December 2020 – Page 2 – Craig M Sheil

Day 5 of Google 2020 – Google Slides

On Day 5, we will take a look at Google Slides. Let’s face it…organizing content in such a way that others are able to learn from can be a challenge. We are visual people. And sometimes, going beyond black and white can go a long way. The tips below are not ones that you always have to include when creating slide presentations. Just want to help give you an idea of what can be done.

SEARCHING IMAGES – USING EXPLORE

Did you know that you can search for images to use in your presentations right in the slides tab. There is no need to open another tab and perform a google search. You can launch explore feature two ways.

1. Click on the explore icon on the bottom right corner. 2. You can find explore under the Tools menu.

Let Google know what you are looking for – find what makes the most sense for you and away you go, the image is added to your slide presentation. NOTE: Once the image has been added in the presentation, you will find that it is hyperlinked to its source.

Day 4 of Google 2020 – Jamboard

On the forth day of Google 2020, we will take a look at Jamboard. Jamboard has been one of those tools that has been used widely during remote instruction. I have written several blog post this year on how teachers are using the tool to help re-imagine their lessons that would have typically been done on paper and pencil. Here are four ‘did you know?’ tips with working in a Jam file.

CUSTOMIZE BACKGROUNDS

Yes, it is finally here! Teachers can rejoice. We now have the ability to have an image be the background of a page in a Jam file. You will now notice this options shows up with the original background options. Now you really don’t have to worry about students moving items on you in the Jam file.

Day 3 of Google 2020 – YouTube

Today for Day 3 of Google, we are going to take a look at some YouTube tips. We use it every day, whether we are learning about a topic, or just looking for a laugh. Hopefully some of these tips will help improve your experience with YouTube.

PLAYBACK SPEED

Ever in a situation where you want to speed through a video due to the content that you are being asked to watch or the limited amount of time that you have to watch the video in? Consider changing the speed by which it is played. This is a setting that is local to you. This is a great way for students and teachers to customize their learning and the speed at which they receive it.

Day 2 of Google 2020 – Google Docs

On the second day of Google, we give you a couple of Google Document tips.

PREVIEW OF VIDEO/GOOGLE SLIDE PRESENTATION

Recently, Google implement a new feature where you can actually view a YouTube video or a slide presentation while you are still in a Google Document instead of having to view in a completely separate tab.

Why this can be helpful? For students, they can decide to take notes while they are watching the video. Or maybe for teachers who share curriculum documents with one another, they can preview a file without having to open the file on a completely separate tab. Other good things to know…

YouTube videos can be played in a preview of a Google Slide presentation
Users can determine how big or small they want the preview window to be

Click HERE to view a quick demo (1.5 minutes long) on this feature

Day 1 of Google 2020

We are going to start simple today and look at some tips when using your own Google Drive. I don’t know about you but I would be LOST without my Google Drive. I wish there was a spot where I could find the number of files that I have created as well as the number of files that have been shared with me. I can only image what that number would be.

WORKSPACES

We are going to start with taking a look at workspaces. This is something relatively new. Basically it is an opportunity for a user to pull in different files that they may be using at the same time for a particular project/unit/time period. Workspace is not considered the same as folders in your Google Drive. Instead it is a space for just that user to quickly find and access the files that they need for the task at hand.