Month: April 2019

For years, educators have been begging Google to allow them to add voice overs, sounds and other audio files to a Google Slides presentation. After all, PowerPoint has had this feature forever. There have been workarounds, like adding a YouTube video and making it super tiny somewhere on the slide. But these were just hacks, not true audio support.

Rejoice, fellow educators for Google hath listened to your plea!

Google has just added the ability to add audio to your Google Slides presentations.

(I’ll wait while you do your happy dance!) read more

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Have you ever wanted to format your comments in Google Docs to get your point across and make it clearer?  

If so, I have great news!  You can bold, italicize and strikethrough text in a Google Doc comment with a couple easy keystrokes.

For bold text:

Add an asterisk on both sides of the word or sentence you wish to bold  

*BOLD*
After clicking comment, the text will appear like this:
For italicized text:

Add an underscore on both sides of the text or sentence you wish to italicize

 _italicize_
After clicking comment, the text will appear like this:
For Strikethrough text:

Add a hyphen on both sides of the text or sentence you wish to strikethrough  

-strikethrough-
After clicking comment, the text will appear like this:
For All Three

Place an asterisk, hyphen and underscore on both sides of the text or sentence, making sure each side mirrors the other.
After clicking comment, the text will appear like this:

In addition, these tricks also work in Sheets and Slides (and anywhere else that you can use Google’s commenting system).

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What do “123456” and “password” have in common? Since 2012, these two words have topped SplashData’s list of Worst Passwords of the Year.

After evaluating more than 5 million passwords leaked on the Internet, the company found that computer users consistently use the same unsafe, easily guessable passwords.

Did your password make the list? Check out the full list here: https://www.teamsid.com/100-worst-passwords/

It is inevitable that sometime or another, you will be the victim of a breach. But you can take action to prevent it, or minimize the damage when you do. read more

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Looking for some great summer PD opportunities? Northern Buckeye is putting on FOUR separate events that will be great learning days, and they are totally FREE!

These events (called Road Shows) feature “pick-your-own-PD” style learning. You’ll be able to choose from over 30 learning sessions throughout the day. Topics include G Suite for Education, MakerSpaces, STEAM, as well as other subjects that teachers will find beneficial.

We are also looking for presenters to share ideas and experiences in combining education and technology into daily lessons and the school environment. Call for Presenters closes May 3rd and presenters will be notified by May 10th. read more

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This Tech Tip came after working with some teachers at Patrick Henry schools at an inservice. They were trying to load a Lit Trip that had been emailed to them into Google Earth on their teacher Chromebooks and it was not working correctly.

If you are wondering, “What is a Lit Trip?” you might not be alone. Many teachers have not heard of this wonderful tech idea which is essentially a series of locations that you can load into Google Earth and have the students fly and visit virtually, the places described in a piece of literature. read more

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