Tuesday Tech Tips 2-25-25

      

In today's edition, you can learn about: Does MagicSchool AI really just write students' assignments for them? A new setting in Google Forms to help avoid confusion when sharing a Form with someone  New #WinAtSocial features and more! ➡️ ➡️➡️

💡 Quick Tip 💡 Using the Snooze feature in Gmail helps you manage you email workload by deferring less urgent emails and allowing them to focus on what’s important at the moment. Hover over the email you want to snooze in your inbox. Click on the clock icon (Snooze) that appears to the right of the email. Select a time frame from the options provided. Snoozed emails can be found in the “Snoozed” folder located in the left sidebar. If you change your mind, simply go to the “Snoozed” folder, open the email, and click on the “Unsnooze” option to return it to your inbox immediately.

Do you have a tip or idea for the Tuesday Tech Tips? Or a request for a topic or question you'd like to know more about? Please let us know! You can email us at joseph.lombardo@greececsd.org with your submission.
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We know there's a concern that AI will just do students' work for them. Please have a look at this interaction between an real GCSD student and our MagicSchool AI platform. The student's prompt is in purple at the top, and MagicSchool's response is what follows.

Have you found the benefits from using AI (Artificial Intelligence) to enhance your teaching and work related tasks? Want to guide your students to learn the benefits of using AI? Join the MagicStudent Pilot for grade 3-12 teachers! Learn about the pilot HERE and contact your ITT to get started today!

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Google has implemented a change in the way users send and add collaborators to Google Forms. This adjustment was motivated by a desire to alleviate confusion that arose when users inadvertently added collaborators instead of sharing a link to the fillable form.

Previously, the distinction between adding collaborators and sharing the form was not as clear, leading to instances where individuals were granted editing rights when the intention was simply to allow them to fill out the form. To address this issue, Google has redesigned the sharing and collaboration process in Google Forms to more closely resemble that of Google Sites.

With this update, there is now a clearer separation between adding collaborators, who have the ability to edit the form, and publishing a link that enables others to view and complete the form. This distinction aims to provide a more intuitive user experience and minimize instances where unintended access is granted.

HERE is a link to Google's support page explaining how to publish a link for someone to fill out.

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For staff who have an active #WinAtSocial account, check out these new features! New to #WinAtSocial? Find out about #WinAtSocial here (for grades 3-12) and contact Lynn Girolamo for an account!

 Platform Playbooks are now embedded in your #WinAtSocial dashboard! Log in to your #WinAtSocial account, click on Resources, then Platform Playbooks to get information about expert breakdowns of popular apps, sites, and games and insights into how students can use them positively!
Also, check out the expanded Professional Learning opportunities with The Social Institute with their asynchronous educator courses.

NEW: Proactive Skill-Building in 10-15 Minutes:  Want to play a single Huddle rather than a whole lesson? Run #WinAtSocial in quick 10-15 minute sessions, making it easy for you to integrate into your schedule and focus on specific Huddles that meet your students' needs.

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Are you looking for high-quality professional learning related to Instructional Technology? Contact your ITT if you’d like to customize PL for your building, team, or department. Also, be sure to check out the ITT page for Recommended Professional Learning opportunities HERE, where you’ll find webinars, certifications, and especially some new AI learning material…all for PL credit!

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

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1-28-2025 Tuesday Tech Tips

     

In today's edition, read about:  a troubleshooting tip for our movie streaming service Swank a new "grade all" feature in Google Classroom an easy way to dip your toe into the MagicSchool pool with their Choice Board Generator easily generating QR codes in Chrome and more! ➡️ ➡️➡️

💡 Quick Tip 💡 To create a QR code to link to a webpage in Chrome, right-click anywhere on the page, and choose "create QR code for this page."  You can then copy it, and include it in something like the "Quick Tip" in your Tuesday Tech Tips. Scan the QR code, or click HERE to access our help site. Always keep in mind that QR codes aren't for everybody.  If you're reading this on your phone, for example, that QR code may not help you.  So remember to always provide a direct link in addition to sharing a QR code, like we have in the caption above.

Do you have a tip or idea for the Tuesday Tech Tips? Or a request for a topic or question you'd like to know more about? Please let us know! You can email us at joseph.lombardo@greececsd.org with your submission. ___________________________

If you're having any technical issues with Swank, you will need to clear your cache in Chrome, and it should work fine from there. Directions on how to do that can be found HERE.

Swank is a movie streaming service for GCSD staff, which includes the ability to share links to movies with your students. Read more about it in a previous Tech Tip HERE.

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Click the image for a brief video showing how to use this new feature

Introducing the ability to ‘grade all’ in Google Classroom

You may remember that last year, Google added a "missing" grade state to Gradebook (details HERE). To further improve upon grading options for teachers and give them the ability to perform bulk grading, they just introduced "grade all".

With this new feature, teachers can quickly and efficiently grade all students' work on the Gradebook page by selecting "grade all". They can also choose to override existing grades and automatically return them to students after grading.

Not only does this update save time by eliminating the need to enter each student’s grade one-by-one, but it also provides a solution to grading assignments based on completion rather than accuracy (such as exit tickets, due nows, classwork, etc.) where the grade is binary (‘0’ or ‘100’).

Read all the details HERE.

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For a "light lift" intro to MagicSchool, we recommend trying out the Choice Board Generator. Check out the image above, also linked HERE, for directions and specifics.

With minimal input from you, MagicSchool can help you generate a Choice Board for your students!

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

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