January 17, 2017

Using the Highlight Tool Add- On in Google Docs

There are many wonderful add-ons available to be used within the Google Suite. One that is making a lot of news lately is called the Highlight Tool.
What this tool does is provide a way to highlight different text within a Google Doc using a variety of colors. But what makes it such an asset comes afterwards.... you can export the highlighted text into a separate document by either sequence or color.

This may sound familiar as there are other add-ons that do the same but the difference here is the Highlight Tool is FREE!

To see how it works, watch this short 6 min. youtube video from Josh Harris: https://youtu.be/tGRRCvbY3kw

There are many ways this add-on can be incorporated into Language Arts, Social Studies/History, or anywhere else that requires research and using information. But that is not all, Eric Curtis shows how youcan use this add-on for Math problems.

Be sure to check out his blog post to see how using the highlight tool add-on can help students solve story problems in math:
http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2017/01/math-highlights.html 

January 17, 2017

Google Classroom....now with Differential Learning and Better Teacher Notification.

Recently, Google released some new updates to Google Classroom that teachers all over are celebrating. The changes were:

• Individual assignments—Teachers can post work and announcements to individual students in a class.
  
• New teacher notifications—Teachers receive email and mobile notifications when a student submits late work or resubmits work.
  
• Classroom user metrics— Administrators can view Classroom usage reports in the Admin console.
  
• Coursework improvements for third- party developers—Third-party applications can programmatically create questions, modify coursework, and add materials to coursework.
  
• New Android feature: Teachers can edit the class description and add materials to the About tab.
  
  One of the new updates teachers are raving about is the new ability to differentiate classroom instruction right within the same class by utilizing individual assignments. For more information on this new feature, please watch this very short video: https://youtu.be/PsdnF6-gJyk
  
  Another update to make life easier for teachers is the email notifications for when students submit late work or resubmits work. No longer will teachers have to constantly check past assignments. YEAH!