Using the Lenovo C13 Yoga Chromebook to make a video

Most International School of Geneva - Campus des Nations staff have a Lenovo C13 Yoga Chromebook. These devices are capable of quickly and easily capturing video. As the devices are 'Yogas, ' the hinge can be bent both ways. This is the recommended way for capturing a quick video using a Lenovo C13 Yoga Chromebook →

1. Press the search key (the one with the magnifying glass icon).
2. Either search for 'Camera' or press the blue camera icon if you see it.
3. Push the screen over so the device is like a tent - with you looking at the screen and the keyboard pointing away from you.
4. You can now change the camera mode to 'Video' and use the circular on-screen button in the bottom right-hand corner to start and stop the recording.
5. The video file is saved to a folder called 'Camera', which you can find in the Files app. Files can be easily uploaded to your Drive and shared.

Read more here → support.google.com - Use camera features on your Chromebook

Dealing with WebP files

You may have noticed that sometimes when you right-click → 'Save image as' to download an image, you end up with a WebP file. You probably wanted a jpg or png file. What can you do about this?

Several Chrome extensions are available in the Chrome Web Store that can help. I recommend → WebP / Avif image converter, which adds a 'Convert and save image as' option to the right-click menu.

Alternatively, you can download the WebP file and then use an online converter service, such as convertio.co, to convert the file into a more friendly file format.

Viewing non-printing characters in Google Docs

You can (now) display non-printing characters to see how a document is laid out. When turned on, you will see symbols or text to represent the following →

• Paragraph/Hard break 
• Line/Soft break 
• Section break 
• Page break 
• Column break 
• Tab 
• Space

To reveal the non-printing characters → View → Show non-printing characters to display.

Read more here → Google Workspace Updates - New option to view non-printing characters in Google Docs [9 January 2023]

Annotating text with Lucidspark

Educators and students (currently) have access to Lucidspark at the International School of Geneva - Campus des Nations.

Lucidspark is an excellent whiteboarding app worth exploring if you haven't yet.

If you would like support using Lucidspark in your teaching, please get in touch with me.

Staying Safe on Instagram and other Meta Platforms

This video is worth 8 minutes and 34 seconds of your time.

Group Tabs in a minute

Helpful minute-long video from Dean Stokes.

[Chromebook] Ctrl + Alt + -

To access every keyboard shortcut on your Lenovo C13 Yoga Chromebook with a Swiss french keyboard, press Ctrl + Alt + -.

The feature, once activated, is built up of several sections:

• Popular shortcuts
• Tabs and windows
• Page and web browser
• System and display settings
• Text editing
• Accessibility

Insert emojis inline with text in Google Docs

Type “@” followed by a descriptor, such as “@smile,” to search for a specific emoji amongst other menu items.

Read more here → workspaceupdates.googleblog.com - Insert emojis inline with text in Google Docs [29 August 2022]

mote.new

The quickest way to start recording audio is to head to mote.new.

Supporting your child getting started on social media

Young people are always looking for the latest app or site to go on, and if they come to you talking about social media there are lots of things to consider.

Here, we will help answer the big questions that parents and carers may have when their child asks about signing up for a new social media app.

childnet.com/blog - Supporting your child getting started on social media [13 September 2022]

Read more here → childnet.com/blog - Supporting your child getting started on social media [13 September 2022]

Padlet - now with email and push notifications

Everyone at Ecolint currently has access to a paid Padlet account. Padlet is an excellent collaboration tool and can be a useful 'front page' for a class, group or department.

Padlet has recently made it possible to follow individual padlets to receive notifications when new posts are added. If you visit a Padlet that you would like to follow and click on the notification 'bell' in the right-hand side tool column - you then have the opportunity to 'follow'.

If you click on the three dots at the bottom left-hand corner of the Padlet home screen → then Settings → then Notifications you have the possibility to control the notifications you generally receive from Padlet as well as the Padlets and individuals you follow.

Read more here → padlet.blog - Stay on top of your Padlet activity with email and push notifications [15 December 2022]

[Chromebook] Use Search + V to paste one of the last five things you copied

Hopefully, we all know Ctrl+X, Ctrl+C, and Ctrl+V for cut, copy and paste actions on not only your Chromebook but on Windows as well (substitute Cmd for Ctrl and these work on a Mac).

If you use Search (the key with a magnifying glass icon on) + V you will see a list of the last five things you copied to the 'clipboard'. You can then use the pointer (mouse or trackpad or touchscreen) to choose what you want to paste. The up and down cursor keys and enter also do the same selection role.

Read more here → support.google.com - Chromebook keyboard shortcuts

Easily see file locations in Google Drive

In addition to seeing a file’s name, owner, modification date, and size, Google added a column to include location information in the Search, Recent, Starred and Trash web views of Google Drive.

This feature makes it easier to differentiate between similarly-named files stored in different locations and find precisely what you’re looking for at a much faster rate.

Read more here → workspaceupdates.googleblog.com - Easily see file locations in Google Drive [1 June 2022]

The Mote Certified Educator Program

As discussed in the last ICT-themed faculty meeting, all educators at Nations Secondary have access to 'full' Mote accounts.

I would wholeheartedly recommend the Mote Certified Educator program. The online self-lead course, which can be paused and rejoined, takes about an hour and is a valuable way to upskill yourself, building on the introduction in the staff meeting.

ChatGPT3 in education

There is a lot being said about OpenAI and ChatGPT and their impacts on education. This podcast from 'The International Schools Podcast' is well worth a listen to help you understand some of the questions being asked about this quickly evolving situation.

Managing tabs in Chrome

How many open Chrome tabs is too many?

Are you making use of the Chrome bookmark bar and the feature where you can organise bookmarks in folders?

Have you explored Chrome tab groups yet?

If you ‘live you life in bookmarks’ consider using raindrop.io! It is one of my favourite apps and I use it on a daily basis.

The [Chromebook] Screencast

If you have a Chromebook you have access to the Screencast app. If you have the need to record what is happening on your screen along with your commentary, maybe to explain a process or similar, it is worth checking out the following video, produced by John R Sowash →

Google Documents notifications

For a long time now it has been possible to be notified when changes were made to a Google Sheet. Google has now brought similar capabilities to Google Documents.

Tools → Notification settings →tick 'Added or removed content'

I use this function to monitor a 'bulletin' document. When additions are made to the document I receive an email notification. This means that I do not need to remember to regularly check the document - but also not miss out when additional content is added.

Top tips when using YouTube

There's a range of keyboard shortcuts that you can make use of when using YouTube to display your fluency and skills. Here are my favourites →

• Spacebar → Play/Pause.
• f → Activate full screen.
• c → Activate closed captions and subtitles if available. To hide captions and subtitles, press C again.
• Number 0 → Goes to the start of the video

Find more Keyboard shortcuts for YouTube here.

If you place the pointer over a video's progress bar a red dot will appear. If you then right click on that red dot you are presented with some options. One of these is 'Copy video URL at current time'. If you click on that and then share the copied link (URL) with somebody then if they click on the link the video will open and start playing at that time.

YouTube clips

Some content producers allow you to produce a 'clip' of their video. This would then allow you to easily share that clip (section of a video) with a student, class or team. The following video explains the process →

Read more about this here → support.google.com - Share clips

The Google Sheets Timeline feature

You can now produce timelines in Google Sheets. This is a useful and powerful feature that presents opportunities for use in the classroom as well as by educators for project management.

Check out this excellent video produced by Eric Curts →

1. Make sure the PDF file is in your Google Drive.
2. Go to kamiapp.com.
3. All educators at Campus des Nations have access to a Kami account.
4. Click on 'Sign in' → Continue with Google → use your @learning.ecolint.ch account.
5. Choose → Open file from... → Google Drive → find the file and click on it.
6. The file will open in Kami and then you have a range of choices on the left hand side.
7. Have a look at the 'Markup' and 'Drawing' tool sets.
8. Once you have finished there is a 'Save' icon on the top menu bar.

Chromebook users - it's time to have another look at Cursive

Those teachers who are luckily enough to have a C13 Chromebook should take a moment to explore Cursive again.

To launch Cursive go to → https://cursive.apps.chrome

The initial pen input lag issues that we present at launch seem to have been fixed.

Read more here → chromeunboxed.com - Cursive, Google's Note-taking PWA, has been updated and is actually usable now [16 December 2021]

Google Calendar - Set aside time for focus

Google has added the ability to add 'Focus time' to your calendar "so you can block out and protect your time for heads-down individual work".

Similar to the Out of office event type, focus time has a different appearance on your calendar and includes the option to automatically decline conflicting events.

Read more here → Google Workspace Updates - Set aside time for focus in Google Calendar [20 October 2020]

Google Sheets - New intelligent suggestions for formulas and functions

You’ll now see in-line, sequential, context-aware suggestions for formulas and functions when working with data in Google Sheets.

Formula suggestions will make it easier to write new formulas accurately and help make data analysis quicker and easier.

Simply begin inserting a formula in Sheets—suggestions will be automatically displayed and as you continue to type. You can view additional incremental suggestions in the drop-down menu.

Read more here → Google Workspace Updates - New intelligent suggestions for formulas and functions in Google Sheets [25 August 2021]

Teaching with Google Arts & Culture

Google have releasing a new Teacher Guide – "a dedicated resource for educators to make learning with Arts & Culture and using the platform in class easier than ever".

"It includes ready-to-use handouts and customizable activity templates, and compliments other popular experiences on Google Arts & Culture that were designed with educators in mind. "

In my opinion Arts & Culture is one of Google's best kept secrets. It is a huge resource of super cool stuff. It is well work 10 minutes of a teachers time - whatever the subject they teach!

How about →

• A Brief History of Vaccines
• A Whistle-stop Tour of Indian Heritage
• Machine Learning Meets Opera - Blob Opera
• Time Travel to Ancient Egypt

Google Tasks is Google's basic (yet very capable) to-do list manager. The easiest way to find it is to go to your Gmail, Google Calendar, Docs, Sheets or Slides. You should see the icon on the right hand side of the screen. If you can't see Tasks app, click the arrow in the bottom right corner of the screen to expand the panel.

makeuseof.com recently published a post titled '5 Tips to Use Google Tasks Effectively' which is well worth a read if you are interested in making more use of Google Tasks.

Educators should consider showing students how to use Google Tasks to organise the things that they need to do.

To-do list managers work best when they are easy to access - when you want to add something or check what needs to be done.

Google Tasks can be found in the side panel from Gmail, Google Calendar, Docs, Sheets and Slides.

There is a smartphone app available for Android phones and iPhones.

TasksBoard produces a desktop app for Google Tasks.

If you like a more 'kanban board' approach check out the Kanbanly Google Chrome extension.

You can split the screen on your Chromebook.

You can drag and drop windows. Just grab the window using the menu bar and drag it to the left or right edge of your screen.

You can us the maximize button. Just click and hold the button, located in the top-right corner. You'll see two arrows on the left and right of the button. Move over one of them while still holding down the mouse button and the window will be shifted there.

You can also use keyboard shortcuts to split the screen and move windows. The Alt + [ and Alt + ] shortcuts will move a window to the right or left sides of the screen.

Read more here → makeuseof.com - How to Use Split Screen Mode on Chromebook [12 September 2021]

You can add desks to organize multiple windows and multi-task on your Chromebook.

To create a desk →

1. On your Chromebook keyboard, press the Show windows key .
2. At the top right, select New desk.
3. Optional: To rename a desk, select the desk's name and enter in your preferred name.

To go to a different desk →

1. On your Chromebook keyboard, press the Show windows key .
2. At the top, select a desk.

Tip: To switch to a different desk on your touchpad, swipe 4 fingers left or right.

Read more here → support.google.com - Set up & manage multiple desktops with desks

Staff familiarisation with C13 Chromebooks

Forty teachers at International School of Geneva - Campus des Nations Secondary are starting the academic year using Lenovo C13 Chromebooks as their personal devices.

The slides below are what was used at the familiarisation session →

Use lucid.app for all your Lucidpress and Lucidchart needs

Lucid have brought all their services and you files together in a very 'Google Drive' style approach.

To start a document or find your exiting ones - start of lucid.app.

Do you get students to produce notes in Google Documents?

If you allow your students to make digital notes in your lessons consider the use of a Google Documents.

A single document, per student, per subject structured with uniformly formatted headings (using H1, H2, H3 etc) and bookmarks produces a well structured document that increases in usefulness as more content is added.

The Social Dilemma is now available on YouTube

If you haven't seen it - it is worth a watch. I think there are some great sequences in it. I particularly like the ones that 'show' a characters attention being kept by a social media platform.

Edpuzzle

We are exploring the potential of Edpuzzle. Edpuzzle enables you to easily edit videos and turn them in engaging quizzes. The process is simple - find a video, add questions and assign it to your class.

If you would like to be part of the Foundation's subscription and associated network which enables easy sharing etc - please drop me an email and I will send you the necessary 'special' link.

A bit of educational technology history

Does anybody remember the BBC Micro? Those of you who do will be 'pleased' to know that it having it's 40th birthday this year! There is a video from the BBC News about it here.

My parents had one when I was a child. It was less for coding and more for playing Chuckie Egg and Arcadians.

On the subject of educational technology history there was a related Instagram post from the Foundation recently →