Monday, September 28, 2015

Add the ability to save to your Google Drive from any Windows program on your computer.

I love using Google Drive to store my files. Now I also have a way to open files directly from my Drive within a program or to save to my Drive.  You must have the Google Drive app added to your PC Desktop for this to work. Google Drive Desktop app found here. Once you install it and sync it the first time you can begin the next step!

Now let's add a reference to the Drive app to the Documents folder in your Library.  Open My Computer and locate the Documents folder. Documents will be the first listing under Libraries on the left side of your screen. Right-mouse click on it and select Properties. Click "Include a Folder" and navigate to your Google Drive folder. Click the Include folder button. Click Okay at the bottom.

Now when you are in an application your click File-->Open like normal, then click Libraries on the left side, then Documents.

When the Documents folder is open, you will see two sections - one that shows the files in My Documents and one below it that shows the contents of your Google Drive.

Now I open and save files from my Google Drive just like I would if they were on a network drive or computer drive!!

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Opening Desktop Application Files in Google Drive

I like the idea of using Google Drive. I have unlimited capacity, I can get to it anywhere, but I just wish I could open Photoshop files directly from my Drive.  Oh, wait!  Now I can!

First you must install the Google Drive app to your computer (PC only, not for Mac). You can download it here.  Next. configure it and get it synced up with your account.

Next you must install the Application Launcher for Drive extension from the Chrome Web Store. You can get it here. 

Now we're ready to work!  Open Drive and find a non-Google file.  Perhaps a Word file, Photoshop or Illustrator file.  Double click it to open it. This will open it in Preview Mode. Click the popout icon to open it in a new window. At the top you will see "Open" with a down arrow beside it.  Normally this only allows you to open associated web apps, but here you'll see desktop applications instead. Because the file below is an Adobe Photoshop file, you will even see the Photoshop logo beside it.



Google Drive just keeps getting better and better!!!   Yes, there is also a way to save files directly to your Google Drive from all desktop applications, but that is a topic for another post!! Stay tuned.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Password Protecting Your Google Form

Okay, you can't really password protect your Google Form, but this neat work-around has merit.  When creating a form, just make the first question on the form a text box that requires a specific word before the user can go on to the next page.

 If you like to assess your students using Google Forms and don't want students not in class to be able to view the assessment, this is the way to accomplish that. You can duplicate the form and change the specific word in the text box for each hour (if you like). Right before the students take the assessment, write the word on the board or give it orally. Once all students have completed the quiz, you can also change the password.

Here is a video giving complete instructions on how to do this.

New Google Classroom Updates

Google Classroom just keeps getting better and better! The updates released this week are welcome additions for classroom teachers.

The biggest update, and definitely one of the most requested features is the addition of new question and answer discussions. You can post questions to your class and allow students to have discussions by responding to each other’s answers (or not, depending on the setting you choose). For example, you could post a video and ask students to answer a question about it, or post an article and ask them to write a paragraph in response. Other new Classroom additions include the ability to reuse content (announcements, assignments, or questions) and bump up assignments or announcements in the order they are seen on the page.

A big update scheduled for next month - Google Classroom will automatically create a Google Calendar for each of your courses and populate it with all content.  It will be viewable in both Classroom and Calendar!

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Great Work Around Using Forms and Google Classroom

Just read this post from Joan Brown.  She uses Google Forms a lot with Classroom, but as all teachers know, it is sometimes difficult to get students to go back in and mark the assignment complete once it's done. Here is a link to her site detailing the steps.  Sheer genius!!

http://currentandcool.blogspot.com/2015/08/classroom-form-dilemma.html


Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Writing on a laptop

One complaint I hear often is that it is difficult to write using a mouse on a laptop or chromebook. You can attach a mouse to either using the USB port but that doesn't help you draw or write. The mouse isn't conducive to drawing.

One little trick I use is to grab a stylus (used on a tablet) and use it on my trackpad. You can draw or write with that stylus!

Thursday, July 30, 2015

DMAIL - new Chrome plugin for your mail

Dmail is a brand new Google Chrome extension that gives the author complete control over how long the recipient of your email can view the email. It adds a "Send with Dmail" button next to the regular "Send" button in any email you compose (after you have installed it). 

Gmail allows you to cancel emails within a 30 second window. After that, you're out of luck!  With Dmail you can chose a predetermined time frame, or pick "never" as your time frame. Then you have to find the email in your send folder and then retract it. More exciting news is that Dmail has promised they are working on a new feature (not yet released) that allows you to lock your email so the recipient can't forward it on to anyone else. 

For businesses and education clients this plugin has the potential to be huge!! Gotta love this open source stuff!!

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Creating Narrated Slideshows with Google Slides

One of the things I missed most in Google Slides was the ability to narrate information in Slides. I figured that Google really dropped the ball there!  Although I am not a big PowerPointer, the few times I do use it all include voice narration.

Fortunately, some super brains around have come up with work-arounds!  One is the create your slide show in Google Slides and then import it into an app called Movenote. You can then embed it into your webpage if you wish. 

Another work-around is the create your slide show in Google Slides, download each page to your device. Then open and log in to an app called WeVideo and upload your slides as images.  Record your narration for each slide and then share it!

Movenote is much easier to learn in a hurry than WeVideo, but it also doesn't do as much. I like to offer both to students (and teachers) and let them choose which one they are more comfortable using. A great way to differentiate your technology. You can find both apps in the Chrome web store.


Great addition

One add-on to Google that I particularly love is the new Microsoft Office-Google Drive integration plug-in.  Once you install it you can save to your Google Drive directly from the backstage area of any Office program, or open a document from Google Drive. This is the piece that has been missing!  While I like Google Docs for most things, sometimes it is easier to do it in Word. Plus, in my organization, many people still use Word/Excel, but would like to utilize them with Drive. This tool allows them to do that.

If you are interested in trying this out, I have included the posting from the Gooru website.  Just click on the link below!

 http://www.thegooru.com/the-new-google-drive-plug-in-for-microsoft-office/?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonuq3AZKXonjHpfsX56uskW6CzlMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4DSMdgI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFTbHMMat6w7gKWxc%3D