Friday 28th November 2016 While Google Docs provides a great online editing environment, one of those application hangovers from days gone by was the need to use a workaround (adding a table) to create columns in a document. No more! Google have now added a Columns option to the Docs Format menu…. Click on More options to alter the spacing or add lines between … Read More
Organising Shared Documents in Google Drive
Thursday 20th October 2016 When other people share Google documents with you directly, those documents are available in Google Drive > Shared with me. By default, these shared documents are organised by date. Documents from multiple people (and even from people in multiple organisations) are all displayed in the one Shared with me folder list. This arrangement may be OK for … Read More
Create a Quiz in Google Forms
Tuesday 6th September 2016 Google Forms now includes a Quiz feature. We can now easily create a multiple-choice quiz, notify students of their scores immediately, or email the results when everyone has completed he quiz. Download the QuickStart step-by-step guide >>>
New Quiz feature in Google Forms
Google has added some new tools to their Forms app – most notably the option to create self-grading quizzes. When setting up a multiple-choice quiz we can choose to notify students of their scores immediately, or email the results when everyone has completed he quiz. More info in this video from Shawn Beard….
Google Drive v Dropbox v OneDrive
Monday 16th May, 2016 Access to decent online file storage is practically a necessity these days, whether it’s for work or home, and everyone seems to have an opinion on which option is best. Here is a review of three of the most popular file syncing services out there – have a read of yet another opinion on which is most suitable for your needs… … Read More
Google Slides gets Q&A feature
Friday 6th May, 2016 Google has announced a significant update to its web-based Google Slides with the introduction of a new Q&A feature that will allow the audience to ask questions from any online device during the presentation. The update also includes more presentation options for iOS, including the ability to present directly to a Hangout call. Google Slides also now includes … Read More
Chromebooks A-Z
Chromebooks A-Z is a one day hands-on workshop that equips teachers, school leaders and IT staff to become familiar with Chromebooks and their use in K-12 schools. Participants will be involved in activities to explore the features of Chromebooks and how they support the use of Google Apps for Education in the classroom. The local (Illawarra) workshop will be held at … Read More
Latest updates for Google Forms
Last week Google announced a list of new features available in the recently updated Google Forms. The latest update includes: new templates that are pre-populated with suggested questions based on your planned use; the ability to see who has completed your form and who hasn’t; a new Forms Add-on shop; new notification features. Check out more details of the new features >>>
Safer Internet Day (& 2Gb Free for Drive!)
Wednesday 10th February 2016 Google is encouraging you to check your account security today, topping up your free Drive account with an extra 2 Gb of space in return for you taking less than 2 minutes to check your account security. Complete the short checking process, and you will have an additional 2 Gb added to your Drive account. (And … Read More
Compare Cloud Storage Options – 2016
The online file storage landscape has evolved over the past couple of years. While most providers offer a free storage option, their paid plans have gradually increased in storage capacity while reducing in cost. Here is an an update of what is currently available with the popular options… From an historical perspective, here is a similar comparison from 2013….
The problem with driverless cars
Monday 4th January 2016 The self-driving car, that cutting-edge creation that’s supposed to lead to a world without accidents, is achieving the exact opposite right now: The vehicles have racked up a crash rate double that of those with human drivers. The glitch? They obey the law all the time, without exception. This may sound like the right way to … Read More
Getting started with Google Classroom
Tuesday 1st December 2015 Learn how to use Google Classroom to provide an online classroom environment that you can ‘blend’ with regular class activities. Classroom is available free for schools using Google Apps for Education, and is integrated with your Google Drive. Students and staff can access Google Classroom from any computer or iPad (or other tablet) at school or at home, fitting neatly … Read More
New Features in Google Apps
Thursday 3rd September 2015 Google has announced a swag of enhancements for Google Apps, just in time for the new school year in the US. New features have been added across Docs, Sheets, Forms, and Classroom. Learn more at the Google Apps blog >>>
Evolving the Google Identity
Wednesday 2nd September 2015 Google is applying a makeover to its logo and identity, acknowledging the community’s move to an online world centred on mobile devices. In one of it’s biggest design changes since 1999, the company’s new banner uses a cleaner sans-serif typeface, while retaining the four colours (albeit in slightly different shades) of red, yellow, green and blue for the name Google. … Read More
Google Classroom – August 2015 Updates
Tuesday 25th August 2015 Google Classroom continues to evolve, with some often-requested new features launched for the new school year in the northern hemisphere. New features include: Ask and answer a question – Teachers can post a short answer question to students in the class stream at any time, with options to allow students to edit their own answer, and to … Read More
Cloud Data Policies
Monday 24th August 2015 How private is your staff and students’ data when it is stored with a commercial cloud provider? Will students and teachers be targeted with advertising, based on the content of their emails and documents stored in the cloud? Who owns ‘your’ data, once it is stored on a remote server, possibly in another country? Can you retrieve … Read More
Google Apps: hands-on workshops
Wednesday 12th August 2015 Are staff at your school embracing new Cloud technologies? Think3’s Scott Barnham will be presenting a one-day hands-on workshop on Google Apps for Education at Port Kembla PS on Thursday 20th August, at Port Kembla PS. These workshops are always popular, and are a great opportunity for all school staff to keep up to date with the … Read More
Google Drive plug-in for Microsoft Office
Wednesday 22nd July 2015 Using this new Google Drive plug-in, people using Microsoft Office for Windows can now open their Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents stored in Drive, then save any changes back to Drive once they’re done. (Windows only) Read more >>>
Integrating Classroom, Doctopus and Goobric
Monday 13th July 2015 If you have previously used Doctopus and Goobric (to assess assignments with your pre-made rubrics), you will love the work that the gurus have put in to integrate these tools with Google Classroom. Great overview video from Jennie Magiera… Check out more Google Apps how-to guides >>>
Google Sheets Updates
Friday 19th June 2015 Google is continually updating and adding new features to their various apps. Some major updates have appeared recently in Sheets, adding new functionality to nearly every aspect of Sheets from chart creation to data display, and collaboration. Check out The Gooru’s overview of the new stuff in Sheets >>>
Google – Privacy check
We’ve all been there at some point or another… You just lost your phone and want to wipe your personal information; You attend an event, and you want to share your photos with some people (but not everyone); You hesitate as you download another app that’s asking for a lot of information. Everyday, we make choices that affect our privacy … Read More
Setup Guest access for shared computers
Do you still need a local file-server on your school network? If school-owned shared computers are being used by staff and students only to access their personal files or shared resources on remote cloud servers (such as Google Drive), there is little need to have individual local network logons, or roaming profiles, etc. So long as the computer has a network connection, it can … Read More
Edit Office Docs with Google Apps
Monday 11th May 2015 Using Google’s Office Editing extension for Chrome, you can view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files – without needing Office installed on your computer. Once the extension is installed, Office files that you drag into Chrome, open in Gmail or Google Drive will be opened in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides for viewing and editing. You can … Read More
Google Classroom adds Mobile Editing & Grading
Thursday 7th May 2015 Google has released an update to its Google Classroom software, bringing several new features to the mobile app. Teachers can now create assignments through the mobile app, edit them and distribute copies to their students. Teachers can also now grade assignments (with private comments or feedback) on their phones or tablets. Read more at The Journal >>> … Read More
Getting started with Google Apps
Tuesday 28th April 2015 Think3 is presenting a series of Google Apps workshops for teachers….. Google Apps for Education provides a mature, web-based suite of apps to support learning and collaboration in the classroom – on any device. Getting Started with Google Apps is a one day workshop that equips teachers, school executive and IT staff to explore the collaboration, flexibility … Read More
Add multiple teachers – Google Classroom update
Wednesday 22nd April 2015 Google has added a number of new features to Classroom, including the much-requested option to have multiple teachers for each class. A new ‘Invite Teacher’ button is now available on the class’s About page. Another much-requested feature is the option to prepare Assignments and Announcements ahead of time, and save them as a Draft, so that those items … Read More
Create a ‘Heat Map’ in Google Sheets
Tuesday 21st April 2015 Google have updated the Conditional Formatting feature in Google Sheets, with a major makeover. The example below shows how a business might use a ‘heat map’ in Sheets to provide a visual indicator of comparative success across financial periods. Teachers could apply a similar model to gauge student progress in academic indicators, such as reading levels, etc.
Google Classroom – step by step guides
Tuesday 7th April 2015 Google Classroom provides an online classroom environment that you can ‘blend’ with your regular class activities. Use Classroom for sharing resources, submitting and evaluating class assignments, along with co-ordinating class discussions. Check out these Google Quickstart guides and videos >>>
Separate First and Last names in Sheets
Friday 27th March 2015 Do you have a Google spreadsheet with a column containing students’ full names? And maybe you would like to sort the spreadsheet by students’ last names? This neat (and free) add-on will split a column of full names into separate First name and Last name columns – with just a click!
Google Docs – Adding a Table of Contents
Thursday 12th March 2015 If you, or your students, are producing longer documents in Google Docs, the Table of Contents feature may be useful. Here’s Google Gooru’s video about how to add a ToC to to your document….