Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Tech Talk: Tech Potpourri

BYOD Professional Development Training Session 1: October 14, 2014


BYOD Professional Development Training Session 1 

On October 14th, a half-day of professional development training was given to  the high school social studies teachers that teach American Studies II. The agenda for the training class included an overview of Google Drive, learning about its overall features, navigation, the layout/interface, and understanding collaboration and sharing permissions. Here is the presentation:



Tech Tuesday (November 11th)

Migration of older spreadsheets to the new Google Sheets

Posted: 10 Nov 2014 12:12 PM PST
As recently communicated, the auto-migration of older spreadsheets (those created prior to Dec 2013, including any subsequent copies) to the new version of Google Sheets will start today for Google Apps domains on the Rapid release track.

No action is required as a result of the migration. No data should be affected; however, in rare cases the results of some formulas and some other features may be slightly different. See "What's different in the new Sheets?" in the Help Center article for more detailed information.

You can tell what version your spreadsheet is in by checking to see if there is a green checkmark at the bottom right of your spreadsheet (the checkmark is found on new Sheets only).

Release track:

Rapid release (gradual rollout); migration for Scheduled release domains will start in approximately four weeks (preceded by the notification)

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

New Google Calendar app

Posted: 03 Nov 2014 12:22 PM PST
Today, we’re introducing a brand new Google Calendar app, built to save you time and help you make the most of every day.

Key features of the app include:

· Assists: suggestions that save you time
    • When creating a calendar event, we often have to piece together phone numbers, addresses and attendees from lots of different sources, then add them to our calendars manually. With Assists, Calendar can suggest titles, people and places as you type, as well as adapt to your preferences over time. For example, if you often have lunch with your mentor Kelly, Calendar can quickly suggest this when you type ‘l-u-n.’


· Schedule View: easy to scan and lovely to look at
    • Calendar’s new Schedule view includes photos and maps of the places you’re going, cityscapes of travel destinations, and illustrations of everyday events like dinner, drinks and yoga. These images will bring a little extra beauty to your day, and make it easy to see what’s going on at a glance—perfect for when you’re checking in from your phone or tablet.

The new Google Calendar will work on all Android 4.1+ devices. It’s available today on all devices running Android 5.0 Lollipop, and you’ll be able to download the update from Google Play in the coming weeks. We’re also working hard on a version for iPhone.

Note: The web version of Google Calendar will see some minor terminology changes today ('Reminders' become 'Notifications,' 'Privacy becomes Visibility,' and Privacy level ‘Default’ becomes ‘Calendar Default’).

In addition, once people get the new mobile app, they will be able to set separate Notification defaults for all-day events on web as well as mobile. In the coming weeks, people on web Calendar who haven’t used the app will also see this change. They will be informed the first time they use Calendar after this happens.

Release track:
App available now for both Rapid release and Scheduled release tracks on devices running Android 5.0 Lollipop. Update available for both release tracks on Google Play (for Android 4.1+) in the coming weeks.

Separate Notification defaults for all-day events on web for those who don’t download the app will launch to Rapid domains in two weeks, and to Scheduled release domains two weeks later.

A more modern Gmail app for Android

Posted: 03 Nov 2014 12:46 PM PST
Today, the Gmail app for Android is getting updated with a more modern style, sleeker transitions, and a few other handy improvements.

As part of the new design, there’s now a convenient reply button at the bottom of every message, making it quick and easy to continue a conversation when you’re on the go. And if you access the app on your Android tablet, you’ll notice it’s easier to switch between accounts and the different inbox categories.

The updated Gmail app also now supports all email providers, which means you can set up a separate inbox for, say, your Yahoo Mail or Outlook.com addresses using POP/IMAP.

The new app will support all Android 4.0+ devices. It’s available today on all devices running Android 5.0 Lollipop and will be rolling out on Google Play to everyone else over the next few days.

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

Monday, November 3, 2014

Notification of migration of Google Forms themes

Posted: 03 Nov 2014 11:14 AM PST
As recently communicated, Google Forms is in the process of upgrading older forms to the new version of Google Forms, followed by the auto-upgrading of legacy themes to allow for customization and a better mobile experience moving forward.

After the theme upgrade, some text and colors from older forms may not show up properly, in which case Forms editors may want to choose new themes for their affected forms.

Starting today, people working with affected forms will see a notification alerting them that their current theme is no longer supported and encouraging them to choose a new theme.

The legacy theme upgrades will happen on a rolling schedule starting in about 2-3 weeks (after the completion of the upgrade to the new Google Forms) and will take several months to complete.

Release track:

Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in two weeks