Author Archives: Google Chrome

6 Chromebook keyboard shortcuts that save time

Chrome Browser keyboard shortcuts (which also work on Chromebook) can be major timesavers. Keyboard shortcuts, also called “hot keys,”  help you speed up a wide variety of tasks, including taking a screenshot, locking your screen, and even (fittingly) viewing all keyboard shortcuts—just click Ctrl + Alt + /.

These six Chromebook keyboard shortcuts are among the most popular shortcuts that can help you do more in less time. While these tips are especially helpful for those of you who use Chromebooks at work, you might find they help you get things done faster, regardless of whether you're at work or home.

1. Dock browser windows.
Digging into projects often requires opening more than one browser window—also called a “browser instance”—at a time. This can be an effective way to organize work. You can open one browser instance for dashboards, one for apps, another for Gmail, a third for Google Docs you’re working on, and, perhaps, one for music.

If you find yourself going back and forth between two browser instances, it’s a good idea to “dock” your screens, or anchor them in place on your screen so they don’t move around. This way, you can access two screens side-by-side. Hit Alt + ] to dock one browser instance to the left and Alt + [ to dock the other browser instance to the right.

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2. Switch between browser instances or browser tabs.
Docking browser instances is one way to work more efficiently when you’re juggling projects. Another strategy is to quickly switch between what you have open. Within each browser instance, it’s not uncommon to have multiple tabs open on your screen. People do this often when they’re searching the web or working in different apps, like Gmail or Drive. You can use keyboard shortcuts to switch between browser instances and between tabs.

Click Alt + tab to switch between the two most recent browser instances. Continue to hold Alt after pressing tab and you’ll get a tiled view of all of your open browser instances. Click Ctrl + tab (no point and click necessary) to navigate between browser tabs.

3. Recover closed tabs.
If you accidentally close Chrome, there’s no need to worry. Simply hit Ctrl + Shift + T and your most recently closed tab (or browser instance) comes right back. If you closed more than one, just hit that combination of keys again, and Chrome will keep restoring. 

4. Use Caps Lock.
One of the first things you might notice when you switch to Chrome OS is that there’s no Caps Lock key. But let’s face it, sometimes you need to shout your enthusiasm (COOKIES IN THE BREAKROOM!). In such instances, Caps Lock is just a keyboard shortcut away.

Editing Microsoft Office files on a Chromebook is the cat’s meow. Follow the instructions below.

Use Alt + search to activate and deactivate Caps Lock. The search key typically features a magnifying glass and is located on the far left side of your keyboard where Caps Lock is on other laptops. On some Chromebooks, you want to press Alt + Assistant , which is the key that resembles bubbles and is located between the Ctrl and Alt keys on the bottom left side of the keyboard. A notification will pop up and  let you know when you’ve activated Caps Lock and again when you deactivate it.

If you use Caps Lock frequently, you can also enable the search key to be a permanent Caps Lock button in Settings. Here’s how:

  1. Click the time in the bottom right corner of your screen. It will pull up different tools for you to use. 

  2. Click the gear/settings icon in the top right.

  3. Scroll to Device and click Keyboard.

  4. Use the drop-down menu to the right of Search to select Caps Lock.

5. Switch between work and personal accounts.

Setting up a personal account on your Chromebook to coincide with your work account makes it easy to switch between personal and work email on one device. This post explains how to set up a personal account on a Chromebook. Once you’ve set that up, use Alt + Ctrl + > or Alt + Ctrl + < to quickly switch between accounts. 

6.  Launch applications located on Chrome OS’s “shelf,” or taskbar.

At the bottom of the screen of your Chromebook, you’ll see a row of icons representing applications. We call this bottom part of the screen the “app shelf.” Keyboard shortcuts let you launch a specific application on the app shelf. Alt + 1 will launch the first app from the left on your shelf, Alt + 2 will open the second app from the left on your shelf, and so on.

Chrome icons update.png

For more help on how to work efficiently on Chromebooks, check out our posts on how to set up a new Chromebook, 6 common questions for former Mac users who are new to Chromebook, how to use a Chromebook if you’ve switched from a PC, and (for IT admins) 5 Google IT tips for driving and sustaining Chromebook adoption. Whether you’re new to Chromebooks or have used them for a while, these tips can help you—and your company—complete your work faster.

Source: Google Chrome


Protecting private browsing in Chrome

Chrome’s Incognito Mode is based on the principle that you should have the choice to browse the web privately. At the end of July, Chrome will remedy a loophole that has allowed sites to detect people who are browsing in Incognito Mode. This will affect some publishers who have used the loophole to deter metered paywall circumvention, so we’d like to explain the background and context of the change.

Private browsing principles

People choose to browse the web privately for many reasons. Some wish to protect their privacy on shared or borrowed devices, or to exclude certain activities from their browsing histories. In situations such as political oppression or domestic abuse, people may have important safety reasons for concealing their web activity and their use of private browsing features.

We want you to be able to access the web privately, with the assurance that your choice to do so is private as well. These principles are consistent with emerging web standards for private browsing modes

Closing the FileSystem API loophole

Today, some sites use an unintended loophole to detect when people are browsing in Incognito Mode. Chrome’s FileSystem API is disabled in Incognito Mode to avoid leaving traces of activity on someone’s device. Sites can check for the availability of the FileSystem API and, if they receive an error message, determine that a private session is occurring and give the user a different experience.  

With the release of Chrome 76 scheduled for July 30, the behavior of the FileSystem API will be modified to remedy this method of Incognito Mode detection. Chrome will likewise work to remedy any other current or future means of Incognito Mode detection.

Publisher impact and strategies

The change will affect sites that use the FileSystem API to intercept Incognito Mode sessions and require people to log in or switch to normal browsing mode, on the assumption that these individuals are attempting to circumvent metered paywalls. 

Unlike hard paywalls or registration walls, which require people to log in to view any content, meters offer a number of free articles before you must log in. This model is inherently porous, as it relies on a site’s ability to track the number of free articles someone has viewed, typically using cookies. Private browsing modes are one of several tactics people use to manage their cookies and thereby "reset" the meter count.

Sites that wish to deter meter circumvention have options such as reducing the number of free articles someone can view before logging in, requiring free registration to view any content, or hardening their paywalls. Other sites offer more generous meters as a way to develop affinity among potential subscribers, recognizing some people will always look for workarounds.  We suggest publishers monitor the effect of the FileSystem API change before taking reactive measures since any impact on user behavior may be different than expected and any change in meter strategy will impact all users, not just those using Incognito Mode.

Our News teams support sites with meter strategies and recognize the goal of reducing meter circumvention, however any approach based on private browsing detection undermines the principles of Incognito Mode. We remain open to exploring solutions that are consistent with user trust and private browsing principles.


Source: Google Chrome


Helping parents and guardians have the “EdTech talk”

Editor’s Note: This week, we’re joining thousands of educators and students at ISTE in Philadelphia. Visit us at booth 2200, where you can demo the latest Chromebook devices and classroom technology from Google and our partners. Follow along on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news and updates.

It’s crucial for us, and at the heart of our mission, to provide teachers with effective classroom technology that lets them create supportive learning environments. This includes giving educators tools to communicate with parents and guardians, and work with them as partners—because we know learning isn’t limited to the classroom. This year at ISTE, we’re showcasing our digital citizenship and online safety platforms. These products can help parents and guardians aid students’ digital wellbeing, enable parents and guardians to have visibility and participation in the classroom and strengthen the connection between the home and the classroom.

Using tech to communicate with parents and guardians 

  • Google Classroom offers guardian summary emails. This option allows guardians to receive daily or weekly email digests of their child’s activities in Google Classroom, including upcoming or missing work and different assignments posted in each class.  Educators also told us they use Google Slides or Google Sites to have students create monthly recaps or ongoing portfolios. This is a great way to help students take ownership over their learning. 

  • Hangouts Meet can help teachers regularly check in with parents, especially when in-person parent-teacher conferences are not possible. Virtual meetings and home visits can be easily scheduled using Google Calendar Appointment Slots. Guardians can connect with educators from anywhere via video call to see examples of their child’s progress. 

  • Google Forms can be used to collect trip permission slips, coordinate volunteers or submit questions or concerns to teachers during off hours. Educators can use Forms and Sheets to set up an easy way to contact parents. Extensions like Form Publisher can help with mail merges and formatting.

The school to home connection

Each school, classroom and teacher makes different decisions about classroom technology. Regardless of the type of technology, it’s important for teachers to foster the conversation of why their school or classroom has chosen it, what you’re doing with it in the classroom, how families can continue using it at home. Here’s how to get students talking about technology, from school to home. 

  • Share the Guardian’s Guide to Chromebooks with students’ families to help them understand how Chromebooks are being used in the classroom and send a letter home on how parents and guardians can foster a conversation with their children about the technology they’re using in class. 

  • Send parents and guardians to the Google for Education website to help them understand how students and educators are protected with Google’s best-in-class privacy and security. They can also learn about classroom technology like G Suite for EducationChromebooks, Google Expeditions and more. 

  • Share the G Suite Learning Centerwith parents and guardians who want to become more familiar with G Suite tools being used in their child’s school. 

  • Use Tour Creator so students and their teachers can create their own virtual reality tours of their school or classroom—or even a topic they are learning in school—to share with family members and guardians. 

Video of Google Cloud Next presentation

Hear from educators and Googlers about using EdTech tools in schools

Digital citizenship and online safety resources

Technology, when used responsibly, can be a powerful resource that can unlock entire worlds. It’s important to teach kids how to navigate the internet responsibly. It’s also crucial to set expectations around how much screen time is appropriate each day, when screens are okay and what activities are appropriate to engage in on their devices. Here are some resources and tools to help parents set digital rules.

  • FOSI online safety lessons: Help students learn how to safely navigate the web and develop skills for school, work, and life. We partnered with the Family Online Safety Institute to build five new lessons to help families stay safe online when it comes to digital wellbeing and screen time.

  • ConnectSafely: Read the Parent Guides from our partners who are dedicated to educating users of connected technology about safety, privacy and security. Share guides with parents and guardians on social media, cyberbullying, EdTech, Media Literacy & Fake News, Cybersecurity and more. 

  • Family Link and Be Internet Awesome: With Family Link, manage the quantity of children's screen time(daily time limits, device bedtime, locking the device remotely) and the quality as well (app approvals, website whitelisting/blacklisting. You can also see how much time kids are spending in apps, and hide apps on their device. And use Be Internet Awesome’s  family resources to teach students how to be safe, confident explorers of the online world. 

As teachers and parents guide the next generation of digital citizens, we’re continuing to offer new ways to foster a safe and supportive learning environment for students, teachers and families. From exploratory tools in classrooms that can be used at home, to accessible platforms that encourage confident and safe online exploration, we’ll continue to make it our goal to provide tools that go beyond the classroom. 

Source: Google Chrome


EdTech companies you should know about

Editor’s Note: This week, we’re joining thousands of educators and students at ISTE in Philadelphia. Visit us at booth 2200, where you can demo the latest Chromebook devices and classroom technology from Google and our partners.  Follow along on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news and updates.

At ISTE 2019, we’re highlighting a wide range of apps and integrations that make learning more accessible for students of diverse strengths, abilities and needs. We work closely with developers to ensure these accessibility-focused tools and integrations work with our own products, and evolve based on the needs of students and educators who share their feedback with us. Here’s how G Suite and Chromebooks power apps that make learning more inclusive:

  • Capti Voice reads aloud documents, books and webpages to students, translates words and passages in more than 100 languages. Students and educators who have a G Suite for Education account can access the app from Google Drive on any web platform. This is especially helpful for students with vision loss, dyslexia, ADHD or motor challenges.

  • Crick Software: One of the first augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) apps—designed to support students with impairments in spoken or written language—created for Chromebook users, Crick Software supports writers at various levels of experience and ability with word grids that help build sentences. This tool also reads passages back so students can check their work with ease. 

  • Scanning Pens: The ReaderPen reads aloud as a student scans the pen over written text, aiding students who need extra support with reading. Students scan the text directly into a Google Doc, upload the audio recordings to a Chromebook or Android device so that they can easily reference the information later.

  • Bulb: Students and educators can create, curate, and share work in a digital portfolio directly from Google Classroom, and access their Bulb portfolio work in Google Drive. Students can share work created in Bulb directly back to Google Classroom, and lessons can be evaluated in Bulb and graded in Google Classroom. 

  • Slooh: Slooh's innovative space lab is a global network of virtual robotic telescopes controlled by students (of all ages) and teachers in curriculum-driven, self-guided space exploration. Through Slooh’s integration with Google for Education, teachers can make assignments and track student progress.

YouTube video of Crick Software's Clicker Communicator for Chromebooks

Expanding personalized learning with the Chromebook App Hub

We’re also working with educational apps focused on cultivating personalized learning environments, improving organization, and optimizing assessments. Here are some partners offering expanded functionality in G Suite, Google Classroom, and Chromebooks, all featured in the brand new Chromebook App Hub.

  • Seesaw has new creative tools optimized for students using Chromebooks. Students can select files from Google Drive, annotate, and curate them into their Seesaw portfolios to share with teachers, parents/guardians, and classmates on Chromebooks. Teachers  can import rosters from Google Classroom to Seesaw in just a few clicks—making sharing and demonstrating student learning seamless. Check out Seesaw on the Chromebook App Hub.

  • Backpack for Google Drive by Amplified Labs: Students curate, reflect upon, and showcase digital learning materials against a district-defined skills framework. Backpack manages all of the sharing and organization in Google Drive and connects with Google Classroom rosters and assignments. Check out Backpack for Google Drive on the Chromebook App Hub.

  • Kahoot! makes it easy to create, share and play fun learning games or quizzes in minutes. Their single sign-on feature allows Google users to effortlessly log into their Kahoot! account, and their Google Classroom integration enables educators to share Kahoot! homework challenges with their students in one click. Check out Kahoot! on the Chromebook App Hub.

The Google for Education Technology Partner Program gives developers access to technical, marketing and branding support, and Google initiatives, such as Cloud credits for startups, developer scholarships, and launchpad spaces. Have a product that integrates with Google for Education? Explore the available program track options. If you’re looking for awesome apps that integrate with Google tools, check out the Chromebook App Hub, andjoin the App Hub community.

Source: Google Chrome


Building the Future of the Classroom with Google for Education

Editor’s Note: This week, we’re joining thousands of educators and students at ISTE in Philadelphia. Visit us at booth 2200, where you can demo the latest Chromebook devices and classroom technology from Google and our partners.  Follow along on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news and updates.

In order to build technology helps students learn, we try to imagine where the future of education is going. The recent Future of the Classroom Global Report identifies emerging trends in education, backed by research. Here’s how our products and initiatives line up with each of those trends: 

Emerging technologies

WithGoogle Expeditions, students can go on virtual field trips—and there are 1,000 tours to pick from, including Carmen Sandiego tours published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Through the rest of the rest of the year, we’re rolling out an improved Expeditions experience across many Chrome OS devices. Check here to see if your device is compatible.

Students can also use Tour Creator—which was just recognized as an AASL 2019 Best Website for Teaching & Learning—to create their own virtual reality tours. They can take fellow students or parents on tours of their town or school using the Expeditions App.

Innovating teaching 

We’re continuing to grow the Teacher Center, our library of free online trainings for educators. For teachers getting started with our tools for the first time, we’ve added courses for Expeditions and G Suite Editors (Google Docs and Slides ) to complement the existing trainings on Classroom, Forms, and Jamboard

We’ve also created shorter courses across a variety of topics, like helping teachers support English language learners, how to use Chromebook accessibility features, or how to get started with our CS First and Applied Digital Skills curriculums. 

And for educators who want to get the most out of Google technology, local experts are there to help. Check out our network of trainers, innovators, reference schools and local PD partners on our newly re-designed EDU Directory.  

Coaching in the classroom

For educators to benefit from investments in technology, they need to know how to integrate it into their classrooms. The Dynamic Learning Project trains teachers on how to effectively use classroom technology, and we have a new training curriculum for administrators, teaching them how to support instructional coaches in their schools. 

We’re also helping school administrators quantify their organization’s Google for Education implementation across products (G Suite and Chromebooks) and programs (Certification and Transformation) with the launch of the EDU Transformation Report

Additionally, we’ve expanded our resources to help school and district leaders think about centering equity in their school’s transformation. So we created a new Educational Equity page with resources and case studies to help school leaders understand how equity can be a central characteristic in all seven pillars of the Transformation Framework

Digital Responsibility 

Applied Digital Skillshas seven new lessons focused on digital wellbeing. Teachers can use these free, project-based lessons to teach students to build healthy digital habits, avoid online scams, understand their digital footprint, and more. 

Life Skills and Workforce Preparation

Applied Digital Skills also has new lessons that prepare middle and high school students to use G Suite fluently in college, the workforce and beyond. To prove their mastery, students can take the professional G Suite certification and add it to resumes and applications. Other new lessons focus on introducing students to machine learning, making art with Google Sheets, calculating probability, and exploring women’s history.  

Computational Thinking

CS First, our coding curriculum for students in elementary and middle school, has a new professional development session for teachers to integrate coding activities into English Language Arts, math and science classes. 

Acquired by Google last year, Workbench is a content library for educators to discover, create, remix, and share lessons and resources. At ISTE we’re announcing a new integration with the Workbench Blockly programming canvas and Google Sheets. This enables people to build Blockly programs to control multiple bluetooth devices (robots, drones, sensors, microcontrollers) and send that data to or retrieve data from Google Sheets. 

We’re honored to be a part of a global community of educators and parents who help their students develop problem-solving skills, safely navigate the digital world, and prepare for future careers. As classrooms continue to evolve, our products to help educators and students evolve as well. 

Source: Google Chrome


Take your achievements with you, Class of 2019

It's graduation season, which means that students who have spent years researching, writing and learning are off to the next big thing. But whether you’re bound for college or the workplace, you may want to hold on to your papers and presentations for record keeping or sentimental value. And we have a way to take that work with you.

With Google Takeout, you can keep the papers you wrote and submitted in Google Docs, the emails you sent with classmates in Gmail, and the Slides presentations you worked so hard on. Instead of losing all digital work or spending hours downloading and migrating emails and school work, you can copy these from their G Suite for Education accounts into another Google account before you leave the school’s domain. This allows you to easily retain emails, projects, essays, resumes, and any other files stored on Google Drive if your school revokes access to your old account.

Protecting students’ privacy and data is critical for schools, so we ensure administrators have control over this feature. Administrators adjust their Admin Console settings for Takeout based on the needs of their schools, like allowing access for just one grade level.  

Video of graduation scenes

Pack a Pixelbook

Whether embarking on the path to college, trade school, or a career (like an astronomer at NASA), graduates need a laptop that works as hard as they do. Over 30 million students have known and loved Chromebooks and Chrome OS throughout K-12, so to ease the transition from school to the working world, between June 9 - 16, 2019, you can save up to $250 on Google Pixelbook.* 


Why Pixelbook?

  • Pixelbook has a super thin design with a 360° hinge— perfect for watching movies or converting into tablet mode.

  • Powered by Intel® Core™ processor and Chrome OS, Pixelbook starts fast and stays fast.

  • Get through a full day of classes with up to 10 hours of battery life.**

  • It’s light, so take Pixelbook wherever you go.

  • Write, draw, and design with the Pixelbook Pen.

  • Protect yourself with built-in virus protection and automatic updates.

  • Read emails, check your calendar, edit documents, watch movies, and more, even when you're offline.

  • Download your favorite apps, including Evernote and Slack, for your field of study or work.

  • Use tools for study, research, writing and content creation, including Adobe Acrobat Reader and Adobe Lightroom.

  • Access and edit across Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides and other productivity suites.

*$100 off i5 128GB model. $250 off i5 256GB and i7 512GB models. From regular retail price. US authorized retailers only. Offer expires on 06/16/2019. While supplies last. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Non-transferable. Not valid for cash or cash equivalent. Void where prohibited. Restrictions apply.

**Battery performance is based on a mix of video, web browsing, productivity and other use. Actual results may vary.

Congratulations, class of 2019. We’re here for you with the tools you need as you take your next step.

Source: Google Chrome


Using technology to support project-based learning

How can we reduce plastic in our oceans? In today’s classrooms, teachers use project-based learning (or PBL) so that students can come up with potential solutions to real-world problems like this. With PBL, students identify the problem, research a solution and support it with evidence—all while learning valuable skills they’ll use long after graduation. Brainstorming these dynamic solutions can be an exciting and creative challenge for young minds. Technology can help motivate and spark imagination in ways that static textbooks can’t.


Last week at SXSW EDU, we helped educators experience the power of technology-enhanced PBL first-hand, with a demo on how to create differentiated and personalized learning using technology in the classroom. The interactive demo let people get hands-on with educational tools from G Suite for Education, Chromebooks, Jamboard, Google Expeditions AR and VR and engaging third-party applications.

The demo in action at SXSW EDU

Even if you didn’t attend SXSW EDU, you can recreate the lesson on removing plastic from our oceans with your students. Follow this guide to bring the magic of Google tools to your students and facilitate a collaborative, intelligent, connected and creative learning space.

Assignment 1: Setting the stage

First, you’ll need to introduce the challenge of reducing plastic in our oceans and identify key facts about pollution in our oceans.

Step 1: Use Google Classroom to introduce the task.

You can use Google Classroom to create individual copies of materials for each student, in just one click. As an example, click here to make a copy of this lesson plan. If you’re using a different Learning Management System (LMS), Course Kit lets you integrate that LMS with G Suite.

Step 2: Use “Explore” to find and cite a key quote.

Open the Google Doc provided in Step 1 and click the “Explore” button in the bottom-right of the document. The “Explore” functionality makes it easy to add citations to materials you referenced across the web.

Step 3: In the Google Sheet, use “Explore” to analyze waste data for Austin, Texas.

Here, the “Explore” feature leverages the same machine learning technology used by Google Search and Google Assistant.

Step 4:Takethis quiz in Google Forms to test your knowledge on the topic.

Google Forms automatically grades your students’ work—saving you from having to do it manually—and give them feedback on how they did.

Bonus:Test out the new “locked mode", only available on managed Chromebooks.

This new feature (which is currently in beta) prevents students from navigating away from the Quiz until they submit their answers.

Assignment 2: Dissect the problem and dig deeper

Next, students will use research skills to understand the root of the plastic problem and collaborate with experts and peers.  

Step 1:Use Google Earth to explore real data on plastic moving across the oceans.

You can also use have your students use Google MyMaps to compare the size of the Pacific garbage patch to several US states.

Step 2: Use Hangouts Meet to meet experts in the field.

Hangouts Meet is a great tool to connect students with experts and each other though secure video and messaging.

Step 3:Go on a virtual reality tour of the ocean with Google Expeditions.

This tour is just one of more than 150 AR and 900 VR tours you and your students can experience. You can now view and guide tours you’ve created yourself using Tour Creator on both Android and iOS.

Step 4:Use a Jamboard to work together to discuss what you’ve learned so far.

Now that your students have dug into the problem, they can collaborate on the Jamboard or Jamboard app to answer key questions about the plastic problem and discuss what they have learned while researching.

Bonus:If you have a Vernier©️ sensor, use the Science Journal Android app to run an experiment testing how oxygen levels are affected by plastic in the ocean. Science Journal transforms devices, like you phone, into a pocket-sized tool for conduct fun science experiments—no fancy equipment required.

Google EDU demo at SXSW EDU

Assignment 3: Generate creative solutions

Finally, uplevel the lesson even more by generating creative solutions to the plastic problem based on everything we learned during instruction and research. Here’s a guide that suggests specific tools to use.

Step 1:Create a VR tour with Tour Creator.

Your students can help increase awareness of the plastic problem by creating their own immersive, 360° tours right from their computers. With this creative challenge, students can sharpen critical thinking and creativity skills, while building something they can add to a digital portfolio.

Step 2:Create a website using Google Sites to outline possible solutions.

Sites gives you an easy-to-use tool to build websites, host course curriculum and encourage students to build their development skills.

Step 3:Use Teachable Machine to create your own trash sorter.

Your students can make it easier to recycle by training their computers to recognize and sort different types of trash using Teachable Machine, an AI experiment that requires no coding.

Step 4: Make an automatic stop-motion animation with Google Photos.

With Google Photos, you can store and edit an unlimited amount of photos to use in your lessons.

Step 5: If you have a Jamboard, you can use it to collaboratively review and workshop creative solutions to removing plastic from the ocean. No physical Jamboard? No problem, check out the free web-based version.

Whether your students prefer to learn through video, reading, collaboration, hands-on experimentation or testing, Google tools allow you provide an engaging educational experience for every type of learner.  


Source: Google Chrome


Using Google for Education tools to create community at Lundavra Primary

Editor’s note: Today’s post is by Harriet Ogilvie, a teacher at Lundavra Primary School in Fort William, Scotland. Harriet was one of the many teachers who recently joined us at BETT 2019 to share stories about using technology that engages students and transforms learning. Below, Harriet explains how she and other Lundavra teachers help students build communication skills and create online portfolios using G Suite for Education.

At Lundavra Primary School, students and teachers encourage parents and other local residents to visit our schools and learn about what’s happening in our classrooms. It’s important to us that we connect the Fort William community to the life of the school. To make this happen, we invite everyone in the area to “Community Cafes,” once-a-month social events featuring student singing, homemade baked goods and a book exchange.

After the Community Cafes, students with Chromebooks in hand ask people if they enjoyed attending, and what they’d like to see at future Cafes. The students enter responses into Google Forms, which is helpful for us teachers as we plan our future community events—plus, it’s much easier to keep track of than paper forms that wouldn’t be returned. When students are getting this feedback using Google Forms, they can connect and communicate with fellow students, teachers and people in the community. Students learn language and communication skills as they formulate questions to ask attendees and start conversations with adults.

Community Cafe at Lundavra Primary

Check out the Community Cafe at Lundavra Primary School!

I like talking with my granny and her friends and helping her use the Chromebook. Neo
Primary 6 student about the Community Cafe

For students, gaining digital skills and building confidence often starts in the Community Cafes, but continues through students’ development of learning portfolios, which are records of their classroom projects and their accomplishments. The portfolios help pupils take ownership of their learning and show what they've accomplished to peers and parents.

These portfolios used to be on paper. When we switched to online portfolios, students could be more creative in telling stories about their academic careers—for instance, by creating video book reports and adding photos of themselves and their classmates. They build portfolios using Google Sites—a much more flexible and engaging tool than paper portfolios that weren't easy to share and frequently misplaced. Students use the Padlet app with their Chromebooks to write regular reflections about their work, and embed the Padlet pages into their Google Sites. Using YouTube, students work with their peers to create vlogs about stories they write themselves. By the time students reach Year 7, they can teach their younger classmates how to build online portfolios—a confidence-building exercise for those about to move on to secondary school.

I am better at talking to people I don’t know. I enjoyed looking at the data we collected from our Google Forms survey. I made it into bar graphs and pie charts to make it easier to understand. Kirsty
Primary 6 student

Teachers and students need tools that encourage students to leave their comfort zones. In our case, the tools in the background are from Google: Videos, portfolios, surveys, documents and online research that inspire students to choose how they want to learn and create. Every time students use Google tools, they learn skills that go beyond the lesson at hand. When they build their online portfolios, students learn how to organize content; when they teach younger students how to use Google Sites, they learn about leadership. And when teachers create assignments in Google Classroom and provide comments while students are working, students learn to give and receive feedback and collaborate with others. We’re excited to find new ways to use Google to help our students become confident, engaged learners.

Source: Google Chrome


Accessing the web on Chromebooks without a Wi-Fi access point

Chromebooks are built to deliver a consistently fast, easy-to-use and secure experience. And when you’re using a Chromebook, you should be able to access the internet quickly and effortlessly, no matter where you are. But the availability of an internet-enabled Wi-Fi access point isn’t always a guarantee. Starting today, Instant Tethering is available on more Chromebooks—this means that you can connect to the internet via a paired Android phone’s cellular network connection, as long as tethering is enabled on your mobile data plan.

Normally, connecting to your phone’s hotspot is a multistep process—one that involves switching on the hotspot on your phone, specifying a network SSID and password, opening the other device's settings to connect to the hotspot, then disabling the hotspot manually when you no longer need it. Phew! But with Instant Tethering, you can pair your Android phone with your Chromebook during an initial set-up process, then accessing the internet only takes a single click.

When your Chromebook detects that it has no Wi-Fi access point, it provides a notification that a data connection is available through your mobile device. Instant Tethering is activated once you click the “Connect” button on that notification. Additionally, Instant Tethering will automatically disconnect if it detects 10 minutes of no activity to save you power and data.

chromebookIT

Before today, Instant Tethering was available on only a few devices, including Pixelbooks and Pixel Slates paired with either Pixel or Nexus phones. But now, Instant Tethering is available on 15 additional Chromebook models and over 30 cell phone models. And we’ll be bringing Instant Tethering to even more Chromebook and phones in the coming months.

This is our latest feature that allows Chromebooks to work better together with Android devices. You can read more about Instant Tethering, how to enable it, and find out if it works with your devices here.

Source: Google Chrome


Choose your own adventure with 13 Google for Education tools

Editor’s note: This week, we’re joining thousands of educators and students at BETT in London. Visit us at booth C230, where you can demo a range of Chromebooks designed for education, including the brand new Chrome OS tablet. Follow along on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news and updates.

Power up a Chromebook and watch as it transports students to the Taj Mahal, the Great Barrier Reef or a state-of-the-art science lab. It’s like magic, except the magicians are the teachers who inspire engaged and focused learning. As the leaders of these journeys, teachers give students the opportunity to explore the limits of their imagination—all on a device that’s simple to use and easy to navigate. While we’re here at BETT, we’re exploring more ways to bring magic moments to the classroom. So open up a Chromebook, and try out a few of the things it can do.

Secure and accessible, out of the box

1. Learn with adaptable Chromebooks:We’re launching more devices for education, with 25+ new devices in 2019. Choose from tablets like the Asus Chromebook Tablet CT100, convertibles like the Acer Chromebook Spin 512 with a 3:2 screen ratio for a taller display to see more content, the Lenovo 300e Chromebook, and clamshells like the Dell Chromebook 3400. Chromebooks aren’t just for students—educators are turning to high performance devices like the Google Pixel Slate, Pixelbook and HP Chromebook x360 14.

2. Explore built-in security and accessibility features:When you customize your security settings with multi-layered security, automatic updates, individual profiles and data protection, they’ll follow you no matter what device you log into. Learn more about customizing settings in G Suite and on Chromebooks to support all learners—including those with visual aids, auditory aids and more.

3. Become an Internet Legend:With our online safety program developed in partnership with the experts at Parent Zone, all Key Stage 2 primary school teachers can now order the Be Internet Legends curriculum pack for free. It’s available in new languages, including Arabic, Belgian, Italian, Polish and will soon be available in Turkish.

Chromebook accessibility features

Plan with efficiency, collaborate & explore, check for understanding

4. Plan with Classroom and Course Kit:In addition to the new Classwork page, Classroom has a refreshed look and feel. And if you love G Suite but use a different LMS, you can now use Course Kit, a free toolkit that incorporates G Suite into your existing LMS.

5. Collaborate with Jamboard: Create, edit, and view Jams (a “Jam” is a collaborative whiteboard space) on your Chromebook or from a Chrome browser with Jamboard or the Jamboard app. You can now modify frames, switch quickly from selection to drawing and use familiar keyboard shortcuts when jamming. Soon, you’ll also be able to add images. Head over to Workbench for a new course on student agency and engagement using Jamboard.

6. Explore the world in Augmented and Virtual reality:Now students can create VR tours using Tour Creator on their Chromebooks, and view them together through a guided experience using the Expeditions Android app (coming soon to iOS). We’re also translating our most popular VR and AR tours into Arabic, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

7. Sign up for the locked mode and Gradebook betas:On managed Chromebooks, locked mode prevents students from browsing away from the Quiz until they submit their answers. The new Gradebook in Google Classroom lets you check grades, see average grades by student or assignment, and choose to calculate grades by weighted average or total points-based.

Classroom 101

Bringing learning to life with STEAM

8. Code with CS First: We recently introduced CS First + Scratch 3.0, the latest version of the coding language designed for kids. The 3.0 version is complete with new videos and digital materials, plus lesson plans easily shareable in Google Docs. Check out the CS First Starter Guide and learn more about Scratch 3.0.

9. Prepare for the future with Applied Digital Skills: Students learn critical thinking, collaboration, communication, creativity and digital skills with new lessons mapped to the UK Essential Digital Skills Framework and the Computing National Curriculum in England, all on the new UK English Applied Digital Skills website.

10. Get hands on with Science Journal:Now, you can sign in with your G Suite for Education account to save and access your experiments across your devices using Google Drive. Check out new training modules and lessons on the Google for Education Teacher Center and Scholastic. For more hands-on science, order the new Science Kit from Arduino for middle school science classrooms, or try out Science Journal’s Android app with Vernier's new Go Direct line of classroom sensors.

11. Travel the globe with Google Earth:Bring the whole world to each desk in your classroom, no download required. Students can quiz their animal knowledge in Street View, learn about weather, volcanoes and sea surface temperature with map layers, measure area and distance, and see 3D views of buildings and landmarks.

Science Journal

Supporting educators through professional development


12. Learn with the Teacher Center:We’ve added new trainings on Jamboard, CS First, Applied Digital Skills and Science Journal. To support educators globally, the Teacher Center is now localized in 17 languages, with Italian coming later this year.

13. Engage with the education community:Looking for an expert? Coming soon, an updated Google for Education Directory can help you find a local expert to assist a school in any number of areas including teacher trainings, transformation support and advice from other schools. Looking for in-person interaction?  We just announced our 2019 Innovation Academies, with more locations including Stockholm and London, so apply now.

Visit us at BETT this week to check out the entire ecosystem of our tools, and if you’re not able to be with us in London, stay tuned on Twitter for more news.

Source: Google Chrome