Google Apps Update Alert

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 For more information: Help Center: Overview Help Center: FAQ Google for Work blog post Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted Launch release calendar Get these product update alerts by email Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Google Apps Update Alert

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.

Tech Tip Tuesday: Direct Comments in Google Docs

Don't let another comment go unanswered! When commenting in Google Docs, add a "+" in front of a collaborator's email address and they will be sent an email notification, if they have a Google account. 

More directions are below:

Direct a comment to a specific person

To make sure that a specific person sees a note meant for them, you can address a comment to a specific person so that they receive an email notification about your comment.

1. Open a document, spreadsheet, or presentation.
2. Highlight the information you want to comment on.
3. Go to the Insert menu > Click Comment > Type in your comment.
4. Somewhere in your comment, add a + plus followed by the email address of the person you want to see the message, for example: +johndoe@google.com.
5. Click Comment to save the comment.

If the person in the comment doesn’t have access to the file, you will be asked to adjust the sharing settings on the file to allow that person to see your comment.

Flubaroo Tricks for Google Forms

When using Google Sheets for an online assessment, you can install an add-on called Flubaroo which will grade the assessment.  It will create another spreadsheet with the grades, questions, and will allow you to email the students their grade.  It is a powerful add-on and I highly recommend that anyone who is using Google Forms, try it out.

I am going to go over a few tricks of using Flubaroo that I recently learned. When creating your answer key, try using the following codes to allow more flexibility in student responses.

1.  %or  - Allows for multiple answers

Type %or in the answer key for a question to allow multiple answers to a   question.  

Example:  Harrison %or Davies

2.  %to - allows for a range of answers. (recommended for math questions)

Type %to in the answer key for a question to allow range of answers to a   question.

Example:  31.4 %to 31.43

3.  %cs - allows for case sensitive answers.

Type %cs in the answer key for a question to allow for case sensitive responses to a question.

Example:  %cs Florida

4.  FormLimiter is an add-on that will allow you to set a date and time to turn on and off a quiz, automatically.  

5.  Flubaroo will allow you to email students their grade.

6.  Flubaroo will allow you to provide feedback to a certain question.  In the grades spreadsheet, click on 'Add-ons', 'Flubaroo', and 'Edit Help Tips'.  A row will be insert under the header titles or the question to allow notes or a link to be added.  When the student receives the grade, they will receive the notes specific to the question.  Any notes used in this option, the entire class will receive.

7.  Flubaroo will allow you to provide student feedback.  In the grades spreadsheet, click on 'Add-ons', 'Flubaroo', and 'Edit Student Feedback'.  A column will be insert next to the student name.  Type any feedback to the student in the new column and when the student receives the grade, they will receive their specific feedback.   Any student feedback used in this option, will only be delivered to that specific student.

8.  Flubaroo will allow you to 'Enable Autograde', which will automatically grade a response once the student hits submit.

Bammy! Award Nomination!

I am truly honored to have been nominated by Stephen Santilli, Lead Learner and Principal at the William Davies Middle School for a Bammy! Award in the category of School Technologist.  It was amazing to read all of the wonderful comments my colleagues wrote about me!  I never expected it!  I was very emotional reading all of the comments and truthfully, words cannot describe how I feel.  I can never express how thankful I am to work with wonderful people everyday and to be apart of the #WeAreDavies family.  

All of the positive comments from everyone inspires and motivates me to continue to work hard for the staff and students at the Davies School.  I am so thankful I have a job that I LOVE! I thank you from the bottom of my heart! #WeAreDavies Family!

Please click on this link and vote for me in the category of School Technologist! First, you must create a Bammy! Award account.  Voting ends May 15th.  Thank you for your support!

You Spoke, Google Listened: New Features of Google Classroom!

4 New Features of Google Classroom have been added to the app to enhance your experience.

Invite co-teachers to join your class

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

Save assignments or announcements as drafts

Teachers can also prep for their classes in advance by saving announcements and assignments as “drafts” and waiting to send them until they’re ready. 

Assign grades without having to return the assignment

Grades will now be auto-saved as they’re entered, meaning teachers can grade assignments over multiple sessions but still return those assignments to students all at one time.

Email notifications of private comments will be sent out

Teachers and students will now receive email notifications when private messages are left on assignments.

Tech Tip Tuesday: New Google Handwriting Input Tool

A new tool was released today by Google Research called Google Handwriting Input (http://goo.gl/qWWhDU), which allows users to hand write text on their Android mobile device as an additional input method for any Android app.

It works with both printed and cursive writing input with or without a stylus. Beyond text input, it also provides a fun way to enter hundreds of emojis by drawing them (simply press and hold the ‘enter’ button to switch modes). It also works with or without an Internet connection. Learn more at http://goo.gl/j7lFbC

Enjoy!

New: EZ Query Add-on for Google Sheets

Introducing the latest add-on, EZ Query by +Bjorn Behrendt.  It will allow you to filter and query on 

data in which it will create a new sheet with specific results.  If the data in the original sheet is 

modified, the results in the new sheet will update instantly.  

EZ Query can be used to create sheets to share with specific individuals, or use it to help separate student data in the classroom.  The possibilities are endless!  

Here is a short video on the EZ Query add-on.

Visit http://scripts.edlisten.com/ez-query for more information.  

Google Apps Update Alert

Google Apps update alerts

---

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: 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) For more information: Help Center Download the latest Google Drive app on Google Play Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted Launch release calendar Get these product update alerts by email Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

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 For more information: Get the latest Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps on Google Play Get the latest Docs app in the App Store Google Docs G+ post Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted Launch release calendar Get these product update alerts by email Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Google Sheets and Duplicate Rows of Data

If you are using Google Forms to collect data from a large audience, you may want to check the data in the form response spreadsheet to be sure each row is unique and not duplicated.

That is how I am collecting my SGO (Student Growth Objective) data from 8th grade students at the +William Davies Middle School.  I am having about 330 8th grade students fill out my Google Form, in which they only need to fill out once, and submit their response.  The responses go into a form response spreadsheet, where I can access and manipulate the data.  However, a student may enter their information twice, not realizing that they already completed the Google Form.

I really don't want to go through all the information looking for duplicate records, so I used an Add-on called 'Remove Duplicates', which I highly recommend.  It is very simple and quick to use.  Here is a quick and short overview on how to install the add-on and how to implement it.  

Follow the steps below:

Install the Add-on:

• First, go into your Google sheet where the data is located.
• Select 'Add-ons' option from the menu bar.
• Select 'Get Add-ons' from the drop down list.
• Search for 'Remove Duplicates'.
• Click on 'FREE'.
• Click on 'Accept' to allow the app to have access to your Google Drive.
• Now the add-on will be listed in the Add-ons menu.

Implement the Add-on:

• Click on the 'Add-ons' option from the menu bar.
• Select 'Remove Duplicates' then 'Find Duplicate or Uniques'.
• Select the sheet and the range of the data you want to search, then hit 'Select'.
• Select 'Duplicates' or another option if suitable, then hit 'Next'.
• Select 'My table has headers', then hit 'Next'
• Select a fill color to mark the duplicate records, then hit 'Finish'. (I would recommend changing the color to a lighter shade.)
• The results will display any duplicate rows which will be highlighted or a message that says no duplicates found.

I hope you find this add-on helpful.  I sure did!  

Tech Tip Tuesday: Google Tips Extension

Google Tips is website and is available as an app at the Chrome webstore that will provide short and quick tips that you may not be aware of.  You can get tips from many Google products such as, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Drive, Google Plus, Play, Maps, YouTube, Chromecast, Google Account, and Google Apps.

For example. if I wanted to find out when I have a new email within Google Chrome, I simply click on the Gmail product, and select the appropriate topic within Gmail.  Then, I will learn how to setup email notifications by following the on screen prompts.

 Visit the website or Chrome webstore to find out more information about Google Tips.

Another Google Apps Update Alert

Google Apps update alerts

---

• New admin policy and compliance controls for Google Hangouts chat
• Month view added to Google Calendar app for Android
• Set custom alerts on audit events for Google Apps admins

New admin policy and compliance controls for Google Hangouts chat Posted: 08 Apr 2015 02:15 PM PDT Google Hangouts provides an end-to-end chat solution for Google Apps customers, allowing people within an organization to securely communicate with one another across all devices and platforms. Today we’re adding two new policy options for Apps admins to give them greater control of how Hangouts chat is used in their domains, as well as introducing Google Apps Vault for Hangouts. New chat policy options Admins will now see two new options in the Hangouts chat settings in the Admin console, allowing them to: Force Hangouts chat history to be on or off Require only Hangouts chat to be used While admins could previously default all Hangouts chat conversation history to on or off, chat participants could change this on a per-conversation basis. With this new feature, admins can ensure chat participants cannot change this setting for new conversations. This also means that participants with Hangouts chat history forced on will not be able to communicate with participants with chat history forced off. To enforce the Hangouts chat history policy, the new Hangouts chat only option must be selected. Please note that chat within Docs and Hangouts video calls will not be available for those customers who select the Hangouts chat only option. In addition, third party chat clients will not work with the Hangouts chat only option enabled. Vault for Hangouts Google Apps Vault lets you retain, archive, search, and export user data for your eDiscovery and compliance needs. With today’s launch, we’ll now extend Vault to support Hangouts chat history. For customers already using Vault, full chat retention for all messages will start automatically once chat history is forced on using the new setting. Release track: Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information: Help Center: New chat policies Help Center: Vault for Hangouts Google for Work blog post Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted Launch release calendar Get these product update alerts by email Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

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) For more information: Help Center Get the Google Calendar app for Android on Google Play Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted Launch release calendar Get these product update alerts by email Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Set custom alerts on audit events for Google Apps admins Posted: 08 Apr 2015 05:16 AM PDT Admin alerts help give Google Apps admins visibility into important events within their domain, such as potentially suspicious login attempts, or service setting changes by other administrators. Previously, admins could turn on pre-defined alerts for various user activities, settings changes, and mail flow events. Today we are launching a new feature that allows admins to set up custom alerts for any of the following audit stream types: Admin audit Tokens audit Calendar audit Login audit Drive audit (Google Drive for Work and Google Apps for Education customers only) Custom alerts give admins the flexibility to name and define the triggering audit stream event, add granular criteria like specifying the username of the person who performs the activity (e.g. Alert me when andrew@mycompany.com deletes a calendar) and specify who will receive any corresponding alerts. Set alerts by clicking the ‘Set Alert’ button on any audit page within the Reports section: Admins can view and edit custom alerts from the 'Manage alerts' page within the Reports section: Setting alerts on Drive events: Google Drive for Work and Google Apps for Education customers will now be able to configure alerts on sensitive Drive events like making a document public or a change in sharing permissions. Check out the Help Center for more details. Release track: Rapid release and Scheduled release (gradual rollout) For more information: Help Center Google for Work blog post Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted Launch release calendar Get these product update alerts by email Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

New Feature for Google Photos and Google Drive

You can now view and manage your Google photos and videos within your Google Drive.  You can optionally create a Google photos folder within your Google Drive, My Drive.  This will allow you to organize your photos and videos into folders. I was prompted to add the folder to My Drive, as shown below.

A few important things to remember:

1. If you delete a photo from Google+ or Google Drive, this deletion WILL be reflected in both apps.  
2. If you organize, (copy and move), and edit photos in Google Drive, these changes will NOT be reflected in Google+.

For more information on this, please visit, Google Support.

A Podcast about Google Apps for Education!

I was recently interviewed by +Leanna Mullen of Film Reel Productions about Google Apps for Education, Chromebooks, collaborative learning, professional development and my experience to acquire Google Education Trainer status.  

Leanna is finishing up her undergraduate at Stockton University before moving to the Master's of Instructional Technology Program. She is a data specialist at the Egg Harbor Township School District and works for herself as a videographer/photographer at Film Reel Productions.  She has filmed many weddings and school productions in Atlantic County, New Jersey.  Between her current studies and her career in a K-12 district, she has an insider view of education technology that can useful to teachers and parents alike.

On her blog, EverythingEdTech, she provides a range of information about technology issues to PARCC testing to professional development.  Please visit her website, EverythingEdTech to follow her blog.  You can also follow her on Twitter @EverythingEdTec, and @FilmReelPro.

She is truly an asset to her employer, a respected colleague, and a rising star in the education field, especially in technology education.  I always enjoy speaking to her about technology integration, our experiences and opinions in the field of education. 

I hope you enjoy this short podcast.

EverythingEdTech - A Podcast on Google Apps for Education and more!

Thank you Leanna! :) 

Tech Tip Tuesday: Notifications in Google Form Responses Sheet

Did you know that you can receive an email notification from your Google form response sheet?  If you want to be notified when your form is modified simply follow these instructions:

• Open up the form responses sheet
• Select 'Tools', 'Notification Rules'
• Click on 'Add another notification rule'
• Then from the screen shown below, you can check off  to notify you when any changes are made to the form, and to email you right away.

Customize the Google Apps Launcher

The Google apps launcher is an icon that contains 9 small squares and can be found in the upper right hand corner of the google.com webpage.  You can customize this menu by dragging and dropping your commonly used apps to the top of the list.  

However, if you do not see an app in the list, simply click 'more' to find the app you want.   If you still do not see the app in the more section, then you must go to that app, click on the apps launcher, and you will be prompt to add it as a shortcut to the list.

For example, Google groups do not appear in the apps list and it does not appear under the more section.  I went to groups.google.com, clicked on the apps launcher, and a message appeared for me to add Groups as a shortcut, as shown below.

You can find more information about this topic at Google Support.

Another Google Apps Update Alert

Google Apps update alerts

---

• An update on the new Google Drive UI
• Share Drive links for viewing outside of your domain, no sign-in required
• Set Google Drive sharing settings by organizational unit

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. For more information: Help Center Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted Launch release calendar Get these product update alerts by email Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Share Drive links for viewing outside of your domain, no sign-in required Posted: 31 Mar 2015 10:48 AM PDT When it comes to sharing Google Drive content outside of your domain, whether giving marketing materials to your design agency or inventory lists to your caterer, you want to make sure they can see it―whether they use Drive or not. With today’s launch, Google Apps admins now have the option in the Admin console to allow Drive content to be viewed by recipients outside of their domain, without them having to sign-in with a Google account. This feature will be defaulted off at launch. It can be enabled in the Admin console at: Apps > Google Apps > Drive > Sharing settings. Check out the Help Center for more details on enabling this feature. Release track: Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information: Help Center Google for Work blog post Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted Launch release calendar Get these product update alerts by email Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Set Google Drive sharing settings by organizational unit Posted: 31 Mar 2015 10:12 AM PDT Different departments have different needs when it comes to sharing content outside of your domain. You might, for example, have a research department that needs to keep information confidential and a sales team that needs to share presentations with their clients. With today’s launch, Google Apps admins now have the flexibility to choose Drive sharing permissions based on organizational unit (OU), as you currently can with other apps like Gmail and Calendar. To enable Drive sharing at the OU-level in the Admin console, click on: Apps > Google Apps > Drive > Sharing settings. Note: this feature is available for Google Drive for Work and Google Apps for Education customers only Release track: Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information: Help Center Google for Work blog post Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted Launch release calendar Get these product update alerts by email Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates