Google Apps Update: Web Google Drive Notifications

Respond quickly with Google Drive notifications in Google Chrome Posted: 25 Apr 2016 11:40 AM PDT We’re pleased to announce that Google Drive will now support web notifications when your colleagues share Google Drive files with you, or request access to files. Please note: Users must opt-in to turn on notifications. This feature will only be visible while using Google Chrome.  Users can control which notifications they receive, on a per-device basis. To make users aware of these notifications, Google Drive will show a message in the bottom left of the document list, outlining the benefits with a link to enable the feature. Launch Details Release track:  Launching to Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in 2 weeks Rollout pace:  Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility) Impact:  All end users Action:  Change management suggested/FYI More Information Help Center Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted Launch release calendar Launch detail categories Get these product update alerts by email Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

New Google Chrome Experiment - Tilt Brush

The Google Chrome Team introduced Tilt Brush, a new app that enables artists to use virtual reality to paint the 3D space around them. Part virtual reality, part physical reality, it can be difficult to describe how it feels without trying it firsthand. Using virtual reality technology, Tilt Brush will allow you to paint from a different perspective. You will be amazed with the details and graphics of Tilt Brush.   

Virtual Art Sessions lets you observe six world renowned artists as they develop blank canvases into beautiful works of art using Title Brush.  Each session can be explored from start to finish from any angle - all viewable from the browser.

Ideas for the Classroom:  Students can:

• show expressions of a character from novel
• replicate statues, they can even add their unique perspective
• recreate an era of history through architecture, music, food and culture
• envision a futuristic idea that will help society

The possibilities are endless!

To read more about this app, visit the blog post.  Posted by Jeff Nusz, Data Arts Team Technical Lead and Pixel Painter

Gamify Professional Development

Do you provide professional development to staff at your organization or school district? Like many technology integration coaches, it is part of our responsibility to teach staff about using technology and implementing it into the classroom successfully.

Last year, I provided a new twist on professional development by providing the staff with a challenge on Google Drive tasks by using  Alice Keeler's gamification template on Google Drive.   Staff really enjoyed the activity and felt successful because they were awarded badges after each task.  The Gamify Google Drive Search template can be found on her website.  This challenge will test your knowledge on Google Drive search techniques, which includes 31 different tasks and a variety of difficulty levels.  On her website, she explains how the badges are assigned and how the points are calculated.  

Next, I used her generic blank template to create my own Google Classroom Level Up Challenge for staff at my school district. (Click on the link I provided and scroll down to the middle of her webpage and you will see a link for the generic template.)  In the template, I added the Google Classroom tasks, difficulty levels, descriptions, and helpful links to complete each task.  I used the default badges that were in the template.  Here is the link to the Google Classroom Level Up Challenge that I created.

Additionally, Alice Keeler has Intermediate Google Apps Challenge that includes 56 different tasks, with 5 different difficulty levels and a variety of topics.   This challenge was shared with me from one of my co-workers.  When you download the template, take note of the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet.  You may want to display all the hidden tabs to fully understand the workflow of the template. 

This template has a complex workflow and would have taken me some time to complete my own version of it.  I am very appreciative that she has allowed the templates to be shareable with the public.  Thank you Alice!

You can follow Alice Keeler on Twitter and read her blog posts by visiting her website.  

GAFE Offline Access to Files

Choose the Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files you want to access offline Posted: 18 Apr 2016 04:29 PM PDT An internet connection isn’t always easy to come by, but that shouldn’t stop your employees from completing their work. That’s why we give Google Apps admins the option of allowing their users to enable offline access to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files. Once an individual user has enabled offline access in Google Drive, a subset of their Docs, Sheets, and Slides files are synced to their computer or device. The specific files synced are based on certain criteria, primarily recency. With this launch, we’ll allow end users to choose the specific files they want to make available for offline access when they’re working in a Chrome browser on their desktop computer. This will make it easy for individuals to work anywhere, anytime, even when they don’t have an internet connection. To make a file available for offline access, a user simply needs to visit the Docs, Sheets, or Slides home screen and toggle the Available offline switch in a file’s overflow menu to ON. Please note that this feature will only be available to users working in a Chrome browser on desktop and whose admins have allowed them to enable offline access in Drive. For more information, check out the Help Center. Launch Details Release track: Launching to Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in two weeks Rollout pace: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) Impact: All end users Action: Change management suggested/FYI More Information Help Center Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted Launch release calendar Launch detail categories Get these product update alerts by email Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

New Polling Features in Google Classroom

New polling features are now available in Google Classroom.  This new feature is seen when you post a question to the stream page. You now have the option to ask an open ended question or a multiple choice question.  This will allow teachers to have more options to communicate with their students, assess students understanding, and gather information on feedback.  

Here are four ways you can use polling in your classroom:

1. Post exit tickets
2. Help students self monitor the skills/tasks at hand for an assignment or project
3. Guide discussions
4. Get feedback from the students about your lesson

Enjoy this new feature of Google Classroom.

Remember, the Google Classroom team is always improving the interface and application.  If you have a suggestion that is not available and you would like to see it implemented, you can always leave feedback to the team by clicking on the ? in Google Classroom.  They read all of the feedback, prioritize them and make improvements to the application on the next update.  

For more information about this new feature, you can visit the Google for Education Blog.

Google Apps Update: Set Reminders for Calendar

Launch of Reminders for Google Calendar on the web Posted: 05 Apr 2016 09:01 AM PDT Last year, we launched Reminders in the Google Calendar app for iOS and Android. We’re now happy to announce that Reminders are coming to Google Calendar on the web. Key features: Set a reminder for a specific time and date and get notified when it’s time. To create a reminder, tap on a time in the calendar grid, then select “Reminder.” Reminders carry forward to the next day, until you mark them done. To mark a reminder as done, simply click on the reminder, and click ‘Mark as done’. Reminders created in the Google app, Keep, and Inbox will also show in Google Calendar. Reminders on the web will sync to your Google Calendar Android and iOS apps. Please note: Reminders are private to calendar owners and are not viewable, even if your calendar is shared with others. Google Tasks users will not be prompted to use the Reminders feature. It can be enabled from the drop down menu on the Tasks calendar. Check out the Help Center for more information. Launch Details Release track: Launching to Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in 2 weeks Rollout pace: Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility) Impact: All end users Action: Admin action suggested/FYI More Information Help Center