Friday, March 18, 2016

Setting Gmail as Default Email Application

If you're using a Chromebook, you know that Gmail is automatically setup as the default email application. This means that when a teacher clicks on an email address within a web page (for example, a parent's email address within the Infinite Campus Gradebook) a blank email is automatically created.

However, if you are using a Windows PC or a Mac, this is not always the case. When you click on an email address on a web page, a PC or a Mac may try to open up Outlook, Mail, or whatever other email application is installed. This can be a real pain! Fortunately, there is a fairly easy solution, but it only works if you are using Google Chrome.

Here's how to set Gmail as the default email application within Chrome on a Windows PC or Mac:

  1. Open Google Chrome and go to your Gmail
  2. In the browser address bar, there should be a small "double-diamond" icon. Click on the icon
  3. In the window that appears, click "Allow" and click "Done"
  4. Now, when you click on a parents' email address in the Infinite Campus Gradebook (or any other web page), it should open a new Gmail message. You MAY prefer to open the new message in a new browser tab. To do that, RIGHT-CLICK on the email address and choose "Open link in new tab"

Monday, March 7, 2016

Converting Microsoft Office Files to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides

In a previous tip ("Upload Files to Google Drive"), you saw that you can upload any file you may have into your Google Drive and use Drive like a gigantic thumb drive in the cloud. If you have files in Microsoft Office format (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), you can convert those files to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides format so that you can take advantage of the sharing and collaboration features. Also, by converting files to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides format, you can also use the additional features available within Google Classroom, such as "Make a copy for each student."

Here's how to convert files as you upload them to Google Drive:

  1. On the computer where your files are stored, open a web browser (Google Chrome works best) and login to your Google Drive
  2. Once logged into Google Drive, click on the "Gear icon" and then click "Settings"
  3. Select "Convert uploaded files to Google Docs editor format" and then click "Done"
  4. Click "New" and click "File upload"
  5. Select a file to upload and click "Open"
  6. The file will begin uploading to your Google Drive and converted to Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides format. You should see a small bar at the bottom showing the progress
  7. Once the upload is completed, you will see the file listed in your Google Drive. The file should display the standard Google Docs icon, not the "W" of Microsoft Word
You can also upload and convert entire folders of files at once, instead of doing it one at a time. Google Drive will automatically create a new folder and upload all of the converted files into that new folder. In order to do so, you MUST be using Google Chrome to login to your Google Drive (PC or Mac). Using Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari will NOT work.

Here's how to convert an entire folder of files as you upload them to Google Drive:

The process of uploading and converting an entire folder of files is very similar to the process used to convert one file at a time. The key differences are;
  • When clicking on "New", select "Upload folder" instead of Upload file
  • Select the folder to convert and click "OK"
  • All of the files will be converted and uploaded into a folder within Google Drive
  • The icons of the converted files will be the standard Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides icons, not the icons of Microsoft Office
Lastly, if you have already uploaded some Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files to your Google Drive and you DIDN'T convert them, you can convert them one by one, although the process is more time consuming.

Here's how to convert Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files that have already been uploaded to Google Drive

  1. Open (double-click) an existing Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file in your Google Drive
  2. When the files opens, you will notice that the icon in the upper left is the Microsoft icon
  3. Click on the File menu and select "Save as Google Docs"
  4. The conversion process will occur. The larger the file, the longer this process can take
  5. When the converted file opens, you will notice the Google Docs icon in the upper left
  6. The original Microsoft Office file is preserved alongside the converted version within Google Drive

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Downloading Videos from YouTube for Use with Students

THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE PROVIDED FOR EDUCATIONAL CLASSROOM USE ONLY!
Always be mindful of copyright laws and respecting the content of others!

YouTube offers a wide variety of useful resources for teachers and students. Unfortunately, YouTube also has content that is not always appropriate for younger students. Teachers can still share specific YouTube videos for their students to view by downloading the videos, uploading them to Google Drive, and then sharing them with students using Google Classroom. Students will be able to easily access the videos through Classroom and play them directly within their Google Drive.

Here's how:
  1. Find a video on YouTube that you would like to use with your students. Make sure to preview the entire video to ensure that it's appropriate!
  2. Copy the URL of the YouTube video
  3. Go to http://keepvid.com
  4. Paste the URL of the YouTube video into the Download field
  5. Click "Download". Be careful not to click on any of the advertisements!
  6. Depending on the quality of the YouTube video, you may be offered a few different options to download the video in MP4 format. You will also see other options like Video Only, Audio Only, FLV, 3GP, or WebM. Click on one of the top "Download MP4" links
  7. The video will download to your computer. Depending on the size of the video, it can take a little while
  8. Go to your Google Drive at http://drive.google.com
  9. Click New and choose "File upload"
  10. Find the downloaded video, select it, and click "Open". Depending on the size of the video and the speed of your internet connection, it can take a little while to upload
  11. Once the video has been uploaded to your Google Drive, the video will need to be processed in order to be viewable. Once the video has been processed, the icon will show a preview of the video
  12. Go to Google Classroom at http://classroom.google.com
  13. Create a new Announcement, Assignment, or Question and click the "Attach a Google Drive item"
  14. Select the video from your Google Drive and click "Add"
  15. When you Post the Announcement, Assignment, or Question to Classroom, your students will be able to access it and view it right from their own Google Drive

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Using Infinite Campus Class Messenger to Email Parents

Did you know that you can use Infinite Campus to send an email message to all (or some) of the parents/guardians of the students in your classes? In fact, you can even select exactly which classes, sections or parents/guardians to which to send the messages!

Here's how:

  1. Login to Infinite Campus
  2. Click on "Message Center" on the left
  3. Click "New"
  4. If you're sending an email message to parents, select a Message Type of "Class Message"
  5. In the Delivery Details section, select the "Email" checkbox and choose when you want to send the email message
  6. Enter a subject for the email message and then type the body of the message. You can also add an attachment
  7. Click the "Next" button at the bottom of the page
  8. In the Recipients section, choose whether to send the message to ALL recipients in the class sections OR to specific recipients in the class sections
  9. Choose the class section and whether to send the message to Parents/Guardians or students
  10. Click the "Add" link next to the name of a guardian/student to add them to the Recipient List
  11. Click "Next"
  12. Review the details of the message and click "Send"
  13. You will see a summary of the message that was sent and the selected recipients

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Upload files to Google Drive

One of the advantages of using a "cloud service" like Google Drive to store files is that you can access them from anywhere, from any device. You may not have been aware that you can store all kinds of files within Google Drive (not just Google Docs, Sheets and Slides) and use it like a gigantic thumb drive in the cloud.

Here's how to upload individual files:

  1. On the computer where your files are stored, open a web browser (Google Chrome works best) and login to your Google Drive
  2. Once logged into Google Drive, click the "New" button and select "File upload"
  3. Select a file to upload and click "Open"
  4. The file will begin uploading to your Google Drive. You should see a small bar at the bottom showing the progress
  5. Once the upload is completed, you will see the file listed in your Google Drive. The icon of the file will be different than that of Google Docs, Sheets and Slides
Because we are teachers, of course we want to use our time as efficiently as possible. If you have entire folders of files that you would like to upload to your Google Drive, you can also upload those all at once. Google Drive will automatically create a new folder and upload all of the files into that new folder. The only caveat is that, in order to upload an entire folder to Google Drive, you MUST be using Google Chrome to login to your Google Drive (PC or Mac). Using Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari will NOT work.

Here's how to upload an entire folder of files

  1. On the computer where your files are stored, open Google Chrome and login to your Google Drive
  2. Once logged into Google Drive, click the "New" button and select "Folder upload"
  3. Select a folder to upload and click "OK"
  4. The entire folder will begin uploading to your Google Drive. You should see a small bar at the bottom showing the progress of each individual file
  5. Once the upload is completed, you will see a new folder listed in your Google Drive. If you open the folder, you should see all of the files that were uploaded
The question is, "how do I convert my old Word, Excel and PowerPoint files into Google Docs, Sheets and Slides?" Stay tuned...