Going Google (Without Going Crazy) - Volume 2, Issue 9

Click on the picture to get Google Tips on the following:

• Awesome New Tab Page (extension)
• Maximizing your Chrome Real Estate-- Pinning Tabs and Bookmarks Bar
• Adding PowToon in Drive

TechKNOWLEDGEy Tips: MoveNote

Click on the picture for ideas on using MoveNote in a classroom. Comment on how you have used or may use this resource in your classroom.

Getting IT Right @ CeVMS: LOTE and DuoLingo

Did you know that you can learn a language for free on DuoLingo? The CeVMS LOTE teachers do and they are having their students take full advantage of the "Sign in with Google" option on the site. Check it out:

As part of the Google Apps for Education initiative, students can use their school assigned Google Accounts to log in to a variety of sites. DuoLingo is one of the educational sites that has partnered with Google. This allows students to get to work faster because they don't have to spend time remembering so many username and password combinations. They just sign into the Chrome browser, allow the site to access their credentials, and get started!

Just this week, Señora Blanton and her classes were in the lab hard at work practicing their Spanish in the DuoLingo site. I took a little break to visit them and brush up on some of my Spanish too: "La mujer come una manzana...."

Getting IT Right @ CeVMS: Student GAFE Accounts

This year in Round Rock, all students in grades 2-12 (whose parents didn't opt-out) have been provided a Student Google Apps for Education (GAFE) Account. With these accounts, students have the ability to create content within Google Drive, collaborate with peers and teachers, manage events through the calendar, organize content through different Chrome and Google App features, and access their content/files from any computer with internet access. By using a Google Apps for Education account, the district has the ability to easily manage accounts and filter appropriate content based on students' ages and group  (for things like: share settings, email, chat, app store availability). As part of this district initiative, Cedar Valley students have gone through a training on how to access their Student GAFE accounts and the RRISD acceptable use policy with Ms. Kincaid, the campus Instructional Technology Specialist.

Hopefully, we'll see many more instances this year on the blog where students have utilized their GAFE accounts to create something spectacular! Stay tuned for updates.