Test your Google Skills with a Google BreakoutEDU

Uncategorized

Test out your Google skills with this digital BreakoutEDU! This was my first time creating a digital breakoutEDU, and I had an absolute blast creating the puzzle and watching attendees of the MassCUE Winter Googlepalooza ’18 grapple with the challenge. Test your google skills across a wide variety of areas and try to make it past your first day at Google! Can you unlock the digital locks and succeed?

For more information on digital breakoutEDU, check out:
https://www.breakoutedu.com/digital/
https://sites.google.com/site/digitalbreakoutjb/sandbox

9 Must Have Chrome Extensions

Uncategorized

One of the great features of Chrome is the countless extensions that can add extra features. Here are the extensions I couldn’t get by without.

Buffer

Buffer Chrome Extension

I love twitter and use it in primarily two ways: to share resources and have conversations. Often, I’ll find links in bunches and at unusual times. Rather than deluge my followers with 10 link tweets in the middle of the night, I use Buffer to space my tweets out and post at times that the majority of my followers are online. I’m generally very wary of any tools that auto-tweet (spam) on my behalf, but buffer is different in that every tweet is mine — I’m just time shifting the tweet to a better time. I highly suggest you check this one out if you are a heavy social media user.
Buffer

Evernote Web Clipper

Evernote Chrome Extension

Evernote is amazing. It’s become my digital brain, where I store reference materials and notes. The easiest way to get a web page or pdf into Evernote is through this extension.
Evernote Web Clipper

LastPass

LastPass Chrome Extension

Too many passwords? Don’t fall into the trap of reusing the same one everywhere. Use LastPass to remember your passwords. The form fill feature alone is a huge time saver as it’ll fill your saved information (address, email, etc) with one click.
LastPass

My Chrome Theme

My Chrome Theme Chrome Extension

I’m a heavy Chrome users user, and a different theme for each user is the easiest way to tell them apart. Create your own theme with this extension.
My Chrome Theme

Pinboard Tools

Pinboard Tools Chrome Extension

When Delicious went south, I switched to Pinboard as my bookmarking service of choice. This extension is an easy way to add a bookmark quickly.
Pinboard Tools

Pocket

Pocket Chrome Extension

Pocket is a read it later service. I’ll click this extension when I have something I’d like to read but don’t have time to now, and it’ll be added to my Pocket account.Then, when I have time I’ll use the Pocket iOS app and enjoy some longer reads.
Pocket

Read&Write for Google Docs

Read&Write Chrome Extension

This is a fantastic extension that helps in the writing process, particularly by reading back text in a Google Doc. I’ll often catch writing mistakes by listening to Read&Write. Anything that helps improve my writing is a must have for me!
Read&Write for Google Docs

Turn Off the Lights

Turn Off the Lights Chrome Extension

YouTube is full of great videos, but it’s also full of some not-so-great ones that always seem to be recommended on the side of the videos I watch. YouTube comments are notorious as a display of the depravity of the human race. Especially when teaching or presenting, I don’t want those distracting aspects on display, so I’ll use Turn Off the Lights to black out everything but the video itself.
Turn Off the Lights

WAV Player for Gmail

WAV Player Chrome Extension

The voicemail service at my school is able to email messages as a .wav file. Before this extension, I had to download the attachment and use an application or OSX’s quick look to listen. Now this extension adds a player in the email, no download needed.
WAV Player for Gmail

Those are the extensions that work for me. I’d encourage you to try them out, but also to look through the Chrome Web Store and find extensions that work for you.

Did I miss any must have extensions? Please let me know in the comments!

Technology Boot Camp – CEDFA Pre-Summit Session

Uncategorized

Technology: Exciting, Disruptive but No Longer Overwhelming! – goo.gl/UVLdB

 

Polleverywhere.com – goo.gl/RLB7I

 

Google Apps – Voice, Docs, Sketch Up, Picnik, Sites and Google Reader

Uncategorized

Presented at Technology Boot Camp @ CEDFA Summit 2011
Google Apps – http://goo.gl/Y2yEf


 

Google Apps for Domains – Education Edition

Uncategorized

150x55If you’re like many schools, your email system is being strained by constant use. Email has become an essential tool in our lives, and education is no exception. Google apps offers a lot of benefits to school, with only a few drawbacks to consider. Let’s examine Google Apps and how it might fit into your organization.

What is Google Apps?

Google apps is a suite of online applications. It’s a way for you to have gmail, google calendar, contacts, docs and more under your domain name. You keep the same email addresses, and get the familiar gmail interface you’re used to.

The benefits

You’ll have all of the features of google’s top-notch applications under your domain name, totally free. You can stop subscribing to a spam filtering service, maintaining a email server (or paying someone else to), and possibly support many more users and offer many features you simply couldn’t afford before.

The drawbacks

Everything has to have a downside, right? The two biggest downsides are giving Google access to your email and a slight lack of control.

Privacy

There are serious concerns with giving Google total access to your organization’s email. And while Google’s moto is to “do no evil” and they have been fairly successful at living up to that moto. But legal issues exist whenever you outsource email. Personally, we’d rather have one of the biggest companies in the world handling our email than a mom and pop shop down the street. Which is more likely to be secure and protect our data?

Lack of control

The other issue most heard is that you’re now under Google’s control. While this is true whenever you outsource something, people get very worked up when email goes down when its out of your control. Google has had a few notable outages lately, but it’s hard to find another email provider that has a better record of uptime than gmail.

Google Apps is a great solution for most schools. Look for posts coming soon on the successfully migrating to Google Apps!