Articles tagged "Google Drive"
[2023 version] So you are leaving us…

Your @ecolint.ch or @learning.ecolint.ch account is a ‘Google Workspace for Education' account. Depending on whether you are a staff member, a PGCE student or an Ecolint student dictates how much time you have to get any content out of your account before it is deactivated and then deleted.
Ecolint students - you have five months from the end of June to sort your account out.
My advice is to decide upon what you want to keep and complete the necessary processes as soon as possible. The ability to move digital assets from one platform to another is a key skill.
Your Windows account
Following departure, your Windows account will be shut down at the end of June. We need to do this for security reasons. You should therefore make sure you have taken all your locally-stored files (on the school servers) with you by the final day of the academic year. We cannot be responsible for keeping these files nor access to them after the beginning of July.
The easiest way to move files off the network is to copy them to a USB drive or upload them to a personal cloud storage service.

Mail – start here
Ensure you have set up another email account. This following series of processes is only fully possible if you have a personal @gmail.com account. If you are creating a new @gmail.com account, now is the time to consider your new email address, as it may be with you for a while. sparklyunicorn2018@gmail.com may not be the best address to share with future academic institutions and employers!
Set up an ‘Out of Office‘ reply for your school email account. Use the message to explain that this email address will soon cease to function and what your new email address is.
Set up email forwarding from your school email account to your new email address. Ensure you make the effort to update the sender of each email you receive with your new email address.


Taking away your content
Google Workspace for Education users have access to Google Takeout. The service will allow you to export a copy of the content in your Google Account to back it up or use it with a service outside of Google.
- On your school account, go to Google Takeout.
- Click Deselect all.
- Click to select → Drive [this will download your Google Documents as Word Documents, Google Slides presentations as PowerPoint files etc.].
- You have various other options depending on what you want to download/export. It all depends on what you want to do with this data. Your contacts and bookmarks may be useful and are quite easy to import elsewhere. Your Gmail is possible but more difficult when it comes to importing to another service.
- Click → Next step.
- Choose the delivery method and frequency.
- Click → Create export.

[New] Google Sites
To begin, open the Google Site from within your Ecolint account.
- Go to 'Share with others' and add your personal Google account as an editor.
Steps to take place in the personal Google account:
- Open your personal Google account and access the Google Site that you have just shared with yourself.
- Go to 'More' (the three dots) and then 'Duplicate site' to make a copy of the site (which is owned by your Ecolint account) in your personal Google account.
Any files inserted into the Google Site saved in Google Drive will still be located in your school Google account after ownership of the site has been transferred. Individual items in the Google Site will need to have their new location (if you have transferred ownership or copied them to your personal Google account) updated.


Other software platforms
You need to take steps to get any files you want from additional services provided by the school - such as Adobe Creative Cloud, Soundtrap, Padlet, Lucid or WeVideo. Your accounts for these services will likely close in July or August as we transfer accounts to new students.
Weekly post #58 – Padlet notifications, the Chromebook clipboard menu, file locations in Drive, the Mote Certified Educator course and ChatGPT in education
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.
[2022 version] So you are leaving us…

Your @ecolint.ch, @learning.ecolint.ch or @pgce.ecolint.ch account is a ‘Google Workspace for Education’ account. Depending on whether you are a staff member, a PGCE student or an Ecolint student dictates how much time you have to get any content out of your account before it is deactivated and then deleted.
Ecolint students - you have five months from the end of June to sort your account out.
My advice is to decide upon what you want to keep and complete the necessary processes as soon as possible. The ability to move digital assets from one platform to another is a key skill.
Your Windows account
Following departure, your Windows account will be shut down at the end of June. We need to do this for security reasons. You should therefore make sure you have taken all your locally-stored files (on the school servers) with you by the final day of the academic year. We cannot be responsible for keeping these files nor access to them after the beginning of July.
The easiest way to move files off the network is to copy them over to a USB drive or upload them to a personal cloud storage service.

Mail – start here
Ensure you have set up another email account. This following series of processes is only really fully possible if you have a personal @gmail.com account. If you are creating a new @gmail.com account now is the time to think about your new email address as it may be with you for a while. sparklyunicorn2018@gmail.com may not be the best address to share with future academic institutions and employers!
Set up an ‘Out of Office‘ reply for your school email account. Use the message to explain that this email address will soon cease to function and what your new email address is.
Set up email forwarding from your school email account to your new email address. Ensure you make the effort to update the sender of each email you receive with your new email address.


Taking away your content
Google Workspace for Education users have access to Google Takeout. The service will allow you to export a copy of content in your Google Account to back it up or use it with a service outside of Google.
- On your school account, go to Google Takeout.
- Click Deselect all.
- Click to select → Drive [this will download your Google Documents as Word Documents, Google Slides presentations as PowerPoint files etc].
- You have a whole range of other options depending on what you want to download/export. It all depends on what you want to do with this data. Your contacts maybe useful and are quite easy to import elsewhere. Your Gmail is possible but more involved when it comes to importing to another service.
- Click → Next step.
- Choose the delivery method and frequency.
- Click → Create export.

[New] Google Sites
To begin, open the Google Site from within your Ecolint account.
- Go to 'Share with others' and add your personal Google account as an editor.
Steps to take place in the personal Google account:
- Open your personal Google account and access the Google Site that you have just shared with yourself.
- Go to 'More' (the three dots) and then 'Duplicate site' to make a copy of the site (which is owned by your Ecolint account) in your personal Google account.
Any files that have been inserted into the Google Site that are saved in Google Drive will still be located in your school Google account after ownership of the site has been transferred. Individual items in the Google Site will need to have their new location (if you have transferred ownership or copied them to your personal Google account) updated.


Other software platforms
You need to take steps to get any files you want from additional services provided by the school - such as Adobe Creative Cloud, Lucidpress or WeVideo. It is likely that your accounts for these services will be closed in July or August as we transfer accounts to new students.
Weekly post #49 – .new, using Padlet Mini and how font choice impacts reading accessibility
.new
Not new but this could improve your ninja like Google Workspace skills.
Type doc.new into the Chrome 'Omnibox' and a new Google Doc will open ready for you to start using. Type sheet.new and guess what... a new Google Sheet is created.
cal.new or meeting.new opens a new Google Calendar event.
Other terms that work →
- Docs
- docs.new
- doc.new
- document.new
- Sheets
- sheets.new
- sheet.new
- spreadsheet.new
- Slides
- slides.new
- slide.new
- presentation.new
- Forms
- forms.new
- form.new
- Sites
- site.new
- Keep
- keep.new
Check out more → https://goo.gle/Shortcuts
New Navigation bar functions in Google Drive
From the URL bar in Google Drive, you can now quickly access key pages and functions When navigating into the Google Drive web application from the URL bar by hitting the "Tab" key, you can access buttons like "Skip to main content", "Keyboard shortcuts", and "Accessibility feedback"from the bar at the top of the page
Read more here → Google Workspace Updates - New Navigation bar functions in Google Drive
Using Padlet to collect, organise and share bookmarks
All Foundation teaching staff have access to full padlet accounts.
Padlet is super useful for collecting and organising ideas and resources. This could be done on an individual basis or working with a team of colleagues or class of students.
Installing the Padlet Mini Chrome Extension makes this process really easy. If you have a useful resource open in Chrome all you need to do is click on the extensions icon and a menu asking which of your padlets you would like to add the resource to.
Font choice to support reading
“Google publishing Lexend in August 2019 has really helped bring awareness and spread the message of [the importance of] making reading more accessible to a wider audience,” Shaver-Troup said.
An interesting read about the impact of font choice upon reading outcomes → Google Design - Clean and clear: making reading easier with Lexend [2 February 2022]
[2021 version] So you are leaving us…

Your @ecolint.ch, @learning.ecolint.ch or @pgce.ecolint.ch account is a ‘Google Workspace for Education’ account. Depending on whether you are a staff member, a PGCE student or an Ecolint student dictates how much time you have to get any content out of your account before it is deactivated and then deleted.
Ecolint students - you have five months from the end of June to sort your account out.
My advice is to decide upon what you want to keep and complete the necessary processes as soon as possible. The ability to move digital assets from one platform to another is a key skill.
Your Windows account
Following departure, your Windows account will be shut down at the end of June. We need to do this for security reasons. You should therefore make sure you have taken all your locally-stored files (on the school servers) with you by the final day of the academic year. We cannot be responsible for keeping these files nor access to them after the beginning of July.
The easiest way to move files off the network is to copy them over to a USB drive or upload them to a personal cloud storage service.

Mail – start here
Ensure you have set up another email account. This following series of processes is only really fully possible if you have a personal @gmail.com account. If you are creating a new @gmail.com account now is the time to think about your new email address as it may be with you for a while. sparklyunicorn2018@gmail.com may not be the best address to share with future academic institutions and employers!
Set up an ‘Out of Office‘ reply for your school email account. Use the message to explain that this email address will soon cease to function and what your new email address is.
Set up email forwarding from your school email account to your new email address. Ensure you make the effort to update the sender of each email you receive with your new email address.


Transfer your content - Mail and Documents
Google Workspace for Education users have access to a 'transfer your content' service. The service will copy and transfer your email and documents.
- On your school account, go to Transfer your content.
- Enter the email address of the Google Account where you want to copy your content.
- Select Get code.
- On your Google Account, check your Gmail inbox for a confirmation email from Google. In the email, select Get confirmation code. A new tab will open with a code.
- On your school account, go back to the "Transfer your content" page. Enter the code, then choose Verify.
- Choose the content you'd like to copy, then select Start transfer.

Mail – Contacts
To export your email contacts do the following:
- Go to contacts.google.com and ensure you are signed in with your school account.
- In the left hand column click on ‘More’.
- Choose ‘Export…’
- Decide which contacts and the necessary export format.
- You will then need to import your contacts into your new mail account using a very similar process if you have chosen to use a @gmail.com account.
Google Takeout
Google Takeout allows you to download other files and information - it is worth checking out if there are additional files etc that you want to get from your account before it is closed.

[New] Google Sites
To begin, open the Google Site from within your Ecolint account.
- Go to 'Share with others' and add your personal Google account as an editor.
Steps to take place in the personal Google account:
- Open your personal Google account and access the Google Site that you have just shared with yourself.
- Go to 'More' (the three dots) and then 'Duplicate site' to make a copy of the site (which is owned by your Ecolint account) in your personal Google account.
Any files that have been inserted into the Google Site that are saved in Google Drive these will still be located in your school Google account after ownership of the site has been transferred. Individual items in the Google Site will need to have their new location (if you have transferred ownership or copied them to your personal Google account) updated.


Other software platforms
You need to take steps to get any files you want from additional services provided by the school - such as Adobe Creative Cloud, Lucidpress or WeVideo. It is likely that your accounts for these services will be closed in July or August as we transfer accounts to new students.
Weekly post #24 – history, updates and Edpuzzle
Google Workspace for Education updates coming in 2021
Google recently hosted a virtual event for educators where they announced 50+ updates to the likes of Google Classroom, Google Drive, Google Meet and Chromebooks.
Read more about the updates here → Chromebook Classroom - Look what Google has planned for 2021! [27 February 2021]
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 →
Weekly post #16 - Read&Write, converting PDFs to Google Docs and what's new in Docs and Chat
Four things to check out
Read&Write for Google Chrome quick reference guide
Read-Write-for-Google-Chrome-Quick-Reference-CardEDU in 90: What's New in Docs
Converting PDFs to Google Docs

You can convert image and PDF files to text with Google Drive!
- On your computer, go to Google Drive.
- Right-click on the desired file.
- Click Open with → Google Docs.
- The image file will be converted to a Google Doc, but some formatting might not transfer:
- Bold, italics, font size, font type, and line breaks are most likely to be retained.
- Lists, tables, columns, footnotes, and endnotes are likely not be detected.
Read more here → Improvements to PDFs imported to Google Docs
Group conversations in Hangouts will begin to appear in Google Chat

Starting December 3, 2020, Google are making changes to how group conversations work in Google Chat.
One of of the key changes for us is the compatibility with classic Hangouts. Group conversations in Hangouts will begin to appear in Google Chat over the coming weeks. This will allow your users to move from Hangouts to Chat without losing context. In addition, 1:1 messages, updated group conversations, and unthreaded rooms from Chat will begin to appear in Hangouts - however I would recommend moving your focus to Chat.
Read more here → Changes to Google Chat group conversations and classic Hangouts coming December 3, 2020
Weekly post #13 - accepting 'knocks', Office editing mode, the Kahoot app and linking to a text fragment
Four things to check out
Accept 'knocks' in bulk

You can now accept all pending 'knocks' in bulk into your Google Meet. Admitting students all at once helps limit interruptions during the video call.
Read more here → Accept knocks in bulk in Google Meet
Editing Office files from your Drive

Google have changing the default editing mode for Microsoft Office files in Google Drive on the web. Now, when you double-click on an Office file, it will open directly in Office editing mode.
Read more about 'Office editing mode' here.
New study modes in the Kahoot app
Study modes in the Kahoot app for iOS and Android a brings a new, self-paced study experience to learners with four different ways to review content, get more practice with difficult topics and prepare for tests. These modes can be used with both previously played kahoots as well as new kahoots.
Read more here → Study with Kahoot!: New modes in the Kahoot! app empower learners to self-study
Linking to a text fragment
This rather useful Chrome extension allows for easily creating a special link to the currently selected text on a page via the context (right-click) menu. When opening such a special link, the browser will scroll the selected text into view and highlight it.
Install the Chrome extension from here → Link to Text Fragment
Top 10 digital tips to make you better at being a student
Created to support a presentation being given as part of the Y12/DP1 Core session at International School of Geneva - Campus des Nations.

A notebook works but there is also a huge range of digital tools to organise what you need to get done.
Most of these platforms are based upon the need to 'capture' what needs to be done and then organise the 'action' of doing it.
If you are looking for a digital to-do list manager have a look at these →

Ensure you are signed into Google Chrome with your @learning.ecolint.ch account so that your bookmarks and extensions sync.
When naming a file - use the Date + Big + Small approach → for example: Nov 20 Geo 3.1.1 Poverty Reduction
If you are submitting a digital file to ManageBac or similar make sure you put your name in the file name.

Use Google Drive File Stream signing in with your school Google Workspace (aka G Suite) account.
Make use of the Google Workspace tools that the school provides. If you start a piece of work in Google Documents or Google Sheets - then it is 'relatively safe' in your Google Drive.
Files left on the desktop of your laptop are 'local' and not backed up or synchronized.

You find something useful → how do you save if for later?
Whether that be articles for your Extended Essay, further reading, ‘thinking’ around one of your subjects or life plans for the end of Covid/Lockdown.
Google Keep can be useful → install the Google Keep Chrome extension.
Pocket is a really useful tool [and another one of Mr Allaway's favourites].

It is good practice to use the Heading 1, Heading 2 formatting options when you add headings and sub-headings to any 'extended' piece of work.
One of the reasons to do so is for the ease of changing fonts etc - for all headings - in just one place.
It is 'bad' practice to be using multiple strikes of the enter key to make space in a document. Use page breaks instead [Insert → Break → Page break] - they will help you maintain the overall structure and formatting you

If you have made use of Heading 1, Heading 2 etc then you will be able to take advantage of the document outline [View → Show document outline], on the document's left hand side, which allows you to click on sections of the outline and be taken straight there.
A table of contents can easily be added [Insert → Table of Contents] and don't forget to add page numbers [Insert → Page numbers].

It is never too late to start to curate your 'essential selections'.
Try and maintain YouTube playlists of the 'best' video clips you watch in each subject. YouTube playlists can be collaborative so there is no need to do it alone!
Do you have a system for saving useful podcasts and articles? Pocket (already mentioned) could be a suitable tool as could Notion (will be mentioned in Number 9).
DP geographers should have a look at podcasts.geographyalltheway.com for podcasts curated by unit.

There is a need for you to be going beyond re-reading and highlighting when it comes to your revision approaches.
You should be aiming for 'active recall' - actions that flex your brain as if it were a muscle.
Tools like quizlet - and their use to create and use quality flashcards - can help with the active element of 'active recall'.

I only recently 'found' Notion and I am impressed in what it has to offer. The 'toggle list' feature which allows you to easily collapse and open lists is really useful as a first step towards activel recall revision approaches.
Setting it up as a 'one stop shop' for all your notes, to-do lists, planning etc would be an productive move in terms of organising the demands put upon you as busy DP/CP students. Google Docs, Sheets and Slides embed nicely within Notion.
Notion is free for students → notion.so/students

Make sure you have a decent app, on your smartphone, that scans to PDF - such as Adobe Scan. This makes scanning and sharing hand written tasks easy. Annotating PDF files is an efficient process for teachers.
I also recommend the use of Google Calendar (for everybody) as notifications can be used to remind you of the start of lessons etc.
[2020 version] So you are leaving us…

Your @ecolint.ch, @learning.ecolint.ch or @pgce.ecolint.ch account is a ‘G Suite for Education’ account. Depending on whether you are a staff member, a PGCE student or an Ecolint student dictates how much time you have to get any content out of your account before it is deactivated and then deleted.
Ecolint students - you have five months from the end of June to sort your account out.
My advice is to decide upon what you want to keep and complete the necessary processes as soon as possible. The ability to move digital assets from one platform to another is a key skill.
Your Windows account
Following departure, your Windows account will be shut down at the end of June. We need to do this for security reasons. You should therefore make certain you have taken all your locally-stored files on the school servers with you at the latest your their final day at the school. We cannot be responsible for keeping these files nor access to them after the beginning of July.
Usually the easiest way to move files off the network is to copy them over to a USB drive or upload them to a personal cloud storage service.

Mail – start here
Ensure you have set up another email account. This following series of processes is only really fully possible if you have a personal @gmail.com account. If you are creating a new @gmail.com account now is the time to think about your new email address as it may be with you for a while. sparklyunicorn2018@gmail.com may not be the best address to share with future academic institutions and employers!
Set up an ‘Out of Office‘ reply for your school email account. Use the message to explain that this email address will soon cease to function and what your new email address is.
Set up email forwarding from your school email account to your new email address. Ensure you make the effort to update the sender of each email you receive with your new email address.


Transfer your content - Mail and Documents
G Suite for Education users have access to a 'transfer your content' service. The service will copy and transfer your email and documents.
- On your school account, go to Transfer your content.
- Enter the email address of the Google Account where you want to copy your content.
- Select Get code.
- On your Google Account, check your Gmail inbox for a confirmation email from Google. In the email, select Get confirmation code. A new tab will open with a code.
- On your school account, go back to the "Transfer your content" page. Enter the code, then choose Verify.
- Choose the content you'd like to copy, then select Start transfer.

Mail – Contacts
To export your email contacts do the following:
- Go to contacts.google.com and ensure you are signed in with your school account.
- In the left hand column click on ‘More’.
- Choose ‘Export…’
- Decide which contacts and the necessary export format.
- You will then need to import your contacts into your new mail account using a very similar process if you have chosen to use a @gmail.com account.
Google Takeout
Google Takeout allows you to download other files and information - it is worth checking out if there are additional files etc that you want to get from your account before it is closed.

[New] Google Sites
To begin, open the Google Site from within your Ecolint account.
- Go to 'Share with others' and add your personal Google account as an editor.
Steps to take place in the personal Google account:
- Open your personal Google account and access the Google Site that you have just shared with yourself.
- Go to 'More' (the three dots) and then 'Duplicate site' to make a copy of the site (which is owned by your Ecolint account) in your personal Google account.
Any files that have been inserted into the Google Site that are saved in Google Drive these will still be located in your school Google account after ownership of the site has been transferred. Individual items in the Google Site will need to have their new location (if you have transferred ownership or copied them to your personal Google account) updated.


Other software platforms
You need to take steps to get any files you want from additional services provided by the school - such as Adobe Creative Cloud, Lucidpress or WeVideo. It is likely that your accounts for these services will be closed in July or August as we transfer accounts to new students.