Category: Productivity

apple watch
Checkout Equipment, Innovative Instruction, Presentation, Productivity

Apple Watch in the classroom?

Laura Plotts

I recently received an Apple Watch (Series 1) as a gift and given the nature of my job I was curious how Instructors might integrate this technology into their teaching and learning.  My personal use of the watch did not provide many connections to classroom use, so I looked to other Instructors for ideas.  Here are some of the ideas I came across and I hope that they may help you to decide if the watch is something you might try:

Wearable Teaching? College to Experiment With Apple Watch as Learning Tool

5 Ways to use the Apple Watch in your classroom

10 Very Good Apple Watch Apps for Teachers

And here are some articles about students using the Apple Watch

Can the Apple Watch Enhance Student Achievement?

Cheating in the time of the Apple Watch

 

For information about all versions of the Apple Watch, visit http://www.apple.com/watch/

TLT does have the original Apple Watch available for checkout if you would like to try a version of the watch out for yourself.  To checkout the watch, please complete the following form: https://www.smore.com/8u99j

Do have an Apple Watch? Share with us your ideas for using it in the classroom.

iPad, Mobile, Productivity, TLT

App recommendation: Clear -Tasks, Reminders & To-Do Lists

Laura Plotts

At last week’s TLT Faculty Open House we asked those that attended to recommend a favorite app and Clear was a clear favorite!

What is Clear?  An easy to use to-do list and reminders app.

Price: $4.99

Platform: iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Clear for Mac which is available separately on the Mac App Store

More Information: 

To install and to learn about the app from the developer visit:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/clear-tasks-reminders-to-do/id493136154?mt=8 

One review of Clear as well as  a comparison to other to-do apps:  http://thesweetsetup.com/apps/best-simple-to-do-list-app-ios-mac/

6 reasons you should be using Google Slides
Best Practices, Collaboration, Google, Google Apps, Presentation, Productivity, TLT

6 Reasons You Should Be Using Google Slides Instead Of PowerPoint

Mendi Benigni

We all use PowerPoint to create and deliver lectures and for student presentations.  But PPT lacks one major feature…collaboration.   Google Slides, part of our Google Apps for Education, is a PowerPoint-like presentation application that has that collaboration piece, making it more useful in an academic environment.

Here are six reasons you should be using Google Slides instead of PowerPoint.

  1. Consistency — Your presentations look and act the same way on all computers.  Have you ever created a presentation or lecture on your office computer only to have it look or behave differently on the teacher station in the classroom?  With Google Slides, all fonts, images, videos, animations etc. are stored online (in the cloud) so your lectures/presentations will look the same on every computer.
  2. Easy Access — Since both the application and the presentations are saved in Google Drive, it’s easy to access and work on them from any computer or mobile device.   Just log into drive.google.com and you have access to all your presentations, documents and spreadsheets.
  3. Backchannel for Questions — Google Slides has a new Audience Q&A feature which allows your students/audience to ask questions during the presentation.  When activated a web address is automatically added to to the top of each slide allowing the students to ask their questions or make comments.
    screenshot 
  4. Tracking Work in Group Presentations — faculty love group presentations but hate not knowing who did what.  Google Slides has a Revision History section (File > See Revision History) that shows all changes made to the presentation along with who made them.  This is a great way to hold students accountable for a collaborative project.  Because it’s web-based, all students in the group can actively create and edit content within the same presentation at the same time.
  5. Easy Sharing — With one easy trick you can share your lecture presentations so that the students can copy it into their Google Drive and then take notes directly in the presentation Notes area.
    • Open your presentation and click the blue SHARE button
    • Click GET SHAREABLE LINK and click COPY LINK
    • Now paste that link either in OAKS or an email to our students BUT before sending it make one minor change.  At the end of the link change the word edit to copy ex. edit?usp=sharing  /copy?usp=sharing
  6. Efficient In-class Group Work — Create one blank Google Slides presentation and share it with your class.  During the group work each group with create their own slide(s) with their contributions.  At the end of class you have only one file you have to look at and all the groups have access to each other’s contributions.  This also makes it easy to bring the presentation up in class to discuss the group findings.
    screenshot
instructional technology, Productivity, Teaching Advice, Tech Generation, TLT

Start your semester off right!

leea5

Starting a new semester can be daunting but let us help you with our Start of Semester Checklist!  This checklist gives you a list view of important tasks to complete to make sure your semester starts off smoothly, it also tells you how to complete most tasks.  Some of the tasks and include: Verifying your course shell has been created, confirming your course start date, enrolling non-students into your course, cross listing, and building course content and student enrollment.  Let us make it easier for you, click on our checklist!

 

Start of Semester Checklist 

 

Dear TLT
Dear TLT, Productivity

Dear TLT: How do I Save a Webpage as a PDF?

Chris Meshanko

Dear TLT,

A student told me that it’s possible to save a webpage as a PDF in Google Chrome; is that true?  I don’t have Adobe Acrobat on my personal computer, and this would be extremely useful.  Thanks for your help!

Sincerely,

Professor Vivian Banks
African American Studies

Dear Professor Banks,

Your student is right!  It is possible to save a webpage as a PDF using Google Chrome’s Print… option.  To do this, go to the webpage that you want to save and press CTRL + P (Windows) or ⌘ + P (Mac) to open Chrome’s print dialog.  Next, under Destination, click Change and select Save as PDF.  To save the page, as it appears on your screen*, make sure you select Background graphics under Options and click Save.

*Please note that this works for most HTML webpages.  If the print preview doesn’t look right, try adjusting the layout, paper size and/or margins.

ChrometoPDF

Please contact your instructional technologist, if you have additional questions or concerns, and check out our upcoming training sessions at http://tlt.eventbrite.com.

Best regards,

TLT

Have a question for Dear TLT?  

Submit the following form to see it featured on our blog: http://goo.gl/n1N2tq.  And, don’t worry, we’ll change your name to a fictional professor in our response!

Professor Banks is from what 90’s television series? The first faculty member to email tlt@cofc.edu, with the correct answer, will receive a TLT (BPA-free) water bottle!

Google Sheets my fav. 5 tips and tricks
Google, Google Apps, Productivity, Research, TLT

Give Sheets A Chance

Mendi Benigni

I am a huge fan of Microsoft Excel.  It’s my second favorite application, after Photoshop.  However, I’ve been attempting to move all of my work to Google Apps for Education and I felt like Google Sheets was just not as robust a program as Excel.  That being said, I’ve been working with Sheets exclusively for several months now and am finding many things that are making me love it.  Not as much as Excel, but close.

Here are my top 5 coolest things I’ve learned over the past months:

EXPLORE

screenshot of the explore area openNext time you open up a spreadsheet in Google Sheets, notice the little icon in the lower right cornerExplore icon.  If you click it you get a flyout panel called Explore.  This panel gives you a fantastic overview of your data in chart form and allows you to easily add the charts to your document with one simple click.  I loved this and I don’t believe there is an equivalent in Excel.

How can you use this?

If you create a form, in Google Forms, your data will be collected in a Google Sheet.  The charts in Explore give you the overview you need to get started on your data analysis

You can upload any Excel spreadsheet into Google Sheets and it will convert it to Sheets format so you can get this overview on data NOT collected in Google Drive.

PIVOT TABLES

A pivot table is a tool that allows you to summarize and explore data interactively and is particularly useful for large data sets.   I use them primarily to count or average things but they can be used to extract all types of date from sets.   Google Sheets now allows you to easily create these pivot tables.  Here’s an example of a quick table created from the data we looked at above.  This is a simple pivot table but they can be more complicated depending upon your needs.  Just like in Excel, they update in real time, as the data in the Sheet changes.  You can find pivot tables under Data > Pivot Table

screenshot of the pivot tableScreenshot of a more complicated pivot table

ADD AND DELETE CELLS INSTEAD OF ONLY ROWS OR COLUMNS

There are many times that I want to delete or add a few cells in a spreadsheet and have the rest of the spreadsheet shift to accommodate those cells.  In Sheets you can only add or delete and entire row or column which isn’t very helpful.  With the help of an Add-On called Insert and Delete Cells by Karl.kranich.org you now can.  In Sheets go to Add-ons in the menu bar then choose Get add-ons  In the search area, type in Insert and Delete Cells.  Click on Free.  A pop up window will appear so make sure pop-ups are not blocked.  From that window click Allow. 

Screenshot of the menu To add or delete cell(s) just click on the appropriate cell(s) and choose Add-on again.  You will see it in the menu a new option to allow you to shift the cell after adding or deleting. 

How can you use this?

I use this feature all the time.  Here’s an example:  I paste or import data into a spreadsheet and for some reason, one line is offset just one cell.  This happens if there is a wayward space in the paste.  Now I can just select that cell and shift the rest of the columns one cell to the left to line all the data back up.

FINDING UNIQUE AND DUPLICATES

As much as I love Excel I still struggle with filtering duplicates from a dataset.  This is also something that I use all the time.  For instance, for our training stats, I like to see all the individuals that attended TLT training in one year.  For this report, I only want each individual counted once.  For this I use an add-on called Remove Duplicates by ablebits.com.  Just like earlier you can get it from the Add-ons > Get add-ons menu and search for Remove Duplicates.  Once it’s installed you just select the data then choose Remove Duplicates from the Add-ons menu and follow the instructions.  It’s just four easy steps to locating all the unique or duplicate entries in your data and I think it’s 10x easier than the filter feature in Excel.

PREVENT PRINTING, COPYING, AND DOWNLOADING

Screenshot of Advanced SharingDid you know that you can share a spreadsheet with people without giving them the ability to print it, copy it, or download it?  Well you can.  Just open your Sheet and click on the Share button in the upper right corner.  Now click on Advance in the bottom right of the new window.  Make sure your normal settings are set correctly depending upon the level of security you want.  Then at the bottom click on Disable options to download, print, and copy for commenters and viewers.  This actually works surprisingly well, especially with a large spreadsheet.  Could some take a screenshot of the data?  Sure, but the only way to stop that is to not let them see it in the first place.  

How can you use this?

This came to my attention when a faculty member wanted to share a large list of internship options but didn’t want that list to be shared with those outside her class.  Again, while not foolproof, it provides enough of a deterrent to meet the needs.

REMEMBER:  DO NOT STORE ANY STUDENT SENSITIVE INFORMATION ON GOOGLE DRIVE/SHEETS.

I hope these tips will get you to reconsider Google Sheets as a viable alternative to Excel.

Real Time Board
Collaboration, Productivity, Research, TLT, Web 2.0

Online Collaboration with RealTimeBoard

Jessica Smith

Does this scenario seem familiar?   You’re in the midst of a team project.  One day you realize that you’ve been playing phone tag with one colleague for a week; another colleague keeps emailing Word documents; while the rest of the team is trying to work in Google Docs.  No one is communicating well and collaboration is slow.  What can you do?

Real Time Board to the rescue!

RealTimeBoard is an online collaborative workspace that features an infinite digital whiteboard.  In addition to typing and writing on the whiteboard, teams can add post-it notes, images, videos, documents, spreadsheets, Google Drive files and more. RealTimeBoard also provides a variety of templates, including timelines, Gantt charts, storyboards, calendars, and SWOT analysis grids.  Because it’s an online tool, all collaborators can access your shared board on any device at any time.  Boards can also be exported as image files or PDF.

Real Time Board for collaborative planning, notetaking, and brainstorming

The folks at RealTimeBoard have kindly granted educators free access to their premium features plus unlimited collaborators!  So it’s a perfect tool for research projects and to use with your students.  Request your account by providing your college email address.

Use digital sticky notes with Real Time Board

Uses: Any form of collaboration, such as brainstorming, concept mapping, storyboarding, planning, etc.

Price: Free for educators

Platform: Online

More information: realtimeboard.com

 

Dragon icon
Accessibility, iPad, Mobile, Productivity

App of the Week: Create Email and Notes With Your Voice Using Dragon Dictation

Mendi Benigni

Dragon Dictation is an easy-to-use voice recognition application powered by Dragon® NaturallySpeaking® that allows you to easily speak and instantly see your text or email messages. In fact, it’s up to five (5) times faster than typing on the keyboard.

With Dragon Dictation you can also dictate status updates directly to your Social Networking applications (Facebook and Twitter) or send notes and reminders to yourself….all using your voice. So when you’re on-the-go, stop typing and start speaking – from short text messages to longer email messages, and anything in between.

Dragon Dictation supports a multitude of global languages. For a full list of currently supported languages visit www.dragonmobileapps.com.

Price: Free

Platform: iPad and iPhone

More info: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dragon-dictation/id341446764?mt=8

GOOGLE VOICE ICON
Accessibility, Checkout Equipment, Google Apps, Productivity

Let Google Do The Typing For You With Voice Typing

Mendi Benigni

I’m not sure how long this tool has been around but I just learned about it today and I’m in love already. Google Voice Typing allows you to open a Google Doc and speak into a microphone and let Google do the typing for you. As a matter of fact I’m writing this blog post in a Google Doc first using the voice typing command.

All you need to do is open a Google Doc, go into Tools and choose Voice Typing. This will then bring up an icon of a microphone on the side of the doc. Whenever you’re ready to start typing just click on the icon and begin speaking into the microphone. As of now, I believe this tool is only available in the Docs part of Google Drive.

Here is an example of what some of the blog post looked like before I did some corrections.Google Voice Example   This was taken at the beginning of writing the post, and as you can see I did make some changes.  But overall, it worked beautifully.

Uses:

  • For anyone with a learning disability, such as dyslexia, it allows them to type without having to make as many spelling mistakes that can often accompany this type of disability.
  • For those with carpal tunnel, it can also help alleviate some of the symptoms as you will be typing less.
  • It works when outlining, planning, and writing papers.
  • Use it when writing email where you could write the email in Google Docs and copy it into your regular email. This is particularly helpful for long emails or emails where you need to go into a detailed explanation.
  • I think it’s fabulous for brainstorming as you can just speak your ideas and not feel the need to type every single thing that you’re thinking.
  • I’ve tested it as a way to create a transcript for a video lecture that you might be creating for your class. In my test I opened up Screencast-o-matic, which is a tool that will capture your desktop, and then opened a Google Doc and triggered the voice tool. Once I began the recording of my screen and microphone I then just went back and clicked on the microphone icon in my Google Doc, in order for it to transcribe everything I said. Using this, I was able to explain the slide as I normally would when lecturing and as I was recording the lecture, Google Doc was typing what I said. (Tutorial will be coming soon.)
  • Lastly, I’m curious to see how well it would do taking notes, in a meeting for instance.

Can you think of any other uses? If so, share in the comments!

 

GOOGLE VOICE ICON

Things To Consider:

I do recommend that if you want to use this tool you try a microphone that can maintain an equal distance from your mouth, such as the one that maybe came with your cell phone or a headset mic (that can be checked out from TLT). The better the microphone quality, the more accurate the typing. When speaking, it does recognize punctuation as well as the “new line” command. However, it didn’t seem to understand a few other words such as “delete” or “backspace”, so it will require that you go back through your document when you’re finished. and do some formatting. However, it’s a great way to type a lot of text quickly and easily without a lot of headaches.

Dear TLT
Accessibility, Dear TLT, Productivity

Dear TLT: How do I convert a file into something I can open in Word?

Mendi Benigni

DEAR TLTDear TLT,

I have a student that submitted a paper created in Apple’s Pages and I can’t read it using Word.  What can I do?

Sincerely,

Professor H. Higgins
Phoneticist

 

 

Dear Professor Higgins,

Check out Online-Convert.com.  This website allows you to upload files and it will convert them into a format that you can view.  It’s all done online and is free so no software is needed on your computer.

  • Just go to http://www.online-convert.com
  • choose the proper converter (Audio, Video, Image, Document, Ebook, or Archive)
  • then choose the format you want to convert TO, example “Convert to DOC,”
  • then click GO.

Scroll down and click Choose File to upload our file then click Convert File.  It’s just that easy.

This is also a great site to allow you to convert all those old research files and papers into a format that you can view.  I’ve used it for converting Pages to Word and old AppleWorks to Word.

FERPA REMINDER:  since this is a third-party site do not upload any files with secure information such as passwords, social security numbers, or grades. Make sure to always read the Privacy Policy.

Regards,

TLT

Have a question for Dear TLT?  

Submit the following form to see it featured on our blog: http://goo.gl/n1N2tq.

Professor Henry Higgins is from what play? The first faculty member to email tlt@cofc.edu, with the correct answer, will receive a TLT prize!