What's New in Google - November 2023

Catch up on everything new in Google Workspace for Education from November 2023, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our November 2023 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda with all the awesome resources and Google updates from the last few months. This includes lots of new Google updates and 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 Workspace news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Workspace 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 November 2023 meeting:

8 Googley Wintertime Activities for Kids

As we get closer to the holiday break, it is expected and understandable that our students start getting a little distracted. They are looking forward to lots of days off, holiday celebrations, gifts, and more. Let's be honest … we may be a little distracted as well.

 
This is a time of year when we look for some fun activities to keep our students focused and active. But we don't just want busy work. If possible it is great to find projects that are fun, tie into wintertime themes, and still provide our students with a chance to be creative, write, or improve some content area skills.

To help out with that, I have put together eight wintertime-themed activities that use free Google tools, including Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Drawings:

⛄ Activity #1 - Build a Snowman with Google Slides

🎄 Activity #2 - Decorate a Holiday Tree with Google Slides

🧲 Activity #3 - Wintertime Magnetic Poetry with Google Drawings

📬 Activity #4 - Holiday Greeting Cards with Google Drawings

🎁 Activity #5 - "12 Days of Christmas" Guided Google Sheets Math Activity

🌟 Activity #6 - Pixel Art Ornaments with Google Sheets

❄️ Activity #7 - Wintertime Emoji Rebus Stories with Google Docs

💡 Activity #8 - Holiday Lights Writing with Google Docs

Some of these are projects I have shared in the past, while others are new twists on previous posts. Hopefully some of these will be a good match for your students to keep them busy AND learning as we head into the holidays.

EdTech Links of the Week - 11-26-23

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Cool Tools 2023

This last year has been packed full of technology advances and innovative educational tools to go along with them. It seems like every week there is something new.

As we wrap up 2023 I will be sharing 24 of my favorite "Cool Tools" (in no particular order) from this year, with one new entry per day from December 1st through 24th (sort of like an EdTech advent calendar).

For this year I am going with the theme of artificial intelligence tools and resources, since that has been the hot topic.

See below for options on how to access each entry of "Cool Tools 2023".

My 2024 OETC Sessions

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the 2024 Ohio Educational Technology Conference (OETC23) in Columbus, Ohio on February 13th through 15th.

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 access more OETC24 information and register for the conference at:

• https://oetc.ohio.gov/

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at OETC24, 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!

Import your Jamboards into FigJam

Google recently announced that they are shutting down Jamboard by the end of 2024. Thankfully Figma has partnered with Google to provide their tools absolutely free to educators and students.

One of their tools is FigJam which is an advanced collaborative whiteboarding tool with features including stamps, emotes, stickies, shapes, connectors, drawing tools, plugins, interactive widgets, and much more.

To help you get started with FigJam I recently hosted two webinars on the basics of using FigJam in your school, as well as going deeper into advanced topics, features, and uses.

To make this transition even easier, Figma has now announced the launch of their import tool for Jamboard. With this easy-to-use tool you can convert all of your existing Jams into FigJam files. See below for details on this new tool, as well as a helpful 2-minute video on how it works.

My 2024 FETC Sessions

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC 2024) in Orlando, Florida on January 23rd through 26th, 2024.

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 register for FETC at https://www.fetc.org/

If you are thinking of attending, you can save 10% on a Premium or Basic pass no matter when you register. with my special promo code FETC24SPEAKER

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at FETC 2024, 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!

Join Me For Engage Online 2023

I am super excited to be taking part in Engage Online 2023! This is a virtual conference on November 9th. See below for the details and how to register for FREE!

🤔 What is Engage Online 2023?

• Engage is a virtual conference hosted by Kognity to elevate instruction and learning.
• There is a focus on science, but there is something for every educator.

🗣️ Who is speaking?

• Lots of amazing educators and experts including Matt Miller, Kasey Bell, Alice Keeler, and many more (and somehow I managed to slip in there as well!)
• You can see the full list of speakers and their sessions at: 
• kognity.com/events/engage-virtual/agenda/

🧔 What am I speaking on?

• Active Learning with Google Tools
• November 9th at 5:00pm EST
• EduProtocols are instructional templates that are designed to engage students in learning through critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity, in any subject or grade level. In this session you will see how engaging these can be for students by trying out several hands-on activities such as Sketch and Tell, Iron Chef, Tier List, Thin Slides, and more. For more details see: bit.ly/curts-active

✅ How can you attend?

• Register for Engage Online 2023 at kognity.com/events/engage-virtual/
• The normal cost is $75 but you can register completely FREE by using my code  "ERICCURTS100"
• If you can’t attend live,  your ticket will give you full on-demand access to all conference content for 3 months after the event.

I hope to see you there!