31 March 2015Jason Carroll
Over the last year I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking into what type of training is available to help educators get the most out of Google Apps for Education. On one end of the spectrum, I found plenty of “how-to” videos and articles that explain how to share a file, create a form, etc… but these didn’t really help with implementing Google Apps in an instructionally relevant way.
Then on the other hand, I found things like lesson plans that show how to integrate Google Apps into a specific lesson. While helpful, these were only useful one or two days out of the year, and were specific to one grade level and content area. Finding enough resources to last an entire year would be an exercise in futility for most.
What was missing were resources showing educators how to integrate effective teaching strategies (the kind that actually lead to an increase in student achievement) into almost any grade level or content area using Google Apps. What was missing was Teach for Google.
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25 March 2015Jason Carroll
If you are a Read&Write for Google Chrome user you may have noticed a new look to the toolbar earlier this week. This new look was accompanied by several updates and enhancements to make Read&Write faster, smarter and easier to use. Continue reading to learn more...
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02 March 2015Marvin Williams
This week’s post comes from Marvin Williams, Assistive Technology Coordinator in the Services for Students with Disabilities department at California State University, Fresno. Marvin, myself, and Fresno State’s Alternative Media Coordinator Rima Maldonado will be presenting later this week at the 30th Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference in San Diego, CA. I’ve asked Marvin if he could provide some insight on Accessible Instructional Materials here prior to our session. You can read more about this below. Thanks Marvin!
Educational materials are important. It’s the stuff we use to teach, and we use a lot of them. As we move through school, we continue to use them, but the types may change. Educational materials can be textbooks, workbooks, websites, audio clips, video clips, movies, and most anything that you would use in teaching material to students. For now, we’ll look at text-based materials.
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16 December 2014Jason Carroll
The number of English Language Learners in the US today continues to increase rapidly. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an average of just over 10% of students in developed countries are learning in their second language. The US has almost double this number however. The disparity is even greater in many US schools where over 30% of the population is learning in a second language.
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26 November 2014Jason Carroll
Last week I spent some time with a colleague showing teachers how to provide customize feedback to students using Google Forms. Typically Google Forms are used to create simple surveys or quizzes. The form results are then dumped into a spreadsheet that can be reviewed anytime. However, with just a few additional tweaks you can really take advantage of what Google Forms can do in the classroom.
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17 November 2014Jason Carroll
If you are a teacher or student using Google Apps for Education, you are likely spending a significant amount of time in Google Drive. The new Google Drive was launched over the Summer of 2014 and has slowly been rolled out to users (including Google Apps for Education users) over the last few months.
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