3-21-23 Tuesday Tech Tips

SAFETY ALERT

Recently a school district experienced a fire caused by devices were stacked on each other while charging. Please make sure devices are not stacked and have some space to ventilate while charging.

📽 🛠 🔋 In today's Tuesday Tech Alerts, read all about showing movies in the classroom, an easy troubleshooting step you can take when having any issue with a website, some Chromebook battery management recommendations, and more! ➡️➡️➡️

💡 Quick Tip 💡 Instead of sending someone a boring old link to an entire website or page, impress them by linking right to specific text on the site.

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If you're under age 30 and you know who
this is, then two thumbs up for you

The Reviews Are In On Showing Movies in School

It's a Thumbs Down from Ebert: "Here's the part that GCSD moviegoers aren't going to like: Per their user agreements, streaming services such as Netflix*, Hulu, Disney+, etc. may NOT be used in classrooms. It's not Greece, it's them. And the district has a legal obligation to enforce copyright laws."

It's a Thumbs Up from Siskel: "You're no fun, Roger! Let's remind them of the good news: Every teacher has access to Swank Streaming Services. It's in ClassLink, or you can log in HERE. There are currently over 500 major motion pictures available to legally stream on Swank."

Thanks, guys! The details on all of this, including a small exception to the Netflix user agreement, can be found HERE. Grab some popcorn and enjoy a nice read.

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No, it's not pronounced like "cachet"

Website Issues? Fix it Fast: Just Clear the Cache

When running into a problem with any web-based resource (i.e. a website), whether using a Chromebook or a Windows device, a great first step for you or your students to take is to clear the browser's cache. This will often solve the issue. It's quick and easy, the directions below are also linked HERE.

 

1. At the top right in Chrome, click the 3 dots "snowman" icon 
2. Click More tools  Clear browsing data.
3. At the top, choose a time range. To delete everything, select All time.
4. Next to "Cookies and other site data" and "Cached images and files," check the boxes.
5. Click Clear data.

Close Chrome, reopen it, and see if that did it. According to a statistic I just made up, clearing the cache will fix the problem 26% of the time.

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Chromebook Power-Saving & 

Battery Management Tips

Are you or your students experiencing your Chromebooks running low on battery power more quickly than you'd like? Check out the following Chromebook battery power-saving tips that the nice folks at Haverford High School in Haverton, PA put together. They include:

• Decreasing your screen brightness
• Shutting down when feasible, and definitely nightly!
• See how to do that HERE
• Closing programs and tabs
• Lowering the volume
• Yes, seriously
• And more- check them all out HERE.

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For assistance with these topics, or anything else related to instructional technology, please book an appointment with your school's ITT.

3-7-2023 Tuesday Tech Tips

   

In today's Tech Alerts, learn about how to temporarily share files in Drive, a free Gif creation tool for you and your students, and more! ➡️➡️

Tuesday's Tip: On a Chromebook, the key above the 6 key creates multiple “desktops” to switch between.   If you want to learn all the details, then this ⬇️is for you!

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But sometimes, it's not forever. 💔

You Can Now Share Google Drive Files Temporarily Thanks to a New Feature

From Michael Perrigo at chromeunboxed.com:

"Until now, sharing access to a Google Drive file meant it was permanent unless you manually removed a collaborator from it. Doing so requires you to first remember to do so and then to actually do it, obviously. The issue with this is that human error is the weakest link in technology. In some cases, you may only want to share a file or folder with someone who is performing contract work for you or simply taking a peek at something you’re drafting up, after which point they really have no business snooping around."

An example of sharing with an expiration date in action

Check out all the details HERE.

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An Actual Gif made with Brush Ninja

Become a Brush Ninja with, well, Brush Ninja

Brush Ninja is a fun tool that students can use to learn about animation, to illustrate the concepts they have just learned, or to make their presentations more interesting. Plus, it can be a fun, free, way for teachers to creatively present ideas to our students.

Benefits of Brush Ninja:

• Brush Ninja is free. No software licenses, no new hardware. All you need is a web browser, it just works.
• No logins are needed. You can open the website and get started straight away.
• It’s simple to use. Their objective has been to make it as easy to use as possible. 
• There’s no tracking or advertising. There is no need to worry about your privacy, or personal information being sold. You can check out the privacy policy here.
• No Messaging There is no way for children to contact or interact with anyone else on Brush Ninja.

How to use Brush Ninja in your classroom:

• To illustrate concepts & knowledge. Reinforce the things students have learned by having them create a slideshow with key information.

• Tech Alerts. Show off your Brush Ninja skills by making a Gif of a stick figure dunking for the Tech Alerts.

• Show their working. Particularly useful for Mathematics, students can display their thought processes and then tidy the animation up to show the final result.
• Creative Writing. Present stories, animated comics, or short cartoons.
• Animated Ideas. Brush Ninja is a great way to jot down ideas for creative projects.
• Presentations. Add some motion to presentations by creating simple animations of the topic being presented.

Don't wait- make your first Gif today! Brush Ninja is in ClassLink, and you can learn more about HERE!

(Hey, come to think of it, how do you pronounce "Gif," anyway? Find out HERE.)

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For assistance with these topics, or anything else related to instructional technology, please check in with your friendly neighborhood ITT.