Voice Comments on Google Docs?

That's right--they do exist. Have you ever wanted to record your comment on a Google Doc rather than write it? Sometimes, you may want students to respond vocally to a document. With the voice comments extension in Google's Web Store, this feature is now easy as 1-2-3. Simply install the extension. Then, when you are in  your Google Drive, right-click on the document and choose "Open with...voice comments."

Next, you will need to allow access AND, allow the microphone with the Adobe Flash Box appears:



Now, you are ready to highlight text and record. Remember--what you highlight is considered your comments, so be sure to highlight. Press the || button when you're done.



You must now select the share with collaborators button and then, close the tab.

The next time you open the document and click on Comments. You will see your voice recording there.



And, that's it!

How will you use voice comments?

Chrome Apps and Extensions Updates

It's time for a refresher on some more great Chrome Apps and Extensions.

For starters: Beatlab. Combine this with Audacity and your students will be able to mix their own tracks while learning the basics of rhythm and beats.

Picozu is yet another picture editor. However, this one is a great substitute for Photoshop. Since it can be done online, students are not tied to one computer either.

With both apps, if you are signed into your Chrome a

Filtering with Google Forms

Recently, I wanted to move/copy any data that had an 'X' in the completed column into an archived spreadsheet. And, luckily, I found the formula to do just that!

Unfortunately, I'm still working on how to have the data in the original sheet with an 'X' in the completed column hide or disappear once it has been copied to the new sheet.



The good news is that this formula has many benefits. For instance, if you want a district/school-wide form where respondents need to select a particular teacher, you can use this formula to separate that data into sheets and assign the associated teachers with permissions to that sheet only. This enables groups to use one form and to allocate information to a set of people or a specific individual.

Check out this formula! It's simple and can be applied to a variety of situations, spreadsheets, and forms.

Educreations and Meograph help flip classrooms

Though Educreations was just an app for iPads and i-devices, it can be used via a Web browser--which is how my PC district has to use it. Nevertheless, it's still very effective in creating simple video tutorials. Educreations is simple enough for all users--students, teachers, and administrators--to create short videos either teaching a topic or showcasing what a student has learned. All you need is an account!

Meograph \ Meograph Education is a great new site for creating 4D Videos that incorporate maps, timelines, photos, videos, and narration. Not only is this a great tool for creating flipped classroom videos, students can use the site for developing presentations and end products on units they've studied. Currently, you do not even have to have an account to create videos. Though, having an account allows you to organize your work. If you would like management features for students, there is a small licensing feature. However, you can still have students create their own accounts without it. You just lose the management aspect.

To create a Meograph, you must first think of an introduction, body, and conclusion--much like a standard paper. However, instead of adding in text, you add in "moments." Moments can range from audio narration, maps, dates, images, and videos. Therefore, rather than having a standard paper, you can create an interactive four dimensional story.

The Chrome Store and Pictures in Google Forms!

Fellow Google Certified Trainers, Eric Curts and Sean Beavers, recently developed a site to evaluate the Chrome Web Apps and Extensions. Extensions and Apps have been a long-time favorite of mine. Now, with the help of this site, users can submit reviews while GCTs evaluate the reviews and the apps. This is the place to go to find out what the best Apps and Extensions are at the Chrome Web Store! And, if you are not already going to the Chrome Web Store, now is the time to start. The Web Store is one of the many things that makes the Chrome browser a unique and personal browser. And, Chrome Web Apps and Extensions are mostly free! As Google Apps for Education users, they make your experience more enhanced.

On a similar note, Google Forms have also been a long-time favorite of mine. However, they lack the ability to add in pictures to forms. There are a variety of times when I would have like to add in a picture--for instance: voting, diagrams, charts, graphs, etc. To add a picture, in the past, you had to be somewhat familiar with HTML code. This made it inaccessible for many teachers and common users. You had to create a form and grab its HTML code, paste it in a a Website like Google sites, and add in image tags, making sure the images had associated URLs. In doing so, the form no longer stood on its own.

Now, there is a script to help you with this process! You can find the instructions and more information on it here. To add pictures into forms this way, you just have to create a form as you normally would with the addition of placeholders for where you would like your images, upload pictures to Google Drive, copy the form URL to the Website linked above. It will then generate a new URL for you to send out. All results are still posted in the corresponding spreadsheet. With this script, I will be making many more forms with images!

Mural.ly and Easel.ly, collabroation for the creative people

Mural.ly is back! It has been revised and additional features have been added.

What is it? It's a collaborative whiteboard space that seamlessly integrates with Google. And, the final product can be shared. It contains the design features of a Google Drawing or Powerpoint since you can edit backgrounds, group objects, bring objects forward and backward, and lock objects.

What's so cool about it? The whiteboard space can be exported as an image file when all is said and done. It allows you to embed your Google Docs into the whiteboard space with a handy Google button. It also gives extreme creative-minded individuals an outlet to collaborate on.

What's it comparable to? Easel.ly is a very similar tool. Both happen to be in beta modes as well. Both are infographic tools.

Mural.ly offers a few more creative options, but Easel.ly gives more starter templates (known as Vhemes). If you are an avid Google user, Mural.ly links directly to your Google files. And, while Mural.ly allows users to export their canvas, Easel.ly is only available online.

Check out this Smore page for more information on the power of Easel.ly as well as some great examples.

If you want your students to be able to build their own infographics and to organize and present information effectively, both of these tools will work great!