Free Google Webinars - "Did You Know" Series

I am excited and honored to be presenting four sessions in Google's "Did You Know Series" on behalf of Kiker Learning. The series runs through April and May of 2022.

Google gives an overview of the series as such:

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In our "Did you know?" Training Series we'll host 8 starter-centric training sessions covering Google Workspace for Education, including Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Education Plus, and Chrome devices. 

• Time: 10-10:30am PST, every Tuesday (1-1:30pm EST)
• Dates: April 12 - May 31, 2022
• Audience: This training is suitable for educators, curriculum and IT leaders globally
• Content: Each session will detail either technical or instructional features, with demo-based training and educational use-cases

Can't join us live? If you're unable to watch live, register to watch on demand. We'll add the recordings right after the livestream finishes each day. 

Looking for a certificate of completion? We'll email you a customizable template after the last session concludes.

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You can see the full schedule and register to get links to the sessions emailed to you prior to each event at the "Did You Know Series" website at: 

• https://rsvp.withgoogle.com/events/gfe-did-you-know-training-series

See below for details on the four sessions I will be presenting.

Chromebooks Can Do That?!

Chromebooks have become a common tool in schools, but are you and your students getting the most out of them?

I recently had the opportunity to present a webinar where we took a deep dive into Chromebook features, some of which may be lesser-known. 

These features can encourage creativity, increase efficiency, ramp up engagement, and support teaching and learning in your classroom.

Some of the topics we explore in the session include:

📷 Camera tools

🎞️ Screen capture and recording

🖐 Touchpad gestures

🗂️ Multiple desks

📶 Offline access

⌨️ Keyboard shortcuts

🤖 Android apps

🔑 Accessibility tools

And more!

See below for the recorded webinar video and detailed session resources.

Chromebook Accessibility Tools - Teach with Chrome Webinar

I recently had the privilege to present some of Google's "Teach with Chrome" webinars. These were a series of 30-minute sessions diving deep into how Chrome devices and ChromeOS can be used by teachers and students to improve teaching and learning.

One of the sessions I did was "Teach, Learn, and Collaborate Equally" and was all about using the built-in accessibility tools in ChromeOS, including Select-to-Speak, Dictation, High-contrast mode, Docked magnifier, Automatic clicks, On-screen keyboard, Large mouse cursor, Sticky keys, and more.

Teach, Learn, and Collaborate Equally - Chromebooks include accessibility right out of the box, unlocking learning experiences for students with diverse needs, abilities and learning styles. For teachers on Chrome OS - hear tips and tricks about how using the same OS as your students can create meaningful learning experiences!

See below for the recorded webinar video and session resources.

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 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.

In this 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!

Introducing Practice Sets for Google Classroom

We all know the phrase "practice makes perfect" but that's not actually true. A better way to say it is "practice makes permanent". 

If a student practices incorrectly they will reinforce the wrong procedures or information. 

To help with this Google has created a brand new feature for Google Classroom called practice sets which makes it super easy for teachers to create assessments, and uses artificial intelligence to provide guided support, feedback, and correction for students when working through the questions.

See below for a video overview of practice sets and my interview with Taryn Sullivan from the practice sets team at Google for more details on this awesome new tool.

Recorded Webinar: Marvelous Mote Activities for Schools

Mote is an excellent Chrome Web Extension for teaching and learning:

• You and your students can record your voice and add that recording to websites and web tools including Google Docs, Slides, Forms, Classroom, Gmail, and more.
• You can view engagement details for your voice notes to see which students have listened to your recordings.
• And although the free version is great, there is also a paid version with premium features including transcription, translation, STEM mode, and more.

I presented a free 1-hour webinar called "Marvelous Mote Activities for Schools" recently. The webinar covered an overview of Mote, how to install it, and then lots and lots of practical ideas for using Mote with Google Docs, Slides, Forms, Classroom, and more.

See below to watch the recorded webinar, access all of the session resources, see practical examples of uses for Mote in teaching and learning, get special access to the "Unlimited" version of Mote, and get a certificate of completion for the session.

Control Alt Achieve Newsletter - March 2022

Each month or so I send out an email newsletter to those who have subscribed, as an easy way to keep folks up to date on the latest content from this site, as well as other resources I have come across.

The newsletter typically includes the following sections:

• Output - What I have been creating - See my most recent blog posts and training videos
• Input - What I have been consuming - See some of the best resources I have come across recently
• Connect - See how to stay connected and a list of some of my upcoming event and PD opportunities

To view my newsletter for March 2022, use the link below:

• https://mailchi.mp/controlaltachieve/9q6ttmhq5h-14762637

If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter (for free of course) you can do that here:

• https://www.controlaltachieve.com/p/newsletter.html

Post by Eric Curts. Bring me to your school, organization, or conference with over 50 PD sessions to choose from. Connect with me on Twitter at twitter.com/ericcurts

My ITIP Ohio Google Summit 2022 Sessions

I am excited and honored to once again be presenting at the ITIP Ohio Google Summit at the Kalahari Resort and Conference Center in Sandusky, Ohio this May 4th and 5th, 2022. This year the conference is hybrid, with an in-person or on-demand virtual registration option.

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.

You can learn more about the conference and register at: http://ohiogooglesummit.org/

And view the full conference schedule at: https://www.itipohio.org/google-summit-2022/schedule

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at the ITIP Ohio 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!

Great Googley Activities for Pi Day

Pi Day is March 14th each year (since the date is 3/14 and Pi starts out with 3.14). As a previous middle school math teacher, this is always a fun day to be a math nerd, do Pi-themed educational activities, and of course eat some real pie!

Over the years I have shared several technology activities for celebrating Pi Day in separate posts. This year I have collected all of those previous activities, and added some new ones from our Equatio friends at Texthelp.

📈 Discovering Pi with Google Sheets

✍️ Create "Pi Poems" with Google Sheets

🏙️ Graph a Pi-Line Skyline with Google Sheets

🟢 Celebrating Pi Day with EquatIO Mathspace

See below for this great collection of technology activities to help students explore, understand, and create with Pi!