Gmail Attachments to Drive

We live a world that email attachments are key and we need to save these materials before we delete the emails.  Before this IFTTT (If This Then That), I would have to spend the time to save all the files that were attached in emails.  By adding this Recipe by Jeffisageek, Save New Email Attachments to Google Drive.

Now all of my email attachments are saved automatically in a Google Drive Folder. 

Google Keep Now on iOS

I have used Google Keep for some time now and really enjoy the benefits of having an online notepad, but the only limit was that I was not able to get this of my iPhone. 

Now Google as create the Keep app for iOS. 

Google Keep - Your thoughts, wherever you are by Google, Inc.

https://goo.gl/DJeh9K

I have used the app and for the first time I have not found a limitation from the web version to the iOS platform. It does get better you can add a voice recording directly in the app itself and it will dictate your voice to text and includes the voice recording in the note. The only thing you will need to add is the title of the note. 

Once you click on the Mic. You will create a new note. Also the dictation is set up to start automatically, so this is fast for someone that need to record their information. 

Yes, you still can use Siri if you would like to. But with the note keeping the voice recording file I would not be using Siri. 

Turning off Wifi Assist for iOS Devices

I do not have unlimited data so this feature can cause some problems for someone like myself without unlimited data. 

This new iOS feature lets your phone determine if you are in a low or slow wifi environment to use cellular data to help you to receive information faster. 

I have selected to turn off this feature to help control the amount of data my phone could potential use without my knowledge when connected to wifi. 

The steps to turn off this feature are listed below. 

Open "Settings"

Once in Settings, select "Cellular" 

Scroll to the bottom of the Cellular Menu

At the bottom you will find the field to turn off "Wi-Fi Assist"

Hope this helps you to save data. 

Making your Google Classroom Calendar Viewable on your Webpage

Adding a calendar to your webpage is very helpful to parents. Parents are not able to get into classroom do to the fact they do not have an account in the educational domain in which their student goes to school. Parents are not able to see the assignments their child are being assigned during the school day.

Leaving students being questioned by their parents about what project do you have and what assignment are you getting in school? With the addition of Google Classroom Calendar now posting an assignment is automatically to a calendar, teacher can make this calendar public on the web for parent to see from the teacher's classroom webpage.

In the video below you will learn how you can make this happen. 

Add to Google Classroom Button

Thanks to the #gafechat Twitter Chat last Tuesday night, a member of the chat @LISDTechie shared this.

I ready don't need to say anymore but that it was a much needed tool.  

The Button "Add to Google Classroom"  

Getting to a Hangout From a Calendar Invite on Your iOS Device

I ran into this problem yesterday with a Principal I was working with, she needed to be on a Hangout on her iPad (works on iPhone also) via a Google Calendar Invite. Here lies the problem: In the Calendar App on iOS, it will not give you the link to the Hangout Invite. Which is a problem as we are looking for more mobile solutions and a higher demand on our smartphones and tablets.   Using Hangouts is a great tool that brings people together over distances, as in the edtech world we cannot always be together.  

Getting to a Hangout is just a click away if you are the one starting or have someone video call you on your iPad in the Hangouts App. But again we have not solved the problem about getting to the Hangout from the calendar invite.

Your Solution:

If you have the Google Calendar and Google Hangouts App for your iPhone/iPad you can now get to the specific Hangout from the calendar invite.

Open the Google Calendar App; on your device find the event on your calendar, click on the event to open the full account details. You will see the full account details click on “Join Hangout”. Once clicked the app will switch you over to Hangouts, and place you directly into Hangout from the calendar invite.   

Add a Frame to Your Greenscreen Video

Thinking of bringing history alive or any other subject by making some videos.  

Green Screen by Do Ink is a great tool to make that happen if you have an iPad.  

Often when greenscreening you just replace the backgrond on the video.  I have found that adding a frame such as a tv set or newspaper headline can make the video more interesting or help to focus the topic for the viewer. The images below let you make this happen in a notebook page, old newspaper or old tv set. 

Download created backgrounds: Old TV  -  JFK New Paper  -  Notebook  - Bonus New York Times

Making this happen: (Video below)

Line 1: add a frame from one of the examples above or create one yourself.  

Line 2; add your greenscreen video.

Line 3: add the background that you would like to replace your Greenscreen with.  

Clearing Out Wifi Networks on Mac

I travel a bit with my Mac.

   

Which means I have connect to a lot of wifi networks. This not a problem for the most part, but the newer networks get placed on top of the older ones. The older ones are the my main network such as my home and office. This means it can take some time to find the networks I use most often. The video will show you how to clear out the older wifi networks on your Mac.

Force a Copy with Google Docs

Google Docs are a game changer in education when it comes to sharing materials and working together. Often when you present at a conference or just to a small group, you need to have your links public for everyone or they have to request access.

I like to share my links in a different way, I do not make them public or have them request access.  I have the URL already set for you to make a copy with one click.

The steps of how to do this:

The URL below is the main one for a Google Drawing:

By changing the end of the URL form "edit" to "copy" it will only let them make a copy. 

When the URL is entered the user will see this:

The end user will just have to click the blue button "Make a Copy", now they have a copy of what you are work on.  

**On a special note, in the image below is of a Google Presentation, you will just remove everything after edit also, replace it with copy.  

Forced copy URL for Google Presentation:

Google Keep

This is one of the Google Apps that is not used very much, mainly do to the fact it is not in the 3x3 squares at the top right.  Google Keep is just that, a place to keep to-do lists and notes.  You have the option to color your notes, and yes keeping with Google Fashion you can share notes and to-do lists.  You can even click a button that will push the note or to-do list to a Google Doc. 

Having students using Google Keep can be very helpful. Teachers have used it in a number of different ways. Also, I'm sure you will create even more once you read this. 

• Keep notes for a research project, then ordering and coloring them by the way your paper will be formatted. 
• Sharing a to-do list that the class needs to have completed for the day or for the project. 
• Using the note as a bookmarking tool to share link with the students. 

Spoken Tracks using Safari

I ran into this idea when a teacher I was working with needed to get audio tracks of webpages and stories from the web on to a MP3 player for a student.  The steps are simple to get the audio file created.

Directions:

• In Safari, highlight the text you want.
• Right click (command click) to bring up the menu.
• Under services select "Add to iTunes as a Spoken Track". 
• The track will then be converted and added to iTunes.

The video below will show you how to get this task completed.