What's New in Google - March 2020

Catch up on everything new in G Suite for Education from March 2020, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our March 2020 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda and all the awesome resources and G Suite updates from the summer months. This includes 24 new Google updates and 48 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 March 2020 meeting:

See Everyone with the Google Meet Grid View Extension

Google Hangouts Meet is a great video conference tool for connecting people... but what about when there are a lot of people in the meeting?

Normally when you are in a Google Meet video conference, you can only show at most 4 people at a time. You do this by clicking the three dots button in the bottom right corner and choosing "Change Layout", and then selecting the "Tiled" view. But what if you want to see everyone in the Meet?

Thankfully there is a free Chrome extension called "Google Meet Grid View" that allows you to see everyone in the meeting, no matter how many people there are. See below for details on how to install and use this helpful extension, including a short 6-minute video with step-by-step directions.

Video Series: How to Use Google Meet

Google Meet is an easy but powerful tool for video conferencing. With Meet you can connect with other people using any device including a PC, Mac, Chromebook, smart phone, or tablet. While in the video conference you can chat, share your screen, turn on closed captioning, and even record the meeting.

Google Meet is a great tool for schools for remote instruction, after-hours help, virtual parent meetings, bringing an expert into class, connecting with other classes around the world, or recording lessons.

To help schools make the most out of Meet, I have put together a series of videos on how to use this tool. My goal for these videos is to keep them as short as possible, and have each one cover just a few topics. This way users can find just the information they need and can watch it quickly.

I plan to continue adding more videos to this series, so please let me know what Google Meet topics or questions you would like me to address in a future video. See below for the current list of my Meet help videos.

Video Series: How to Use Google Classroom

Google Classroom is a powerful tool that allows teachers and students to create assignments, turn in work, grade assignments, share resources, have class discussions, and much more.

Classroom is constantly improving with new features. To help schools make the most out of Classroom, I have put together a series of videos on how to use this tool.

My goal for these videos is to keep them as short as possible, and have each one cover just a single topic. This way users can find just the information they need and can watch it quickly. Also, since Google Classroom gets frequent updates, it will be easier for me to replace a small video when it becomes outdated with a new version.

I plan to continue adding more videos to this series, so please let me know what Google Classroom topics or questions you would like me to address in a future video. See below for the current list of my Classroom help videos.

Screencastify for Remote Teaching

With the COVID-19 situation, many schools around the world are out of session, with students learning from home and educators teaching remotely. There are so many wonderful resources being shared for schools to use during this time.

As much as possible it would be wonderful to maintain as much continuity as we can with our students and their learning. One great way to do this is for teachers to record themselves teaching and share those videos with their students.

There are many excellent tools for making instructional videos, but one good example is Screencastify. This is a free Chrome web extension that records your screen, microphone, and/or webcam, saves the video to your Google Drive, and makes it easy to share the recording with others. I have shared about this tool many times on this blog, but thought it would be helpful to make a video specifically for the COVID-19 situation. Since we are all so overwhelmed at the moment, I made the video as short as I could, just about 12 minutes long, so educators can learn everything they need as quickly as possible.

See below for the video, as well as some additional resources and information about Screencastify. And as always, please feel free to share with others who may benefit!

My NCTIES 2020 Sessions

I am excited and honored to present at the NCTIES 2020 Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina this March 4th through 6th.

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 NCTIES 2020, 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!