20 Awesome Add-ons for Google Docs

Google Docs is a powerful word processing program with many unique features including voice typing, the Explore tool, Version History, web fonts, and much more. However, Google knows that even with all of those features, Docs may not be able to do everything you want it to do. So Google Docs allows you to install Add-ons to extend the capabilities of the program.

Add-ons are third-party tools that provide extra features for Docs. Over time the amount of available Add-ons has grown tremendously. Over the past few years, I have done a webinar and many blog posts on notable add-ons for Docs. Since technology is a moving target, I felt it was time to take another shot at listing some of my current favorite add-ons.

As of this writing, there are just a little over 500 available add-ons for Google Docs. So how do you wade through all of these to find the best ones and the hidden gems? To help out I have collected a list of 20 of my favorite Add-ons for Docs. Certainly this is not a comprehensive list, and there are other awesome Add-ons beyond my list, but these will give you a good place to start. Some of these Add-ons will likely be familiar to you, but hopefully you will find a few new ones or be encouraged to dig deeper into one you have tried before.

See below for my list of 20 recommended Docs Add-ons, what they do, ideas for how they can be used in schools, and a quick overview of how to install, use, and remove Add-ons.

Write Better with Writer's Highlighter Add-on for Docs

Writing is a process, not a one-and-done event. When a student is writing their first draft, it is important that they simply get their ideas out, mistakes and all. After that brain dump, now comes the work of editing and revising.

This is summed up beautifully in the following quote:

"You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what's burning inside you, and we edit to let the fire show through the smoke." - Arthur Plotnik

There are many tools and techniques available to assist with the editing process. A while back I covered many such resources in my blog post "Self-Editing Tools for Student Writing in Google Docs". Recently I came across a new add-on for Google Docs that deserves to be added on to this list.

The tool is a free add-on called "Writer's Highlighter". It can be used in several ways, but the main focus is to highlight words in your document that match a customized list. For example, these could include overused words or phrases, including "very", "really", "stuff", and more. The add-on can also color-code your sentences based on their lengths.

See below for more details and directions on how to use this very useful tool. Or, rather I mean "this helpful tool".

Learning Music, Art, Science, Math and more with Chrome Music Lab

When I used to teach middle school math, one unit I always loved to do each year was my "Music and Math" unit. We explored lots of connections between music and math, while learning about fractions, exponents, prime factorization, and more. We even concluded the unit with a day of student performances called "Curtstock" or "Curtsapalooza" (depending on the year).

One of the great things about music is how connected it is to other disciplines. As mentioned above, music can tie into math through fractions (duration of notes), exponents (decibels), multiples (beat), and prime factorization (harmonizing notes). Likewise music can connect with science when exploring sound waves, frequencies, and more, as has influence and occurrence in history, literature, and art.

To help explore musical concepts and how they relate to other topics, Google has created the Chrome Music Lab. This is a collection of 13 interactive "experiments" (so far) that let users create, play, and learn with a wide range of music concepts. These activities are also cross-platform, working on laptops, tablets, and phones.

See below for an explanation of each of these engaging tools...

10 Writing Prompt Tools for Creative Inspiration

I love writing… blog posts, stories, poems, and more. As much as I love it though, writing can be a challenge. Often one of the most difficult parts is just getting started. Sometimes we just need a little inspiration, a jump start to get us thinking down a new path.

When my daughter was younger we used to do poetry nights where we would use a website (Watch Out for Snakes) that would randomly create titles for us by putting together adjectives and nouns. We would then challenge each other to write a poem based on one of the prompts, followed by reading our new creations. Yes, I have always been a nerd.

Just like those random titles inspired me to compose poems, such tools can help our students when they need to write a journal entry, short story, essay, article, poem, or such. Thankfully there are many resources available to use for writing prompts, story starters, and other writing inspiration. In this blog post we will take a look at 10 example tools to use in your class.

By the way, if you are interested to see some examples of what came out of my poetry nights, feel free to check out Elemental Love, Moonstruck Conifer, and Smallest Pony.

Self-Checking Assessments in Google Sheets with Conditional Formatting

There are so many excellent tools for online assessment including Google Forms, Quizlet, Kahoot, Flippity, Quizizz, and more. In addition to providing teachers with data on student performance, online quizzes can also be valuable simply for student self-assessment.

With self-assessments the purpose is for the student to test themselves, see if they are correct or not, and usually retry until they get the right answer. Grades are not collected, because by the end the student should have every question correct. The point is to let the learner practice, see what they do and do not understand, and then work toward improvement.

There are several tools that can be used for this sort of self-assessment. One great option is to use Google Sheets with conditional formatting. This allows you to provide feedback based on what the student types in for their answers, so they can identify and work on questions they are struggling with.

To help make this easier, I have created a "Self-Checking Assessment Template" for Google Sheets. See below for a link to get your own copy, along with directions on how to use it, and some behind-the-scenes explanations of how it works.

Adding and Using Comments on Screencastify Videos

There are many excellent screen recording tools available, but one of my favorites is the Screencastify Chrome extension. It is simple to use, has lots of nice features, works on Chromebooks, and is free for videos up to 10 minutes long. (See my earlier post about "7 Super Screencasting Activities for School" for more details and ideas.)

Recently Screencastify updated the Chrome extension with a new convenient feature. When you record a video, you now have the option to add a comment (or comments) to the video, including text and links. When people view the video in Google Drive they will be able to see your comment, and leave their own if you have given permission. This can open up many opportunities to provide additional resources, get feedback, and spark a class discussion on your screen recordings.

See below for how to use this helpful new feature, as well as ideas on how this might be used in school.

What's New in Google - October 2018

Catch up on everything new in G Suite for Education from October 2018, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our October 2018 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda and all the awesome resources and G Suite updates from the last month. This includes 25 new Google updates and 17 Google resources for your class.

The monthly meetings are hosted by the Google Educator Group of Ohio, but are open to anyone from any location. The purpose of these meetings is to:

• Connect Google-using educators
• Share the latest Google Apps news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Apps is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below to view the recorded video, agenda, and all the resources from the October 2018 meeting:

Make Mondrian Art with Google Sheets

Although you might not recognize the name, you most likely will recognize the look. Mondrian Art is an abstract form of art that uses a creative layout of squares and rectangles, often filled in with primary colors.

This style of painting was popularized by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian during the early 1900's. In addition to influencing art, the Mondrian look has shown up in fashion, architecture, advertising, design, and more.

Because Mondrian Art is composed of lots of different sized rectangles and squares, it is the perfect style to be created with digital tools... specifically with Google Sheets!

As we have explored in many previous posts, Google Sheets can do much more than just crunch numbers. Sheets is a fantastic tool for writing prompts, online games, interactive learning databases, and more. Mondrian Art is just one more project to add to the list.

In this post we will take a look at how to create Mondrian Art with Google Sheets. While doing so, we will learn several cool Sheets features such as merging cells, fillings cells with color, and more.

360 Degree Learning with Google Tour Creator

Google has a rich history of creating map-related tools that can be used across all subject areas for engaging, immersive learning experiences. Some of these include Tour Builder, Earth, Expeditions, My Maps, and many more (see my slideshow on Google mapping tools).

Recently Google has launched a new tool called Google Tour Creator. This tool allows you and your students to create 360 degree tours, which can then be shared with and viewed by others. It is very much like creating your own Google Expeditions.

Don't have a 360 degree camera? That's ok! Although you can use a 360 degree camera to take pictures for Tour Creator, you can also just use the images from Google's Street View, or you can use a free mobile app such as Cardboard Camera to take the photos.

Tour Creator can be a powerful way for students to demonstrate their understanding, learn from others, and put themselves inside of a virtual experience. Tours could cover:

• Scenes from a novel
• Locations from a historical event
• Biomes from around the world
• Highlights of a city in a different country
• Biographical information from a person's life
• A student-written fictional story
• And much more!

In this post we will explore Google Tour Creator and detailed directions on how you and your students can create your own tours today.

EdTech Podcast Spotlight - Edufuturists

Anyone who knows me well, knows how much I love podcasts. Pretty much any subject that comes up leads to me saying "I was just listening to a podcast on that the other day!"

In the past I have shared posts on "12 Terrific Podcasts to Learn Something New Everyday" and "11 Great EdTech Podcasts". Well I have come across a new great podcast to add to that list… the "Edufuturists Podcast".

The Edufuturists podcast is a weekly show hosted by Ben Whitaker and Dan Fitzpatrick, and focuses on the future of education and the impact of technology. They have one guest on each week for an interview that is limited to exactly 15 minutes. As much as I appreciate podcasts of all different lengths, it is exciting to find one that packs so much great content into only 15 minutes (or about 10 minutes for me since I listen to everything on fast speed.)

I recently had the honor and pleasure to be a guest on Ben and Dan's podcast. Even though my voice sounds terrible from a rough cold I was fighting, the show is still excellent! You can access the episode with the link below:
Edufuturists Episode 4 - Eric Curts

And you can find all of the other episodes, and links to subscribe to the podcast at: www.theedutechproject.com/edufuturists

A big thanks to Ben and Dan for creating and sharing this valuable show!

Turn Google Slides into an Animated GIF with this Free Tool

I recently came across an awesome tool that can take a Google Slideshow and save it as an animated GIF (thanks to Infinitely Teaching for the tip!) This free tool is called Tall Tweets (odd name, I know) and is created by the awesome Amit Agarwal.

With Tall Tweets you can import a Google Slideshow, set the duration for each slide (as well as some other options), and then create and download an animated GIF version of your slideshow.

This can be used with many Google Slides projects to export the final product, including:

• Creating Stop Motion Animation with Google Slides - Resource link
• Creating Online Comic Strips with Google Slides - Resource link
• Student Created Storybooks with Google Slides - Resource link
• Or just saving any slideshow as a GIF!

There are many tools that can make animated GIFs, but it is always helpful to find one that is free and super easy to use. See below for detailed directions on how to use this great tool…

Create Halloween Rebus Stories with Emojis and Google Docs

In earlier posts I have shared Google Docs templates for creating Emoji Rebus Stories for both Wintertime and Valentine's Day. With Fall coming soon, I have put together a Halloween-themed version.

Anyone who grew up reading Highlights magazine in the dentist waiting room will quickly recognize a rebus. Basically it is a story where some of the words are replaced by images. This can be a fun activity for students, both to create and to read. It may even help with younger students who are not proficient at spelling but can choose the image for the word they want.

See below to get a copy of the template, as well as detailed directions for how to use it.

What's New in Google - September 2018

Catch up on everything new in G Suite for Education from September 2018, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our September 2018 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda and all the awesome resources and G Suite updates from the last month. This includes 18 new Google updates and 23 Google resources for your class.

The monthly meetings are hosted by the Google Educator Group of Ohio, but are open to anyone from any location. The purpose of these meetings is to:

• Connect Google-using educators
• Share the latest Google Apps news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Apps is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below to view the recorded video, agenda, and all the resources from the September 2018 meeting:

Create Your Own Story Cubes with Google Drawings

Story cubes have long been a popular item to give inspiration for writing. Typically they are regular cubes with a different picture or word on each face. Students can pick a few cubes and then roll them to randomly get elements for a story.

Although you can certainly buy these cubes, you can also make you own. Better yet, students can each make several story cubes and then you will have dozens and dozens to use from your class.

One easy way to make your own story cubes is to use Google Drawings with pictures, emojis, or text. See below to get copies of my Google Drawings Story Cube templates, along with detailed directions on how you and your students can make these.

Full Bleed - Finding Balance Between Technology, Work, and Life

Note: This is another cross-post from my other blog - "Eric the Rad" - where I share some thoughts on life from a nerd's point of view. This one deals with finding balance between technology, work, and life. As educators this is a critical issue for so many of us, so I felt it would be valuable to share here as well.

Back when I was in high school I was the editor for our school yearbook. I learned loads of publishing skills including developing photos in a dark room (with actual chemicals, as this was way before anything digital), writing corny captions, and designing creative layouts.

As part of making layouts, I learned the term "full bleed". This is when you take a photo, or some text, or any design element and run it right up to, or even over, the edge of the page. Normally you would have a margin around each page, but with full bleed you have a picture that breaks out of the traditional constraints and extends off the edge.

For high school yearbooks, full bleed is a good thing. For your life, it is not...

Collabordependent Writing with Google Slides

Technology can have it's pain points. Take peer feedback for example.

• We want to students to be able to write, express themselves, create, etc.
• Then we want them to be able to share what they made with their peers.
• Then we want their peers to be able to provide constructive feedback.

Normally we use Google Docs for a task like this. For the most part, that is an excellent option, but there can be some challenges.

• If all 25 students in a class do their writing in their own Google Docs, then we need to find an easy way to share 25 different Docs, and we need to open 25 different Docs to see everyone's work.
• Or if all 25 students write in the same Google Doc, then it can take some work to keep each student's writing separate, and to easily navigate from one student to the next.

What we need is an easy way for students to work independently when writing, but collaboratively when giving feedback. We need a tool that lets them work "collabordependently" (I assert this is a real word despite the red squiggly lines I get when I type it.)

Certainly this can work in Google Docs, but sometimes it may be worth considering a different tool for peer feedback. That tool is … Google Slides. See below for how Google Slides can break out of being just a presentation tool and can become a versatile tool for collabordependence!

Passwords and Positive Self-talk

Note: This is a cross-post from my other blog - "Eric the Rad" - where I share some thoughts on life from a nerd's point of view. This one deals with the importance of a strong password, so I feel it will have value for all us tech users, but also addresses the need for positive self-talk, which has value for all of us as humans.

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I have never been really good at positive self-talk. And there I go again. That is a great example of how I am not very good at it.

However, I do believe in the power of self-talk, both positive and negative, to have a great impact on our thoughts, feelings, and attitudes. Psychology tells us that what we say aloud to ourselves really makes a difference. Negative statements can bring us down, while positive, encouraging words can build us up. It may be just bit by bit, but every bit makes an impact over time.

Historically I just have not been very successful at taking advantage of this. If anything, my self-talk is often negative, pointing out where I fell short, or forgot to do something, or let someone down, or don’t feel well, or am tired. Hearing these words from my own mouth day after day after day becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

So I have been working on how to improve this...

Protect Your Google Account with 2-Step Verification

If you are anything like me, you use your Google account for everything. All of my files are in Drive, my emails are in Gmail, my pictures are in Photos, and my events are in Calendar.

As convenient and useful as this is, having all of your data in one place should also encourage us to stop and think about security. How secure is your account? If someone were to access your account, what all would they have access to?

Now hopefully you don't have your password written on a post-it note stuck to your monitor (please say you don't), but if you are like most people, you probably are not doing anything extra to protect your account. According to a study released in early 2018, less than 10% of Gmail users have turned on Google's 2-Step Verification option.

In this blog post we will take a look at this super simple, yet powerful, tool to help protect your Google account and everything you have saved in it. If you are a Google user, it is time to step up your account security with 2-Step Verification!

7 Back to School Updates for Google's Applied Digital Skills Curriculum

Several months ago I shared a post on Google Applied Digital Skills curriculum. For those not familiar, it is a totally free, online curriculum, with engaging videos and practical projects that teach technology, life, and job skills to students (middle and high school) as well as adult learners.

Since that time Google has continued to expand and improve the program with lots of new content and features for the new school year. In this blog post we will take a look at the new curriculum units they have rolled out, as well as the new options and improvements to the system, including Google Classroom integration and more.

If you have not taken advantage of this awesome free curriculum for your students, there is no better time than now. Regardless of what subject you teach, there are ready-to-go lessons you can incorporate in your class this year.

Learn your New Students' Faces, Names, and More with Google Slides

One of the first things every teacher wants to do each year is memorize their students faces and names. This makes a personal connection to each of your students and helps them feel welcome and valued in your class. The last thing we want to do is call a student by the wrong name or have to resort to a "Hey you".

When I was first teaching (back in 1992, you do the math) I took pictures of my new students on the first day of class with an old camera with 110 film. I then would get the pictures developed at my local drug store and would attach the photos to 4x6 cards I had the students fill out with their names and details about themselves.

These became my flashcards so I could learn my students names, faces, and key details about each of them. I would practice with these for the first week or so of school to make sure I learned all 130 or so new students I had that year.

Well now with technology there are so many better and faster ways to do this. For one example I have created a Google Slideshow template that you can use to help learn your students names and faces and a little about them. You can even randomize the slides for better quizzing of yourself. See below to get your copy of the template and directions for how to use it.

What to do About the Missing "About" Page in Google Classroom?

Recently Google rolled out some great updates for Google Classroom. You can see my earlier post for all the details here: 9 Updates for Google Classroom (and 3 more to come)

As awesome as these updates are, we did end up losing one feature in the process… the "About" page. In the past Google Classroom had an "About" page that contained lots of information related to the class. Some of those items got moved to other pages. However, one big thing missing is the ability to add class resources.

The "About" page was a nice location to provide easy access to common websites, a syllabus, style guides, and other reference materials for students. According to Google we will have the ability to add such class materials to the new "Classwork" page in the near future, but for now that feature has not been released.

So what can you do in the time being if you want to share classroom resources without an "About" page? See below for a few ideas on possible alternatives for now.

New Pear Deck Critical Thinking Templates for Google Slides

Pear Deck is an awesome add-on for Google Slides that lets you add interactive elements to your presentations including multiple choice, text entry, numeric entry, drawing, and draggable activities.

I have shared posts about Pear Deck several times on this blog including:

• Supercharge Google Slides with Pear Deck Add-on
• 21 New Free Interactive Pear Deck Templates for Google Slides
• 9 Awesome Add-ons to Supercharge Google Slides

Recently Pear Deck rolled out some updates to the add-on that provide more content and easier use, with a big focus on integrating critical thinking skills into your slideshows. In this post we will take a look at these great new updates that are available for you today.

9 Updates for Google Classroom (and 3 more to come)

When Google Classroom launched in 2014 it was immediately a valuable tool to save educators time and increase connection with students. Since then Google has continued to make updates to Classroom, bringing new features and improvements.

Google has been very busy over the summer for the start of the new 2018 school year. Classroom has received nine updates, and has three more to come in the near future. In this blog post we will take a look at each of these updates, how they work, and what impact they will have on teaching and learning.

Google Tools for English Language Learners

Parlez vous Google? More and more it is becoming common for schools to serve students who do not speak English as their primary language. Thankfully there are many technology tools that can help bridge that gap and help increase communication and understanding.

These resources can include:

• Translation tools
• Speech-to-text tools
• Text-to-speech tools
• Dictionary tools
• Summarization tools
• Screencasting tools
• And more!

Below you will find an overview of several tools to consider using with English Language Learners, or ELL students. I will continue to add new ideas to this list overtime, and would also love to hear suggestions from you. If you know of tools that have been helpful for ELL students, please consider sharing them in the comments at the bottom of this post.

My 2018 CFISD Digital Learning Conference Sessions

I am excited and honored to be a featured presenter at the 2018 CFISD Digital Learning Conference in Cypress, TX this July 25th and 26th!

I always look forward an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at the 2018 CFISD Digital Learning Conference, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

My 2018 Great Plains Summit Sessions

I am excited and honored to present at the 2018 Great Plains Summit in Lincoln, Nebraska this July 12th and 13th!

I always look forward an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at the 2018 Great Plains Summit, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

My 2018 ISTE Sessions

I am excited and honored to once again present at the 2018 ISTE Conference in Chicago this June 24th through 27th.

I always look forward to this opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at the ISTE Conference, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

My 2018 SC Midlands Google Summit Sessions

I am excited and honored to once again present at the 2018 SC Midlands Summit Featuring Google for Education in Columbia, SC this June 13th and 14th.

I look forward to this opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at the SC Midlands Google Summit, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

My 2018 IGNITE Conference Sessions

I am excited and honored to present at the 2018 IGNITE Conference in Lafayette, Indiana this June 6th and 7th!

I always look forward to opportunities to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at the IGNITE Conference, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

My 2018 ITIP Google Summit Sessions

I am excited and honored to once again present at the 2018 ITIP Ohio Summit Featuring Google for Education in Columbus this May 14th and 15th.

I always look forward to this opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at the ITIP Google Summit, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

What's New in Google - April 2018

Catch up on everything new in G Suite for Education from April 2018, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our April 2018 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda and all the awesome resources and G Suite updates from the last month. This includes 26 new Google updates and 41 Google resources for your class.

The monthly meetings are hosted by the Google Educator Group of Ohio, but are open to anyone from any location. The purpose of these meetings is to:

• Connect Google-using educators
• Share the latest Google Apps news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Apps is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below to view the recorded video, agenda, and all the resources from the April 2018 meeting:

Making Learning Transparent - Finding, Making, and Using Transparent Images for Learning

As educators and students we use images all of the time in the projects we create. Most of the time any picture will do, but sometimes we're looking for an image with a special quality… transparency.

A transparent image is a picture where some part of the image is see-through, like the image has been cut out. This is useful because transparent images look much better when combined with other images, allowing you see the background or other items behind the picture.

Pictures with transparency can be used in lots of fun educational activities. In this post we will take a look at ways to find as well as create your own transparent images. We will also look at practical uses for these images in student projects.

18 Free Image Sites and Tools for Schools

A picture is worth a thousand words, but it might also be worth a thousand dollars if your school gets hit with a copyright violation claim. This happens to schools every year as students or teachers inappropriately use an image that they do not have the rights to.

Thankfully this does not have to be the case as there are loads of high quality pictures that can be used in school projects without any licensing concerns. These can include images that are released under creative commons, or are in the public domain, or simply are copyright-free. Of course depending on the license, it may still be necessary to cite where the image came from to provide proper attribution (and it can be a good practice to do even if not required).

There are many sites and tools that can help educators and students find free photos, clipart, icons, and more. See below for a list of many of these, and be sure to share your suggestions for other resources to add to this collection.

Googley Poem Projects for National Poetry Month (or any time of year)

April is the time of year
For kids to write a poem.
There's loads of fun activities
Here for you to show 'em.

Google tools can be used
To make the perfect rhyme,
With templates, tools, and writing prompts
To save your students time.

Draggable Drawings, random Sheets,
And Google Docs highlighting
Will give your students inspiration
For their creative writing.

So look below to find out more,
Then get your students on it,
Writing their ode, haiku, free verse,
Their ballad or their sonnet.

Free Tech Curriculum for all Subjects with Google's Applied Digital Skills

What skills do our students need to be successful in their future? What skills do adults need to be competitive in the job market?

Although we can certainly give a wide range of answers, one theme would likely be common:

To be successful, students and adults need technology skills and the ability to apply them in practical ways in daily life, in learning opportunities, and in their jobs.

These skills might include:

• Budgeting for expenses
• Creating a resume
• Planning an event
• Managing a project
• Researching and writing on a topic
• Making a presentation

But how do people develop these needed skills? One excellent option is Google's Applied Digital Skills program. This is a totally free, online curriculum, with engaging videos and practical projects that teach technology skills to students (middle and high school) as well as adult learners.

In this post we will take a look at four topics: "What is Applied Digital Skills?", "What is in the curriculum?",  "What is the instructor experience?", and "What is the student experience?". Also, see below for details about several free trainings I will be leading in the coming months to help educators get up and going with the program.

Springtime Magnetic Poetry with Google Drawings

Spring is here, and April is National Poetry Month, so what better time to have your students work on their creative writing skills with a Springtime-themed writing activity.

In the past I have shared Google Drawing templates for students to create drag-and-drop "magnetic" poetry with a winter-theme as well as for Valentine's Day.

This time I have updated the template for Springtime. Just like before, doing this activity with technology such as Google Drawings provides many benefits:

• No limit on the quantity of words provided. Just copy and paste more of them as needed.
• Great tech skills practice with dragging and dropping and copying and pasting.
• Ability to edit the words provided if needed.
• Ability to add your own words.
• Easy collaboration with others.
• Easy to share or download your final creation.
• No pieces to get lost.
• It’s free!

See below to get your free copy of the Springtime Magnetic Poetry template to use with your students (or yourself) however you want, as well as directions on how to use it.

Copy Comments to Google Classroom Docs and Slides

Several months ago I shared a blog post about "How to Force a Docs Copy WITH Pre-Loaded Comments to Help your Students". The post explained a URL trick you can use to not only make a copy of a document, but to also copy any comments you have made in the Doc.

This can also be a creative way to provide additional resources, links, and assistance to your students in their projects. Instead of just getting a copy of a worksheet, HyperDoc, study guide, or other document, students can also have comments pre-loaded into their copy of the document. These comments can provide them with:

• Additional directions
• Hyperlinks to resources
• Voice recordings from the teacher
• A checklist of items for the student to resolve
• And more

The only drawback was this trick does not work in Google Classroom. So if you use Classroom to push out copies of Docs or Slides to students, there was no way to also copy the comments during that process.

Until now…

See below for details on a great new Chrome extension that lets you copy comments for Docs and Slides when making copies through a Classroom assignment.

What's New in Google - March 2018

Catch up on everything new in G Suite for Education from March 2018, and see great ideas and resources!

Because the end of the month fell during Spring Break for most all of our schools, we did not hold our normal monthly Google User Meeting. However, I still wanted to share out all of the new updates from the month, so I have included them below.

We will be back on track with live Google Hangout meetings at the end of April. The monthly meetings are hosted by the Google Educator Group of Ohio, but are open to anyone from any location. The purpose of these meetings is to:

• Connect Google-using educators
• Share the latest Google Apps news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Apps is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below for all of the updates from March 2018 for G Suite for Education.

12 Terrific Podcasts to Learn Something New Everyday

As lifelong learners, we should always be looking for ways to learn something new everyday. One of my favorite tools for this is podcasts.

This will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me well. If there was an "Eric Curts Bingo Game" one of the squares would be:

• Eric says "Speaking of that topic, I was just listening to a podcast recently that talked about that, and I learned…"

For what it's worth, some of the other squares would probably be:

• Eric drinks a Coke Zero.
• Eric tells you about a movie or TV show you JUST HAVE TO SEE.

Back to podcasts though… I have blogged about podcasts before, including 11 of my favorite podcasts that deal specifically with Educational Technology. I would encourage you to check out that post to see that list of recommendations. However, podcasts can be a great way for you, and your students, to learn information from a wider range of topics.

At last count, my podcast app indicates that I am currently subscribed to 155 podcasts. Now I certainly can't listen to all of those, but they provide me with new options everyday to learn something new. In this blog post I would like to share some of my favorite podcasts for learning new information. These can be great for your own personal growth, to bring into class and incorporate into a lesson, or for your students to use for their own learning.

Note: Some of these podcasts can have episodes that deal with more mature topics, but the hosts are always good about mentioning that early in the episode if that is the case.

The Bionic Educator

This year at the Ohio Educational Technology Conference, I had the privilege once again to take part in the FREd Talks. FREd Talks are sort of like our version of TED Talks (FREd stands for "Finding Real Education").

These presentations are usually called Ignite Talks or something along those lines. They are quick 5 minute talks where you have 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds.

In the past I have done FREd Talks or Ignite Talks on "The 4 C's of Education" and "The Big Blank Wall" For my talk this year I did "The Bionic Educator". I have been fascinated with the rise of artificial intelligence and what that means for education, teaching, and learning. This is a topic I expand on in longer sessions and keynotes, but I tried my best to boil it down to just 5 minutes of the most critical ideas.

See below for a recording of the presentation, along with a written version of what I shared.

My 2018 MACUL Sessions

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the 2018 MACUL Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan this March 8th and 9th.

I always look forward to an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at MACUL 2018, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

3 Ways Google Drive and MS Office Can Live Together in Harmony

- Coke versus Pepsi
- Star Wars versus Star Trek
- Google Drive versus Microsoft Office
These are the timeless struggles of humanity.

So you are using Google Drive and its productivity tools such as Docs, Sheets, and Slides. But you still have Microsoft Office files from years and years before. What can you do with all of those existing Office files? Is there any way for your Microsoft files and your Google Drive to live in harmony?

Although Microsoft Office and Google Drive can often be thought of as competing products, they actually can work together in many ways. Google allows you to store all of your Office files in Drive, and then once they are there you can use them in three main ways:

• You can convert your MS Office files into Google format
• You can leave the files in MS Office format and then do light editing with a helpful extension
• You can leave the files in MS Office format, but then open and edit them locally in Office with the Drive File Stream tool

In this blog post we will take a look at all three of these options and how they work. You may end up using all three, or find just the one that works best for you and your specific needs. See below for all the details.

3 Googley Valentines Activities for Kids

With Valentine's Day coming up, this is a great time to highlight some activities I really love! In this case I am talking about technology activities for students that tie into the holiday theme while also promoting creativity and writing.

I this blog post I will be sharing three Valentine-themed projects that use Google tools. Two of them are ideas I have shared in the past, and one of them is new twist on an old idea for this post. Hopefully you find all of them to be fun ways to engage your students, while working on practical skills.

See below for a description of each activity, access to all the templates, and links to the original blog posts for the projects I am re-sharing. Hope you love them!

Write Right with Google Tools

Writing is a skill that crosses all subject areas and all grade levels. No matter what you teach, it is critical for your students to be able to express their ideas clearly when writing.

There are a multitude of ways for students to improve their writing, including many technology tools that come from Google or that work with G Suite. With these technology tools, the writing process can be improved at all stages from planning to writing to self editing to peer editing to assessment to revising to publishing.

Over the years I have done many blog posts on tech tools for the various stages of the writing process. To make it more convenient, I have pulled together all of those different resources into this one post. See below for an overview of Google tools that can be used to help students and teachers through the writing process.

For each portion of the writing process I have listed some key resources and ideas, but have also linked to my earlier blog posts for each. Be sure to click the links for the related blog posts in each section to get all of the directions, examples, and resources for each.

My OETC 2018 Sessions

I am excited and honored to once again present at the Ohio Educational Technology Conference (OETC 2018) in Columbus this February 13th through 15th.

I always look forward to this opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at OETC 2018, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

9 Awesome Add-ons to Supercharge Google Slides

Google Slides is already a powerful tool for student creation and collaboration. You can see a wide range of educational uses on my Google Slides resource page.

As awesome as Google Slides is, you can make it even awesomer with the use of Add-ons. Just like Docs, Sheets, and Forms, you can now install Add-ons for Google Slides. Add-ons are third-party tools that provide you with extra features and functions that are not normally available in Slides.

Although Add-ons are still a relatively new option for Slides, there have already been many excellent Add-ons created. In this blog post we will take a look at nine of my favorites that can be valuable for students and educators.

See below for details on how to find, install, and use Add-ons, in addition to links and explanations for each of my recommendations. Also you can watch the recorded video from the webinar where I cover all of the topics in detail.

What's New in Google - January 2018

Catch up on everything new in G Suite for Education from January 2018, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our January 2018 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda and all the awesome resources and G Suite updates from the last month. This includes 22 new Google updates and 25 Google resources for your class.

The monthly meetings are hosted by the Google Educator Group of Ohio, but are open to anyone from any location. The purpose of these meetings is to:

• Connect Google-using educators
• Share the latest Google Apps news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Apps is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below to view the recorded video, agenda, and all the resources from the January 2018 meeting:

My 2018 FETC Sessions

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC 2018) in Orlando, Florida this January 23rd through 26th.

I always look forward to an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at FETC 2018, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

21 New Free Interactive Pear Deck Templates for Google Slides

Last month I shared a blog post about the new Pear Deck add-on for Google Slides (as part of my "12 Days of Tech-Mas" series of posts).

The add-on is a simple, but fantastic, way to take your existing (or new) Google Slideshows and make them interactive. You can add multiple choice, text entry, numeric entry, drawing, and draggable activities to each slide. When the presentation runs, the interactive slideshow displays on each student's device, so the students can actively participate and you can collect their responses.

As awesome as that is … it just got better!

The Pear Deck add-on just got a major update that includes a fresh look with an easy-to-use sidebar, and (best of all) 21 new pre-made high-quality interactive templates. With a few clicks you can add these to your slideshow, edit them if needed, and engage your students more than ever.

See below for all of the details on each of the 21 new templates. Plus you can win a year of premium Pear Deck access by filling out the raffle form at the very bottom of this post!

What's New in Google - December 2017

Catch up on everything new in G Suite for Education from December 2017, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our December 2017 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda and all the awesome resources and G Suite updates from the last month. This includes 23 new Google updates and 28 Google resources for your class.

The monthly meetings are hosted by the Google Educator Group of Ohio, but are open to anyone from any location. The purpose of these meetings is to:

• Connect Google-using educators
• Share the latest Google Apps news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Apps is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below to view the recorded video, agenda, and all the resources from the December 2017 meeting: