Comet Tech

So, if you took the advice of last week's 90 Second Chromebook Tip & Trick and abandoned your "Search" key in favor of Caps Lock on your Chromebook keyboard, this is still a quick way that you can search Google using this week's Shortcut of the Week.  When you want to quick search Google, simply press "Ctrl + e" to focus on the URL bar at the top of the page and begin your Google Search query. It is extremely easy and fast to do!

Google is heavily invested in artificial intelligence and trying to learn what we are thinking. With additions like the canned responses on the Gmail App to a new release that is coming. Google Drive on Android and iOS has had the ability to try and focus on what files you might need in an area know as "Quick Access." The machine is trying to figure out what files you might be using next. In the coming days, this technology will be added to the Google Drive web view. Now, Google will try to read what file you might be working on based on time of day, location, and other variables. This is helpful if you have to fill out a form for various items at the end of the day. This can be extremely helpful moving forward.

Google is constantly updating their services and ensuring that they are delivering a product that is more and more useful. In the past week or so, Google updated their iOS and Android GMail apps to include canned responses that you can quickly send. In this email, you can see that at the bottom I am given some choices on how to respond. These can be the start of a reply or the whole reply, it is up to you. This is meant to make it easier to respond to questions via the GMail app and help you manage your email. You should see this in your GMail app on your phone. If you don't, try updating your apps to see if it appears. Some emails will not generate the canned responses. I have found that it tends to be ones that have a large list of recipients or is part of a longer chain of emails.  If you have any questions, let me know. 

Long for the days when it was easy to type in all caps to scream your point on the internet? With this week's Tip & Trick you can change the "Search" key on your keyboard back to a "Caps Lock" key. Watch:

For me, I find it extremely frustrating when I click a link and I lose the page that I was on reading, especially if I am not done reading my current page. On a Chromebook, there is a simple way around this issue. To open a link in a new tab, you have always been able to do a "two-finger" click on the link and chose from the menu, but an even fast way is to use this week's Chromebook Shortcut of the Week. Simply hold "Control" and click your link. You will see the creation of a new tab taking you to the link when you are ready!

One of the things that I have heard a lot this year is that the students are not faithfully taking their assessments on the Chromebooks, causing some teachers to move back to paper and pencil testing. While I understand the concern about the security of the assessment, we do have a workaround. As we have all proctored the MSTEP this month, we know that there is a secure portal for that testing. Did you know there is also a secure testing for our Schoolnet Services? If you want the students to take a Schoolnet Secure test, simply have all students log out and use the Apps button in the lower left-hand corner of your screen. Then, click on the Schoolnet Icon. A page will pop up in which the students will indicate that they are students, they will sign in to PowerSchool and then enter the quick code to access their test. During the session, they will only be able to access the test. When done, the students simply reset their Chromebook and log in normally. It is all a very easy ...

Google App Icon Google App is getting a pretty awesome update! If you are using the Google App (iOS or Android), there will be a new functionality where you can find local events near you. If you type "events near me" it should help you find them on your calendar. They have even added some pretty awesome filters to help you find the events. This is great because we can leverage the power of Google to attract the community to in school events (if we choose) or we can find interesting events to further our own learning! This update is coming soon! You can read about it here !

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to spend time with other educators from across the state of Michigan. It was at an event called a PLAYDATE. PLAYDATE is an acronym for People Learning and Asking Y: Digital Age Teacher Exploration. The event started in Chicago and has spread to other parts of the US rapidly. This particular event was hosted at the Kalamazoo RESA and was put on by the REMC Association of Michigan. The event started with a Breakout EDU game to get to the agenda document (although it was eventually shared with all). Then, a few of the event's organizers went over how the day works. The objective was to get some hands-on time with some of the tools that we hear about and have facilitated discussions on how we can use these with our students. The morning started with me learning about coding in the classroom. I was able to connect with other coding instructors and teachers from across the state as we talked about our favorite tools, techniques, and challenges of w...

Use your vocal chords to type in Google Docs. Check out the video below!

This week, I am highlighting an accessibility feature of your Chromebook. Knowing that screens can be difficult to stare at, this week, we will show you how to see the negative or reverse image of the screen, essential flipping colors. This is helpful for students and teachers that may have an eye issue and can be used to assist them in working on their computers. It is helpful to know. It could also help students who have eyes that are strained easily. The quick shortcut allows switch between the two pages and can be helpful in many different ways. To change the contrast of your screen, push "Ctrl + Search + h" at the same time. If you do it correctly, your screen should change contrasts very quickly.

Google updated their Google Sites in the fall. As the application grows, it continues to get more and more powerful. Some of the updates since launch include the ability to use page dividers and incorporate company logos. This week, they introduced the ability to group object vertically. From the Google Updates Blog While grouping objects vertically may not see that powerful, but what it does is allow you to align the page better. From a design standpoint, it is now easier to incorporate captions for images as well as to make images and text fit better next to each other. Google's willingness to continue to develop this a great sign of the direction they are taking their web design tool. It will not be easier for students to create powerful websites to tell their stories and share their knowledge. In all of the changes, Google also announced that the end of life is coming for the old Google Sites. Google will be introducing a migration tool to allow users to migrate their w...

I am very doubtful that you have not heard of the massive Google Phishing Scam that happened on May 3rd, 2017. In the scam, someone that has previously had correspondence via email with you before sends you a Google Doc invitation. This, in and of itself, seems relatively harmless. We routinely share Google Docs back and forth. The unique part of the scam is that it seems genuine and is designed to get you to click. Once you click, you are prompted to sign in on an elaborately coded and designed page to mimic that Google Sign On page. This is where the scam is. If you are logged into your Gmail account, Google would never ask you to sign in again to access that document! It was shared with your email. Google knows who you are. The Phishing Email: Please notice the "hhhhhhhhhhhhh" email address. It also does not provide the link.  A true Google Docs share request. Notice the branding, the emails, and the link in the email.  Regardless, this scam got many people...

This week's shortcut is one that may be more useful for students than teachers. If you need to close a tab, you can do so with this week's shortcut. By pressing "Ctrl + W" together, your current tab on the Chromebook will close. Partnered with some of the earlier shortcuts, we can start to see that we are able to do a lot more with our keyboards if we learn the shortcuts. If you have any more questions about Chromebook shortcuts, please let me know!

Earth just got a massive update! No longer does the program need to be installed to run on your computer! Instead, you can now run Google Earth on the web, meaning that all of our Chromebooks are capable of running Google Earth and transporting our students around the world in matter of seconds. Talking about pyramids in Math? Jump to Egypt and show them off! Learning about Ancient Greece in Social Studies? Show the landscape in Google Earth! Learning about the rain forest? Take them there! Reading about the Mighty Mississippi? Take a trip down the river! Google Earth allows us to take our students anywhere in the world and show them what they are learning. With the advent of the street view and integration, we can get street level views of the areas we talk about. It is an amazing tool that we can use in many different ways! Have questions? Let me know!