Huge EdTech Takeaways from NH Google Summit

A great 2 days of learning in Bedford, New Hampshire this week: See the lineup here!

Here are my greatest takeaways and perhaps a few annotated thoughts along the way.

In no particular order (for the most part):

• Google Drawings- I knew it was there, but didn’t quite grasp the big picture yet. “The Hidden Gem!” No doubt, Donna Dennis (@dld468), no doubt. You know when you switch from Word to Google Docs and you are all whiny like, “But you can’t blahblahblah and you can’t blahblahblah!” Google Drawings is the answer. Find a tutorial and do it up!

• Chrome Extensions, UDL style: We know how amazing Chrome extensions are- or perhaps you don’t and so I am glad you are reading this! I could write a whole post on this, and just might, but for now know this: If you are ever working with a student and you think, “I wonder if I could ——with the screen” or “If I could only —- he/she would be able to follow/hear/listen/read/see/web/explore/be-un-distracted” I guarantee you it exists. Go to the Chrome store and search things like: Dyslexie, Clearly, Announcify, OneTab, and more. Devote at least 1 day of your life to searching and exploring Chrome extensions if you work with students of ANY age, ANY ability. You won’t be sorry.

• The big one….Doctopus. Oh, Andrew Stillman– WHERE did you get your brain? Thanks for sharing, and thank for walking us through it, Nate Kellog. If you are wondering how ON EARTH to easily manage “copying” and sharing documents AS WELL AS having kids easily turn in assignments with Drive? You need this script-turned-add on. I’m telling you- you will be saving HOURS and possibly years of your teaching life. I am not exaggerating.

• Goobric! Holy would-have-saved-me-a-lifetime last year. Rubrics that attach to Google Docs via the Doctopus Add on. They are right there, online, with the assignment. No copying and marking and distributing! Do it up.

• Umm, you know when you want to show students a Youtube video but have no idea what will be showing up on the side? Use this! quietyoutube: All you do once you are in the video link you want, you delete EVERYTHING before the ‘youtube’ and replace it with ‘quiet’. Example: quietyoutube.com/watch?v=niqrrmev4mA Thanks, Jenn Lowton! 

• Anyone tired of correcting the same errors over and over??? http://grmr.me/ Great thinking, Kevin Brookhouser. It’s all about guiding writers and saving TIME in the comments of Docs.

• Well, this isn’t really big, I suppose, in the world of student learning, but who wouldn’t love this! Have no idea who projected this during Demo Slam. If you love dogs, take a look. Even if you don’t, well, it’s that great: http://dogfront.com/ 

• Apparently there are nutty things you can do with Google Maps…My brain was toast when I was trying to absorb it, but have you ever mixed your presentation into Google Earth??? I couldn’t find a link to a great example but picture this: a zooming globe with labels/slides. How engaging is that?

• Google Takeout. Now, I cannot see myself wanting to extract all of my “Google stuff” any time in the near future, but I think it is honorable that they flexibly offer the ability to easily download it all to your computer. Simply check the boxes of the data you want to copy/download (Hangouts, Gmail, Bookmarks…) and it all happens. Somewhere out there in Penacook, NH, a very frustrated teacher was asking about this very thing- she felt like she didn’t ever really own any of her things with Google and it made her uncomfortable. This is the answer, my friend, if you are reading this!

• Google Storybuilder. Not only is it fun, but you can make them SO fast and I can see kids enjoying seeing ones their teacher made as well as creating their own, adding their own humor. I tried it out yesterday after putting my baby to bed, hence the theme. Check it out!

• Below are a few of my favorite tweets from the 2 days. I had a great time learning and presenting with all of you! See you next time.

Scared of #edTech? Try ONE new thing this Fall. Get your students feedback. @alicebarr #GIESummit

— Donnie Piercey (@mrpiercEy) July 31, 2014

“Kids really want 2 talk about technology & how to use it. To promote the positive use, we meet w Ss in small groups.” @alicebarr #GIEsummit

— Rachel V. Small (@RachelVSmall) July 31, 2014

“Are IT and Educators sitting at the same table?” @alicebarr #GIEsummit

— Jaclyn Karabinas (@JKarabinas) July 31, 2014