Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Protect Google and Google Apps Accounts with Password Alert

Posted: 29 Apr 2015 08:01 AM PDT
Today we’re launching Password Alert, an open-source Chrome extension that helps protect Google and Google Apps Accounts from phishing attacks and encourages people to use different passwords for different sites, a security best practice.

When an employee with Password Alert installed enters their Google password into any site other than an authentic Google sign-in page (accounts.google.com), that employee will receive an email notifying them to change their password. 

In addition, Google Apps admins can choose to deploy an App Engine App that allows for, among other things, auditing and notifications to admins when employees enter their passwords into non-Google websites, and the ability to force those employees to change their passwords after doing so.

As an admin, you can install the Password Alert Chrome extension for all or some members of your domain. To get started with Password Alert, check out the Help Center and FAQ linked below. The Help Center includes a useful Deployment Guide, which outlines the options and requirements for enabling Password Alert for your domain.

Release track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Animation improvements in Google Slides

Posted: 28 Apr 2015 07:36 AM PDT
Animations are an easy way to make your presentations look more dynamic in Google Slides. Starting today, you can improve your Slides presentations with two new animations: Appear and Disappear. You can also now set the direction (to and from left, right, top, and bottom) of two previously existing animations: Fly in and Fly out.


Release track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release

Monday, April 27, 2015

A Teacher's Thoughts on Google Classroom: Part 2

Google Classroom From a Special Area Perspective


What a dream it has been to be a part of the Google Classroom Pilot at MRS! This has been what I have been waiting for!  Google Classroom allows me to create a digital classroom space for each of the classes I teach.  As a homeroom teacher, you can create classes by subject.  As a special area teacher (like me), I can create separate Google classrooms for each of the class sections I teach.  


I love the ease of communication with students in Google Classroom.  After each of my lessons, I had been sending a ton of emails to all of the different classes with catch up items for absent students, or instructions for completing assignments, etc. With Google Classroom, I was able to cut down the time communicating these items with students by more than half.  When I want to post an announcement or an assignment, I can post it in one class and then add whatever other classes I would like it to go to.  This means that I can post once but have that assignment or announcement show up on the “classroom wall” of any or all of the other classes I want it to.


Having so many students to grade assignments for, I like that Google Classroom keeps track of who turned in their assignments on time.  If I can’t get to the grading of a few classes until a week after an item was due, I can easily see who completed on time and who did not.  Google Classroom makes it easy to pop a grade in and have it returned to the students so they can see their score.  


I also love Google Classroom for the management of assignments and announcements.  If I need to post an assignment or announcement with other items, I can add a YouTube video, a site link, a Google doc, spreadsheet, form, etc. This means that all the items that a student will need for that assignment or announcement will always be right there on their Google Classroom wall for reference or review. Two thumbs up for Google Classroom! I can’t wait to use it with all of my classes next year!


Written by Danica Taylor

MRS Computer Teacher

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Teaching teams: New ways to work together in Classroom

Posted: 21 Apr 2015 09:05 AM PDT
Google Classroom allows teachers to spend less time on paperwork and more time with their students. Starting today, multiple teachers can work and collaborate in a single Classroom class. With the exception of deleting the class altogether, additional teachers can perform all of the same functions as the primary teacher, including:
§ Creating assignments and announcements
§ Viewing and grading submissions
§ Participating in comments on the class’ “stream”
§ Inviting students to the class
§ Receiving email notifications related to the class
Screencast-of-Co-Teacher-2.gif
Teachers can also prep for their classes in advance, saving announcements and assignments as “drafts” and waiting to send them until they’re ready. Like in Gmail, once a new announcement or assignment is created, it will be automatically saved as a draft. Those drafts can then be accessed by multiple teachers, making it simple to collaborate on prep work.

Finally, in response to teacher feedback, we’ve made two additional changes that will make Classroom easier to use:
§ Autosaving grades - Grades will now be autosaved as they’re entered, meaning teachers can grade assignments over multiple sessions but still return those assignments to students all at one time.
§ Improved notifications - Teachers and students will now receive email notifications when private messages are left on assignments.

Release track:  
Rapid release and Scheduled release

Friday, April 17, 2015

A Teacher's Thoughts

Mrs.O and Google Classroom

I love technology. I love it mainly because I can collect information and store it silently.  I am not surrounded by cluttered bookcases full of binders and I don’t need to spend large amounts of money on professional books. So, when I heard about Google Classroom, I decided to give it a try.  What I found was a very user friendly site -- my basic instruction included a very brief (about 10 minutes) introduction and I was good to go.
Google Classroom is AWESOME!  I loved Hapara but I have decided that Classroom/Google works better for me and it is FREE!  First, I just love how it looks when I open the app.  I can customize the backgrounds for each folder and the backgrounds are bright and colorful. The folders - one per subject - include a myriad of choices for teachers. My favorite part is the “assignment” feature. I can assign work that includes a specific due date, set of instructions, comments, and a return button that helps me keep track of finished work. I can also grade the work, make comments,  and then return the results to my students. With a click of a button the grades are instantly transferred to a spreadsheet -- no more writing grades in my gradebook. However, the best part is that I can attach videos, documents, links or attachments to all assignments.  For example, I can send a video to my students, the kids can view the video, and then open a document and write about the video. Because documents created within each assignment are automatically shared with me, I can easily find the completed assignment. There is also a blog option which can be used for interactive comments.  This feature can be turned on or off.  Fifth graders love talking to each other online!!
I also love the “announcement” button.  This feature gives me the option to post any information or tutorials that I want to share with my students and I can do it within the subject folder. No more paper handouts stored in binders, folders, or just jammed into the black hole. All assignments and announcements are easy to find because an icon and explanation appears with each addition.
Finally, the “News and Announcement” page gives me a place to post more links, attachments, videos and documents -- another place to store or share.  I could also turn this page into a classroom blog or interactive board.

So, my suggestion is to give this awesome “Google Great” a try.  Have fun exploring the possibilities.

Written by Barbara Osburn
5th Grade
MRS

Thursday, April 16, 2015

New sharing options, languages and more with the latest version of the Google Drive Android app

Posted: 16 Apr 2015 04:54 AM PDT
A new version of the Google Drive Android app is coming to Google Play over the next week. New features include:
§ After uploading a file, the ability to add people to sharing settings and share a link directly from the upload notification:notification-share.png
§ Ability to access a contact’s extended information from the sharing section of the details pane of a file in Drive
§ Ability to remove a parent of a file from the details pane when a file is multi-parented
§ Support for 23 new languages (Afrikaans, Amharic, Armenian, Basque, Bengali, Chinese (Hong Kong), Estonian, French (Canada), Galician, Georgian, Icelandic, Kannada, Khmer, Lao, Malayalam, Marathi, Mongolian, Nepali, Sinhala, Swahili, Tamil, Telugu, Zulu)
§ PDF viewer improvements (better scrolling and handling of multi-layout PDFs)
§ Performance and UI improvements
We’ve also corrected an issue where Drive was not properly preventing uploads for accounts where Drive had been turned off by Apps admins.

Release track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release (gradual rollout)

New versions of the Google Docs editor apps

Posted: 16 Apr 2015 04:46 AM PDT
New versions of the Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps for Android are now available on Google Play and a new version of the Docs app for iOS is available in the App Store. New features include:
§ Docs
§ Accept, reject, or comment on suggestions (Android and iOS)
§ Tracked changes and comments in Word files (Android and iOS)
§ Edit tables (iOS only, already available on Android)
§ Sheets
§ Move, resize, and delete charts
§ Slides
§ Reorder objects to the front or back  
§ Quicker loading and scrolling of PowerPoint presentations from the app
Release track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release

New versions of the Google Docs editor apps

Posted: 16 Apr 2015 04:46 AM PDT
New versions of the Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps for Android are now available on Google Play and a new version of the Docs app for iOS is available in the App Store. New features include:
§ Docs
§ Accept, reject, or comment on suggestions (Android and iOS)
§ Tracked changes and comments in Word files (Android and iOS)
§ Edit tables (iOS only, already available on Android)
§ Sheets
§ Move, resize, and delete charts
§ Slides
§ Reorder objects to the front or back  
§ Quicker loading and scrolling of PowerPoint presentations from the app
Release track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release

New sharing options, languages and more with the latest version of the Google Drive Android app

Posted: 16 Apr 2015 04:54 AM PDT
A new version of the Google Drive Android app is coming to Google Play over the next week. New features include:
§ After uploading a file, the ability to add people to sharing settings and share a link directly from the upload notification:notification-share.png
§ Ability to access a contact’s extended information from the sharing section of the details pane of a file in Drive
§ Ability to remove a parent of a file from the details pane when a file is multi-parented
§ Support for 23 new languages (Afrikaans, Amharic, Armenian, Basque, Bengali, Chinese (Hong Kong), Estonian, French (Canada), Galician, Georgian, Icelandic, Kannada, Khmer, Lao, Malayalam, Marathi, Mongolian, Nepali, Sinhala, Swahili, Tamil, Telugu, Zulu)
§ PDF viewer improvements (better scrolling and handling of multi-layout PDFs)
§ Performance and UI improvements
We’ve also corrected an issue where Drive was not properly preventing uploads for accounts where Drive had been turned off by Apps admins.

Release track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release (gradual rollout)

Friday, April 10, 2015

Podcast PD Week Two - Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers



Last Friday, April 3rd, I introduced the weekly series, Podcast PD and charged you with exploring educational podcasts as a way to leverage your learning in a nontraditional learning environment. I hope many of you accepted the challenge and downloaded a podcast and listened to a whole episode. I heard from a number of you that you had never explored podcasts in general, let alone educational podcasts. The feedback I received via Twitter was positive. Teachers throughout my PLN (Professional Learning Network) shared their adventures in subscribing and listening to something new. Some asked questions. Others shared their love for podcasts and made recommendations for radio shows to which they subscribe. Still others shared their experiences being interviewed for a podcast! Overall the Twitter conversation that transpired was inspiring. The conversation was so motivating and connected so many people, I decided to capture the conversation using the amazing site Storify.  I hope that you are inspired to try a new podcast this week!

This week I recommend Angela Watson’s Truth for Teachers with Angela Watson (@Angela_Watson)

Angela packs a lot of power and punch into her quick (think 9-14 minutes) weekly episodes! Topics range from beating the Sunday night blues to how to approach teaching with a spirit of adventure to how to cope when a parent just doesn’t like you. Her advice is spot on and applicable to the novice and not so novice teacher. I like to listen to her podcasts Monday morning on my way to school as a way to charge the batteries for the week ahead. Her encouragement and take away truth really set a positive tone. Angela signs off on each episode by saying “I’m not telling you it’s going to be easy, I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.”, a quote from Art Williams. I can assure you that her podcast is worth it! For more information about Angela and Truth for Teachers visit Angela’s website at The Cornerstone For Teachers.

Tips and Tricks for Getting the Most PD From Your Podcast Listening Experience
PPD3.jpgAs I mentioned at the start of this post, ideas were flying around Twitter on Friday evening after a friend posted that she had downloaded and listened to her first podcast and was hooked. As we started discussing future shows to explore and others joined our conversation, the idea for a new Twitter chat was born. Please join me Sunday evening at 8:30 pm EDT for #PodcastPD. There we will discuss the learning that is taking place as we step into the virtual classrooms of some amazing podcast hosts. I hope to see you Sunday night at 8:3o!

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Month view added to Google Calendar app for Android

Posted: 08 Apr 2015 09:18 AM PDT
We launched the new Google Calendar app for Android last year, helping to save you time and make the most of every day. In February, we launched an updated version containing several additional features based on user feedback, and today we’re doing the same.

Month view has been added (back) to the latest version of the Google Calendar app for phones, coming to Google Play over the next few days.

Month view provides a high level view of all scheduled events for a full month, allowing people to then tap on a specific day for a closer look. Access to all available views (Schedule, Day, 3 Day, Week, Month) has also been moved from the overflow menu into the navigation drawer.

In addition, you can now see the color of events when jumping to a particular date from the drop down in the header when in Schedule, Day, 3 Day or Week view.

We're working on bringing many improvements to the new iPhone app as well.

Release track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release (gradual rollout)

Friday, April 3, 2015

Podcast PD-A Series Exploring the Infinite Resources Available Over the Air Waves


As teachers we often find ourselves stuck in the rut of attending traditional Professional Development (faculty meetings, in district PD, out of district workshops, morning shares and lunch & learns). In the ever evolving educational world in which we live there are myriad ways to expand your learning: from Edcamps and unconferences, to weekend workshops and week long seminars, to books, blogs and webinars. One of my favorite ways to develop professionally is to listen to an educational podcast.

Apple's Podcast App 

A quick search in iTunes, Stitcher or Google will show you that educators are taking to the mic and broadcasting their expertise beyond the classroom. Educational podcasts are the NEW PD. New content is generally created on a weekly or biweekly basis and topics range from information as specific as educational technology to broader topics like educational truths.
It is my intention to explore one new podcast and offer tips and tricks for how you can make podcast listening a worthwhile source of professional PD.

The House of #EdTech with Chris Nesi
This week I bring you The House of #EdTech with Christopher Nesi (@mrnesi)

The House of #EdTech was my first experience with educational podcasts and is still one of my favorites! Chris releases new content every other week and the information he shares “explores how technology is changing the way teachers teach and the impact that technology is having in education.” His episodes include an interview with a leader, teacher or creator in educational technology (I am always left wanting more), an ed tech thought, an ed tech recommendation (an app or other edtech tool), and the House of #EdTech VIP (I have expanded my Twitter PLN with Chris’ list of VIPs!). Episodes range from 18 - 64 minutes. For more information about The House of #EdTech, visit http://www.chrisnesi.com

Tips and Tricks for Getting Started (using Apple's Podcast App)
  1. Download and/or open your podcast app (as an Apple Girl, I use Podcast).
  2. Search for the specific podcast you you want to download (this week I recommend the House or #EdTech), or search using key words (educational technology, reading, math, grammar, etc.)
  3. Click on the cloud next to the episode you want to download or click on the podcast "Cover Art" for a list of podcast episodes and click on the cloud of episodes you wish to explore.
  4. Go back to My Podcasts, select the podcast you just downloaded and then select the specific episode.

Happy Listening!

IMG_6336.PNG
I'm an Apple Girl-
all podcast links direct to iTunes
I hope you join me each week as as I explore one podcast from my list and offer advice for how you can leverage podcasts to enhance your own professional and personal learning. This is an abbreviated list of what’s currently on my podcast app and what's to come in future posts. 
What podcasts are you listening to? Do you have any favorites? Tell me in the comments below.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Self-service password recovery for Google Apps users

Posted: 02 Apr 2015 05:19 AM PDT
Password recovery can be a frustrating and time-consuming activity for both Google Apps admins and the people in their domains who have been locked out of their accounts. With today’s launch, we’re giving admins the option to reduce their workload, and save time for those who have been locked out of their accounts, by enabling the ability for non-admins to reset their own passwords.

This new feature is defaulted off at launch and can be enabled from the Admin console at: Security > Basic settings > Password Management. In the Password recovery section, click on "Enable/disable non-admin user password recovery."
password_recovery.png

Non-admins must have set up a recovery phone in order to reset their own password. Admins should check the Help Center for considerations regarding 2-Step Verification, off-boarding, and hijacked accounts before enabling this feature.

Note: this feature is not available for customers using Single Sign-on (SSO).

Release track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release (gradual rollout)

Follow up: Google+ Photos coming to Google Drive

Posted: 02 Apr 2015 10:58 AM PDT
Earlier this week, we announced that the photos and videos you keep in Google+ Photos will now be available in Google Drive. This feature will begin rolling out to Google Apps customers during the week of April 6th.

A few things to note in advance of next week’s rollout:
§ All users will see a new menu item in Drive called Google Photos, including those who don’t currently use Google+ Photos.
§ Upon launch, a notification in the Drive web UI will give users the option to add a Google Photos folder to their My Drive, allowing them to manage their photos and videos alongside other types of files. They can also control this feature via Drive Settings > General > “Automatically put your Google Photos into a folder in My Drive.”
§ If the user opts to create the Google Photos folder in My Drive, and is also a Sync Client user, they may want to go to Sync Client Preferences -> “Sync Options” and selectively remove the new Google Photos folder from syncing to their desktop.
§ Users can rename, move, share or delete the Photos folder in My Drive as needed.
§ If at any time a user unchecks the setting to put Google Photos into the Photos folder in My Drive, the folder will continue to exist (unless deleted by the user) but no new photos will flow in.
§ Photos and videos that do count against quota that are backed up to Drive via Auto Backup will only count once against a storage limit, but Apps users may want to review their Google+ Photos Auto Backup settings to avoid inadvertent syncing to their corporate Drive account.

Release track:
Rapid release planned for April 6 (gradual rollout), with Scheduled release to follow two weeks later

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

An update on the new Google Drive UI

Posted: 31 Mar 2015 11:39 AM PDT
Last year, we started the gradual rollout of the new Google Drive UI as the default user experience for Rapid release Google Apps customers, while retaining the ability to return to the old Drive UI via the Settings drop down. After pausing the rollout to work on some performance improvements, the rollout was resumed and completed earlier this month.

For Scheduled release customers, the rollout of the new Google Drive UI as the default user experience will occur in early April (currently planned for April 7, as per the release calendar).

In the first half of May at the earliest, we’ll remove the option to return to the old Drive UI via the Settings drop down. At least two weeks before the removal of the option to return to the old Drive UI, we will show a notification in the Drive UI about the upcoming change.

Please note that the new Drive UI does not work with older unsupported browsers prior to and including Chrome 23, Firefox 23, IE9 and Safari 6, so it’s important to upgrade to a supported browser to ensure continued access to Drive.

Release track:
Opt-out experience coming to Scheduled release in early April (planned for April 7); Removal of the ability to return to the old Drive UI planned for no sooner than early-May for Rapid release domains, with Scheduled domains to follow two weeks later.

See the release calendar for specific dates for the removal of the option to return to the old Drive UI, as they may shift out further. Additional comms to follow.