Some Powerful Updates Coming to Google Drive and CLassroom

April 11, 2015
Base on the suggestions and recommendations of users, Google is planning a bunch of new interesting updates for both Google Drive and Classroom.These releases are to be rolled out in the next coming weeks. Most of these updates are particularly focused on enhancing the sharing options within and across these services. Below is a brief review of these updates together with an illustrative  video  that outlines all of the new sharing features coming to Drive for Work and Apps for Education.

1- Set sharing settings by organizational units 
This is our favourite of them all. This new feature will allow teachers to have a customized sharing functionality on Drive which will let them share with people outside school (i.e. parents) while restricting students' sharing options to only within school.

2- Reset passwords quickly and securely
With this upcoming update, IT admins in schools will be able to allow students to securely reset their passwords so they don’t lose any valuable time waiting.

3- Share outside your organization more easily
With this option, things you share with others on Drive (e.g PDFs, docs, videos) can be accessed by recipients even without them having to have a Drive account.

4- Set up custom alerts to know when things happen
This is similar to Google Alert. When activated, Google Apps admins will be able to create custom alerts to notify them of things such as  suspicious logins, track Drive activity ( e.g. see see when files are created, edited, printed, downloaded and previewed in Drive).

Here is a video that features all the new features coming to Google Drive and Classroom

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Google Released A New Powerful Chrome App for Google Scholar

April 10, 2015
A few days ago, Google release a new Chrome extension for Google Scholar titled “ Google Scholar Button”. We have just tried it on Chrome browser and found it really interesting. Google Scholar Button provides you with an easy and instant access to some wonderful functionalities supported by Google Scholar. For instance, using this Button will allow you to:

1-Find full text on the web or in your university library. Select the title of the paper on the page you're reading, and click the Scholar button to find it.

2-Transfer your query from web search to Scholar. Press the Scholar button to see top three results; click "full screen" in the lower left of the popup to see them all.

3- Format references in widely used citation styles. Press the quote button in the popup to see a formatted reference and copy it into the paper you're writing.

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New- GoConqr (formerly ExamTime) Offers Free Mobile Apps for iOS & Android

April 10, 2015
The ExamTime online learning platform is now GoConqr. The GoConqr philosophy supports the concept of learning being a lifelong and achievement-oriented process. Education should not be limited to preparing for exams or tests. In GoConqr, you will find the same tools, features and study resources which existed within ExamTime. The new name aligns itself with the platform’s vision for the future and perfectly reflects what the tools represent.

The big news with the launch is the announcement of the free iOS and Android mobile apps. Perfect for reviewing resources to learn-on-the-go, the apps complement the web version of GoConqr. Students can make the best use of their time whether they are on the bus or in the library by viewing their study materials at their fingertips.

Students and teachers from all over the world have demanded a mobile version of the platform, making it the most requested feature. As the learning platform is designed based on feedback from users, GoConqr launched the mobile apps to be fully synchronised with all content in the web app. This is the first version of the mobile apps and they plan to build upon this with future developments.

Download the mobile apps to:

• View learning resources in an instant
•  Discover new resources from the GoConqr library
• Review learning content at regular intervals
• Share the best learning resources with your class

Along with the free mobile apps, GoConqr have increased the subject limit for free accounts from one to three. Basic account users can now also copy and edit other resources to build their knowledge and take their learning to the next level.

Create an account on GoConqr first and then download the iOS or Android mobile app to discover the complete learning experience:

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Some Very Good Tools to Help You Create A Website or Blog for Your Class

April 10, 2015
When it comes to creating a classroom website or blog, the first thing you would  have to consider  is the technical features supported by the hosting platform. Are they student-friendly? Are they simple enough so those with no advanced technological skill can operate  them? is the platform web-based or does it require software installation? Does it allow the integration of multimedia materials such videos, audio files, pictures...etc? Does it provide any interactive features so visitors can interact with published content? How about privacy settings, does it allow for controlled access? These and several other questions are what you need to keep in mind when selecting a hosting platform for your classroom website.

Below are some very good suggestions we would recommend that you start with. Our favourite in the selection is Google Sites.

1- Weebly

Weebly is very simple and easy to use and and has a drag & drop website editor which is stunningly simple to utilize, and appropriate for use with students of all ages. Weebly enables your students to express themselves creatively using a variety of multimedia features, all within a protected environment that you control.

2- Wix

Wix is a free website builder tool that you can use to set up your class website within minutes and without the need for any coding or HMTL knowledge. Wix provides a wide range of features to work with. For instance, you can choose the template and background you want from their gallery and you can customize it the way you want. It also has an integrated calendar and social media sharing buttons. And if after using it for sometime and you want to get your own custom domaine, Wix does provide this functionality. Needless to mention the enhanced mobile version Wix sets up for you when you create a website using their platform.

3- Google Sites

                                                              

Create your own Google Site to share information with your class - both in school and out. You can post homework assignments, the class calendar, Google Form assessments, lesson videos that you create or find and much more! Watch this video for some tips on how to create your own class site.

Platforms to create blogs for your class

1- Blogger

Like Google Sites, Blogger is a service provided by Google and is completely free. It is my favorite blogging platform. It is easy and simple to use and if you already have a Google account you ll set up your blog in minutes.

2- Wordpress

Wordpress is gaining more popularity online as the best blogging platform. Several webmaster recommend it for users basically because of the helpful plugins it provides for free .

3- Edublog

The World's most popular education blogging service... Edublogs lets you easily create & manage student & teacher blogs, quickly customize designs and include videos, photos & podcasts - it's safe, easy and secure so try out an Edublog today!

4- KidBlog

Kidblog is designed for K-12 teachers who want to provide each student with an individual blog. Students publish posts and participate in academic discussions.

5- Glogster Edu

Glogster EDU is the leading global education platform for the creative expression of knowledge and skills in the classroom and beyond. It empowers educators and students with the technology to create GLOGS - online multimedia posters - with text, photos, videos, graphics, sounds, drawings, data attachments and more.

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Excellent Worksheets on Bloom's Digital Taxonomy

April 10, 2015
In yesterday's post we shared with you a resourceful document explaining the concept of Bloom's Digital Taxonomy and how teachers can incorporate it in their instructional strategies. Today, we are adding another equally important resource from Andrew Churches. These are some handy sheets covering each of the thinking levels of Bloom's taxonomy (remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating). For each level Andrew provided a set of activities involving the use of different web tools that students can use to develop the thinking skills related to it. For those of you new to Bloom's digital taxonomy, make sure you familiarize yourself with the concept before you use the worksheets otherwise they wont make much sense to you.

By Andrew Churches

Bloom's digital taxonomy, as we have argued elsewhere, is the digital version of the Revised Bloom's taxonomy.While it is primarily digitally focused , Bloom's digital taxonomy, as Andrew stated,  is not about web tools or technology, it is rather about effective use of technology to facilitate learning. For instance, Andrew added, "bookmarking a resource is of no value if the resource is inappropriate, invalid, out of date or inaccurate."

Bloom's Digital taxonomy sheets are available for free download from this page.

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3 Google Drive Tools for Creating Professional-looking Diagrams and Flowcharts

April 9, 2015
We received a couple of requests from teachers asking for Google Drive add-ons to use with Google Docs to create and integrate diagrams and flowcharts. The first tool that came to mind is Gliffy for we have reviewed it here a couple of times but then we did a further search in Google Drive app store and picked two more to add to this list. For those of you looking for apps to create concept and mind maps in Google Drive, this selection is a good place to start with.

1-Gliffy

Gliffy is a very good diagram editor that is integrated with Google Drive allowing users to easily and instantly create and share beautiful diagrams and flowcharts. Gliffy provides a wide variety of features that include:

• Easy-to-use diagram editor helps you communicate your ideas quickly
• Makes any idea look more professional and polished
• Extensive shape library with hundreds of industry-standard shapes and connectors
• Snap-to-grid, drawing guides, shape alignment and distribution tools
• Also great for drawing a basic diagram, flow chart, UI mockup, site map, network map, business process model, org chart, floor plan, venn diagram, SWOT analysis, and other technical diagrams.

2- Draw.io

Draw.io is another powerful diagramming add-on to use on Google Docs. Its editor has all kinds of shapes and materials to help you create both simple and advanced diagrams. Draw.io is completely free and does not require any registration.

3- Web Sequence Diagrams

“Sequence Diagrams let you describe how different parts your system communicate with each other. But drawing sequence diagrams can take hours with traditional tools. Your clients and colleagues will be impressed if you can make large-scale changes as easily as copying and pasting text, instead of spending your time moving lines around with a mouse. With this add-on, you write your sequence interactions directly into your documentation. With a click of the button, they are converted into professionally formatted UML sequence diagrams in a variety of styles.”

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Two Useful Google Drive Tools for Teachers

April 9, 2015
Below are two excellent Google Drive add-ons to use with your Google Docs. The first one in the list is an application that enables users to generate tag clouds from documents that have over 50 words. The second add-on provides users with a super easy way to integrate images from the popular OpenClipart right into a Google doc. The app's gallery has over 50.000 pictures to choose from.

1- Tag Cloud Generator

"Tag Cloud Generator creates a tag cloud in the side bar from any Google Docs document that contains more than 50 words. Use this add-on to quickly assess what your emerging theme is, how to best categorize your document, or if it is someone's else's document - find out the theme of the document without reading it. Stop words are automatically removed."

2- Open Clip Art

"Openclipart provides many of the best clipart images available and now you can search and insert them right into your Google Document. With more than 50,000 images in the library you will be able to find that perfect image to liven up your document or make a favorable impression to that new client."

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