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.

2-14-2023 Tuesday Tech Tips

  

In our Valentine's Day Tech Alerts, we hope you ❤️love❤️  learning more about Nearpod, our schools' live morning shows, Google Classroom originality reports, and more!   ➡️➡️

Tuesday's Tip:  Do you know you can insert GIF's into Google Docs, Slides, Drawings, etc.?     If you want to learn how, then this ⬇️ is for you!

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Nearpod News

Check out these great updates to Nearpod! We especially love the updated Lesson Preview experience, and the new Math Manipulatives for students.

As a reminder, ALL Greece teachers have a premium Nearpod account- simply sign in with Google. Check here for more info.

Plus, Nearpod is hosting "Camp Engage," a free virtual PL opportunity from Feb 23-26! Save your seat at bit.ly/3Rw1rp9

(Yeah, no one at Nearpod asked us when our February Recess is.)

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Good Morning, Greece Central!

Many of our schools are broadcasting daily morning announcements on YouTube. If you're not a school-based employee, we urge you to please consider making it part of your morning routine to tune in to this incredible, funny, imaginative, informative student-led work from one of these schools.

The live morning shows can be found daily at these links:

• Arcadia High 7:20
• Brookside      9:15
• Craig Hill    8:40
• Longridge 9:15
• Olympia    7:15
• Pine Brook   9:00
• Autumn Lane Posted each morning

Additionally, past shows can be seen here for ARHS, AL, BS, CH, LR, OLY, and PB.

We're in the process of getting even more schools up and running. Don't see your school on here? Connect with your ITT to learn more about this and for help getting started.

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Have You Tried Originality Reports in Google Classroom?

You and your students can use originality reports to check work for originality and authenticity of assignments handed in through Classroom. When you run a report, it compares a student’s Google Docs or Slides file against webpages and books on the internet, as well as assignments submitted by other students in GCSD. The report links to detected sources and flags uncited text.

Learn more about originality reports with this brief video and help page, courtesy of the experts at Google.  

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We asked Chat-GPT...

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

1-31-2023 Tuesday Tech Tips

 

In this week's Tech Alerts,  we have news about Google Profile Pictures, Artificial Intelligence in Education, Google Sharing permissions, and more! ➡️➡️

Tuesday's Tip:  Do you find yourself writing the same thing over and over in e-mails?  Then this ⬇️ is for you!

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Some Thoughts on Profile Pictures 

This is a reminder that your GCSD Google Account profile picture is visible not only within GCSD, but also to anyone you contact outside of the district that also has a Google account. For example, if you email a student's parent to their Gmail accounts, they will see your profile picture. If you've never changed it, it is simply the first letter of your first name.

One way to change your profile picture:

• On your computer, open Gmail.
• In the top right, click your profile picture.
• Tap Manage your Google Account.
• On your Google Account page, click "Personal info."
• Under "Profile," click your current profile picture.
• Follow the on-screen prompts to choose or take a photo.
• Click Set Profile Photo.

While there are no official guidelines from the District regarding profile pictures, please make sure that it represents the district appropriately. A school picture of you is good. A picture of a flower is nice. A picture of Homer Simpson chugging a Duff Beer...not so much. This is no more than a friendly reminder, we're not the Profile Picture Police.

However, there is some policing when it comes to students' profile pictures. Again, there are no specific rules. It's tough to define an inappropriate profile picture, but you know one when you see it.

If you become aware of any student who is using a profile picture that promotes violence, drugs, adult content, or anything else that violates the Student Code of Conduct, please let your ITT know, and we can correct that.

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Have Your Students Suddenly Become Much More Proficient Writers?

or

More News on ChatGPT!

We mentioned the artificial intelligence-based ChatGPT in the 1-3-23 edition of Tech Alerts here, and since then we are all getting to know more about what it is, its possible impact on education, and its possible impact on our world!

At the 1-18-23 session of our District Digital Innovation Team (DDIT), building and district members spent some exploration time and even faced-off in a debate about the role of AI and ChatGPT in education. This Wakelet of resources was shared, and we’re sharing it with you.

Resources will continue to be added to this Wakelet as more and more information and perspectives are collected about AI and ChatGPT. ChatGPT is available for staff within the district, but is blocked for students. Of course, that doesn't mean they can't get to it on their own. We can't stress enough the importance of becoming familiar with this technology.

Seriously, this is big.

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GCSD Students' Access to non-GCSD Google Resources

Please be aware that all K-10th grade students are not able to access Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, Drawings, Forms, Sites, etc. owned by someone outside our district, such as staff from other Google districts or online shops like Teachers Pay Teachers. This restriction is required to protect our students from communications or data sharing with non-district persons. The rules are somewhat less stringent for Juniors and Seniors, as part of their work becoming college- and career-ready. For all other students, the only "work around" is making a copy of the outside resource in your GCSD Google Drive (if the owner allows), as well as copying any other non-GCSD Google Docs linked within that resource AND fixing any embedded links within the resource that point to non-GCSD resources. It can be a lot of work! Please keep this in mind before committing to using Google resources owned by someone outside the district.

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

1-17-2023 Tuesday Tech Tips

In this week's Tech Alerts, we have news about that pesky "Redirect Notice" page you may be seeing, self-paced technology PL curated by your ITT Team, a virtual assembly opportunity, and more! ➡️➡️

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Does This ⬆️ Look Familiar To You?
If It Does, You're Not Alone!

The Office of Technology is aware of an issue affecting many users in Chrome where clicking on a link leads to you a "Redirect Notice" webpage like the one pictured above. We are working closely with BOCES and Google in order to resolve this issue. We do not have a timetable on when we expect it to be fixed.

In the meantime, it is safe to click on the link on a Redirect Notice page in order to go to the site. You may even get one from the very Tech Alerts you're reading right now! #That'sSoMeta

The good news is that it appears to only happen when using Chrome on a Windows device, but not on a Chromebook. So, it should not be impacting students.

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ITT-Recommended Professional Learning for Instructional Technology

Your ITT's have curated a landing page on our Instructional Technology website, called Recommended Professional Learning for Instructional Technology, to highlight high-quality content that can be used for self-paced professional learning for instructional technology.

As a reminder, the Instructional Technology website can also be found in Classlink’s orange Technology Folder.

 

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27 Things Grades 5-8 Students Should Be Doing Online

We are pleased to share an exciting virtual assembly opportunity for NYS 5th-8th grade students! Please consider tuning in with your classroom to a live, 45-minute, virtual assembly with acclaimed media literacy expert Julie Smith! This presentation will be tailored to a middle school student audience. Register now using this link! Want to know more about Julie’s message and presentation style? Check out this recent clip where she talks about one of the many ways that students can positively engage with and harness social media and the internet

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⚠️ Attention Dymo Label Maker Users ⚠️

There are many Dymo brand label writers in the district. The newer models (500 series and up) work ONLY with Dymo brand labels that were manufactured after 2020.

These labels are identifiable by their packaging, as they come in green and white boxes. The labels that came packaged in a green and black box are older and will NOT be recognized by the device.

Any older label writer model, such as the 400 series, will work with any brand and age labels.

1-3-2023 Tuesday Tech Tips

Happy New Year from your friends on the Instructional Technology Team!  For an introduction to the first Tech Alerts of 2023, please click on "ITTsy" The GCSD Snowman.

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• What video sources are approved for use on the district computer system (network and devices)? 
• Can streaming services such as Netflix be used in school?
• What movie/TV ratings are allowed at each grade level?
• What “fair use” of video is allowed by copyright law?

These questions are answered in the "Media Guidelines" Folder found in Classlink

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Game-Changing Update to Gmail & Docs

Ever been in a situation where you want to collaborate while writing an email? Now you can! Check out draft emails from Google Docs. Once you’ve activated this feature you can share the Google Doc with someone to collaboratively write the email message. When you’re ready to send, just click the ‘Preview in Gmail’ .

 

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Have You Heard About ChatGPT?

Quoted directly from ditchthattextbook.com:

"ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot. Drawing on tons and tons of data and massive processing power, it uses GPT3 technology to let users talk to the AI about practically anything.

It'll write you a song. Tell you a story. Make you a list of gifts to buy or reasons to do something.

It'll write your lesson plans. (Go ahead and try it!)

It'll even do your students' homework for them."

So, yeah....We highly recommend checking out the rest of the article here.

Your students already know about it.

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Adobe Character Animator

To make a character animation like the one in the introduction to these Tech Alerts:

• Log into Adobe Express through ClassLink.  You may have to add it to ClassLink by using the Plus Sign in the upper left

• 

• After you're logged in, then go to https://express.adobe.com/express-apps/animate-from-audio/

Character Animator works on both Windows computers as well as Chromebooks. It's still in Beta Mode until some time this year.  What are some ways you can use this with your students?  Leave your ideas in the comments below! Please check in with your ITT for help with this or any other instructional technology. 

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