Examine cultural artifacts from every angle Photo Sphere: Look around the photo spheres you've captured Watch YouTube videos in 360, here are some videos to try out The New York Times VR stories located here Titans of Space Guide to the Planets ( Android ) Orbulous, which the makers describe as “just looking at things.” What things? Greenbot reports “You’ll see vivid, 360-degree photos from around the world, whether it’s mingling amidst tourists on aging architecture, looking out over a city surrounded by sparkling blue water, or even taking in the sights within a museum. A small bit of background noise adds to the immersion.” ( Android ) Polar Sea 360° is a 10 part television series and interactive journe...

If you've been curious about the Google Expeditions Pioneer program but your school hasn't been chosen for a visit, you can check out a little known feature right now that is very much like Expeditions! All you need is Google Cardboard  (literally a viewmaster made of cardboard), which you can buy here or lots of other places, and an app on your smartphone called Google Streetview, Android / iOS . Next, open the Streetview App on your phone and tap the Explore area: Want to make sure your Cardboard viewer works optimally with your smartphone? Tap this settings button from within any panorama . . . Then click "Setup." Hope you enjoyed this, if you did, please share it or let me know in the comments!

I had the pleasure of hearing Shannon Miller speak a couple of weeks ago and her message was simple yet profound: JUST ASK STUDENTS what they THINK, NEED, and WANT. I re-shared this message as the keynote speaker at the Texas Foreign Language Association conference last week. Sensei John Cadena was listening and provided his students that very opportunity today. I wonder if you can use his graphic organizer for gathering student feedback to improve your class room tomorrow? I hope so. Thanks for sharing, John. Check out John's blog here .

Check out this infographic featuring my favorite screencasting tools that are free or deeply discounted for education. If you have a favorite that's not on this list, please let me know in the comments! High Quality PDF Version

I worked with the fine faculty of Dimmitt ISD last week and they were very interested in how to use Google Hangouts to bring guest speakers into their classrooms. I promised them a video, which come to think of it, you might want too. Hope it helps!

Can't see the image via email? Visit the blog here . Try it out! Click this link to take a copy of the file . This technique also works on other Google filetypes (Sheets and Slides). Original URL: https://docs.google.com/a/friedtechnology.com/document/d/1CqUbWOHedWr9WiLO7M4aM9IIDPple1HhDGSx23tzerA/edit?usp=sharing Edited URL (the Force Copy URL): https://docs.google.com/a/friedtechnology.com/document/d/1CqUbWOHedWr9WiLO7M4aM9IIDPple1HhDGSx23tzerA/copy

Autocrat is a ROBOT that does your work for you. You heard me right. It's like Rosie from the Jetsons. If you don't take a few minutes to learn this, you're literally working HARDER not SMARTER, so come on y'all, who wants to do this? Stay late today, watch, then save TONS of time later when Autocrat is working for you. Watch the Video Here   if you don't see it below Subscribe to my YouTube Channel and get Videos Delivered to your Inbox As you can see, learning Autocrat is just like hiring the gal below without all the interpersonal drama. Do it. 

If you've been wondering what Google Classroom is (or is NOT), this video from moi is for you! Should you get ready for implementation? Can you replace your current system with Classroom? This video will help you answer those burning questions. Then, join the discussion below this post on Google+ to share how your school is using Classroom to improve instruction. Also, don’t forget to install the free Synergyse training for Classroom by visiting https://www.synergyse.com/ and clicking the large green Install button!

Animated Gifs have returned to the scene as a GREAT teaching tool. You can email them, post them on a website or on social media, add them to a document or slideshow, but any way you put them, they're a powerful, succinct way to get across the steps of a technology process. Easy, fun, and FREE! Thanks TechSmith for the great addition to the Chrome browser! Install the App here and you also need the extension, available here . Video here if you don't see it below.

The idea of the "Student Choice Continuum" has had quite a bit of traction thanks to followers on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Thanks for your feedback. Below please find the updated Student Choice Continuum which has discarded the "Based on Curriculum" anchor found in the original version. Educators pointed out to me that any of these activities could be based on curriculum or not and that often teachers think their activities are based on curriculum (word search) when they are actually not helpful to student learning. Keep sharing and sending feedback! I'm listening! Vector Version (svg format) Extra Large PNG Version

Guys, You are SERIOUSLY missing out if you haven't looked at the new Google Play for Education store. And NO, you don't have to have a Google Play tablet to take advantage of it! Learn everything you need to know to get started in my post on the Synergyse Blog here , or click the image below.

CrowdSchool recently launched an IndieGoGo campaign to help scale its platform for teachers to create, share, and sell project-based Challenges. CrowdSchool seeks to make it easier for teachers to find and use project-based resources in the classroom. All three Co-Founders have teaching experience, and Chief Learning Officer Tim Monreal still teaches middle school Social Studies. Pedagogy is at the heart of CrowdSchool and they are designing a platform that emphasizes 21st century skills like collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and creativity. With a successful IndieGoGo campaign, CrowdSchool will launch a marketplace where teachers can search for a variety of project-based Challenges. Teachers will then be able to use a CrowdSchool Challenge online with students in their class. They will crowdsource project-based Challenges from teachers. Once teachers create a Challenge they can decide to share it for free to other teachers or list a price of their choosing. Project-ba...

Learn about a few of my favorite Google Chrome Extensions in this video tutorial for use by education professionals and students. Think of all the time you can save with these great tools!

by Brian McLane Twitter: @brian_mclane Website: techmantraining.com Secondary Educator - 32 years, Ed-Tech Junkie, MA Teaching & Learning with Technology, “Head in the Cloud; Caught in the Web” Chromebooks for Graphic Design? I teach a high school desktop publishing class which includes graphic design, page layout, image editing, and more. We can use Chromebooks for almost everything we do. And we use completely free cloud software to do it. No Adobe Creative Suite, no Microsoft Office, no expensive, high-learning-curve software. Should I be teaching industry-standard software? Why ? I teach the concepts; the tools don't really matter. My students can learn the basics in the numerous free Google Apps and Web-based applications that are available for graphic design. Let's take a look! Image Editing One of the first things my students need to learn is image editing. Google Apps offers more image editors than we will ever need! Our go-to app is Pixlr . We use the Pixlr Editor,...

Guest Blogger Charly has been a camp counselor, K-12 math tutor, and collegiate print and digital journalist. She’s currently enjoying writing and snowboarding in Utah. Have you ever wished there were an easy-to-learn design tool which would let you and your students fry up print and digital documents in the cloud? What if it were completely free and ran from your browser? Lucidpress leverages a powerful yet user-friendly interface to bring image and text editing capabilities to your fingertips. Both beginning and advanced teachers and students can jump into Lucidpress and learn the tools the first time they use it. The best part is that unlike other programs, Lucidpress allows for real-time collaboration: between teachers, between groups of students, and between teachers and their students. Lucidpress is a web-based design tool that is ideal for making posters, flyers, and digital yearbooks and newsletters. You can create professional-looking documents—both print and digital—withou...