Month: April 2021

 

With the reception of our last Chromebook tech tips, we just had to do another one! The digital learning field is, as always, a dynamic field of possibilities, and we aim to make some of these tools more understandable. This post for today will cover things like browser management, email tips, and display adjustments. While small, these tips can really improve the experience for people learning with computers. With this in mind, we hope you enjoy some of these new tips for what will likely be our last post for the spring 2021 semester! It has been great seeing all of the supportive advice from all the people that wanted to see this blog grow and improve. 

 

Reopening Closed Tabs

Has this ever happened to you? You close a tab on your web browser and then realize that you still need it. No need to panic. Here is what you can do to retrieve your tab:

 

• Press Ctrl + Shift + t

 

That’s it! The most recently closed tab will reopen. If you press those buttons again, the previous tab you closed will also open.

 

PRO TIP: Are you using a Google Chrome web browser on your Mac? You can easily reopen a closed tab by pressing Command + Shift + t. 

 

Schedule Send an Email in Gmail

There are many times when we are emailing people but don’t want the email to be sent right away. In Google (Gmail), you can schedule send an email to be delivered to the recipients at any time in the future. Here’s how you do it:

 

1. Compose your email and address it to whomever you intend to send it to.
2. Before sending, press the little down arrow on the right side of the Send button on the screen.
3. Select Schedule Send.
4. A few suggested send times will be listed in the box that pops up on the screen. You can select one of those times or click where it says Pick Date & Time.
5. If you choose to select your own date & time, a new box will pop up with a calendar. You just select the date and type in a time for that date, then click Schedule Send. Easy Peasy!

 

Adjusting Screen Display Size

There are many times in my position as a technology support person where a student has accidentally changed their screen size during class and they can’t figure out how to get it back to normal. Typically, there is one quick fix, but I am going to walk you through two different ways to attempt to change the display size back to normal.

 

#1 – Web pages or Google Docs seem to be zoomed in or out.

1. Press Ctrl and + or – to zoom in or out in the web browser.

 

#2 – The entire screen display seems to be zoomed in or zoomed out. This includes your menu bar and any windows that you open on the Chromebook. 

1. Click the bottom right corner of your Chromebook screen where the time is displayed.
2. In the black box that pops up, click the Settings icon (looks like a gear).
3. When the Settings window opens, type Display in the search bar. Select Display as it pops up in the search options when typing.
4. In the Built-in Display settings, there will be an option to change the size of your screen display. Just adjust until the screen is at your desired size.

 

Search Engine Issues 

When you open Google Chrome, is Google your homepage? Did Google used to be your homepage, but for some reason it randomly changed to Bing or Yahoo? How do you change it back to Google?

 

1. Click the bottom right corner of your Chromebook screen where the time is displayed.
2. In the black box that pops up, click the Settings icon (looks like a gear).
3. On the left side of the window that opens, click on Personalization.
4. Under Search Engine settings, your Preferred Search Engine is displayed. 
5. If your preferred search engine is not Google and you want to change it back, click Configure. A small box will pop up with a drop-down menu.
6. Click the drop down menu and select your preferred search engine.

 

Hopefully you have been able to find something useful this semester from our blog. Tech tips was formed as a way to share technology tips and tricks, as well as support educators who may be struggling in this time of increased technology use in the classroom. Thank you to everyone who has contributed or given feedback! Until next time…

The use of technology in Special Education classrooms helps break the barriers for people with disabilities and provide them with access to the most relevant educational programs. Properly designed software and hardware allow students with special needs to get modern education and achieve any required information online. 

There are many tools that are used, these include speech recognition, screen-reading tools, online name picker, braille displays and text-to-speech solutions for the visually impaired and sound amplifiers, closed-captioning applications and video conferencing technologies that facilitate sign language and lip-reading for the hearing-impaired. Below you will find some tips & ideas that you may find useful to use in your Special Education (or even general education!) classroom.

 

Text-to-speech & Dictation on Chromebooks

If you are part of a Google School, your students may have regular access to Chromebooks. Students with special needs can successfully use Chromebooks to help them read along in class. The Text-to-speech and Dictation accessibility options allow words to be processed with ease.

Text-to-speech enables students to highlight a passage on their screen and the device will read the words out loud. This helps students who may not be able to read at the same level as other students in their class to read along as the words are read to them by their device. 

To enable Text-to-speech:

• Click on the lower right corner of your screen where the time is displayed
• Select the toggle icon (settings)
• In the Search bar, type accessibility
• Select Text-to-speech
• Move the button for that option to the On position

 

Dictation is a feature that allows students to record themselves talking, and then their words will be automatically transcribed into text on their screen. This would be great for students who struggle with typing, but are very creative storytellers. 

To enable Dictation:

• Follow the same steps as earlier to get into the accessibility settings
• Select Dictation
• Move the button for that option to the On position

 

Wheel of Names – Virtual name picker

Need help making choices? Try this virtual name picker! https://wheelofnames.com/

This site is great if you need to choose which student has a task next, or even have students “spin the wheel” to receive class tasks to complete. This tool can be utilized in many different ways, but it will be a hit in your Special Education classroom for sure!

Online timer/stopwatch

Google has so many great features, but one that can prove useful in your classroom is an online timer. When on Google’s homepage, just type “online timer” into the search bar, press Enter, and an online timer will appear on the results page. Along with the timer, there will also be a list of additional sites you can explore that have online timers with different options. Look around and see which one best suits your class’s needs.

 

Social Situation Online Graphic Novels 

Many students that receive Special Education services need help with basic social skills. Many teachers are always looking for new ways to help students learn these skills. This website:

(www.socialthinking.com) is a fantastic site! There are graphic novels and fun stories that students in most grade levels will enjoy. You will have to register to use this site, and not everything is free, but depending on how many things you want to use from this site, it could be a great tool for you!

 

There is a need for engagement in every classroom, and many classrooms have a hard time obtaining that even when they’re entirely offline. With these tools at the disposal of everyone, there can be an increased sense of outreach on the part of the educators to make sure that everyone’s needs are met. Special needs in classroom environments are a normal part of life, and to compensate for these aspects of learning, educators can go above and beyond to explain these things to their students directly and increase their own knowledge on the tools that students might not even know about. Educators and students alike can greatly find themselves at an advantage once they know these tools are available.

Every post from us here at Tech Tips is geared toward making technology more user-friendly for everyone. When you hear the word technology, what happens? Do you shut down? Do you feel afraid? Do you think of video games? Technology can be both good and bad, but it is definitely here to stay. We want you to feel excited when you think about using technology!

 

We have mentioned the pandemic a few times in our recent posts – it has changed a lot of things! But mostly, it has changed the way teachers have needed to teach their students. Technology is being used more than ever before, and we want teachers to embrace technology. 

 

BE A TECHNOLOGY SUPERHERO!

As a teacher in these troubling times, you have the power to be a technology superhero! Instead of shying away from trying new resources, take the leap! “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” It can definitely be scary to try new things, but how can you expect to improve yourself and become the best teacher possible if you don’t constantly try to learn new things? 

 

Here are some ways you can be a Technology Superhero!

• Watch YouTube tutorials if you are unsure of how to use a new technology resource
• Talk to your district’s Technology Integration Specialist to see if there are any new things you can try in your classroom using technology
• Find class projects or assignments that can be altered to have students engaged in using technology
• Ask other teachers in your district how they use technology for teaching.

 

YOUTUBE TUTORIALS

There are so many excellent resources out there, and YouTube is no exception. Anytime I am not quite sure about how to do something, I just look up tutorials on YouTube. 

 

Not sure how to do a 1950’s hairstyle for a play you’re in? 

YouTube! 

 

Need to check how to fix a specific part on your car?

  YouTube!

The same goes for technology! If you want to learn how to use a specific piece of technology in your classroom, YouTube is an excellent source.

 

TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION

So many schools are now employing Technology Integration Specialists. Their job includes supporting you in your classrooms with new ways to implement technology into your curriculum. If you aren’t sure how to start, talk to your school or district’s Technology Integration Specialist. I’m sure they have great ideas!

 

PRO TIP: Visit https://www.notanotheremailpd.com/ to see what one District Technology Integration Specialist suggests for classrooms! 

 

ALTER ASSIGNMENTS TO INCLUDE TECHNOLOGY

What sorts of assignments do you give your class? Is there a way to get them to use technology for their assignments? If your students are assigned something like a book report, maybe instead, have them create a comic strip or movie poster in Canva. Do your first grade students need to practice math facts during their free time? Try ABCMouse! If you get creative, you can find many ways to implement technology into everyday assignments. 

 

ASK AROUND

Search for other technology superheroes! One of the greatest resources available are the other teachers in your own building! Check out their classrooms and see what they’re doing to implement the use of technology in their curriculum! It’s okay to share ideas. They are your colleagues and will most likely love to help you out. 

 

Technology does not need to be as villainous as you might think! Your computer might feel like it’s working against you sometimes with all the potential avenues of system failures, but it is also something that can be conquered. Knowing what sites can help out for which situations is something close to a superpower; like any superpower, it requires training and learning to actually develop it. Asking your friends, searching the web, doing anything you can to expose yourself will be beneficial in the long run. You can and will become a tech superhero if you try!

We’ve all been there since March of 2020, and we know how awkward it is to join that first Zoom meeting. Students, teachers, and professors alike have all grown to predict the meeting rooms of black screens and text-names, yet no webcams. Student engagement for the last year has degraded because of circumstances beyond our control, but can you blame them? They’re throwing themselves into classrooms from their beds, home offices, and living spaces. So since they don’t have the incentive to drive to school, get dressed, and be at their A-game in the classroom, they’ve instead resorted to hiding their faces and removing the personality from the Zoom classroom.

This does not need to be the case, however! There are a bunch of different things that meeting platforms such as Zoom have that can offer variety in the classroom. Examples include custom backgrounds, chat parameters, raise hand functions, and a bunch of other things that can let you express yourself and participate like you were in a normal classroom and encourage students to have their cameras turned on. Hopefully in this guide for today, we can show you some of the things that you can do as a host on Zoom to make it worthy of your time. 

 

CHANGE BACKGROUNDS

First things first – we want to address the elephant in the room: your room. Whenever you join a Zoom meeting for the first time, your bedroom, office, and household are the default background every time. Your entire class can see every detail of your home simply because of your web camera, and that can be an incentive to not turn it on in the first place. What if I were to tell you that you can make anything into your background on zoom? You have the ability to make anything into a green screen meeting, so you don’t need to always show off the room you’re joining class in. This is how to go about it.

 

1. Open Zoom meeting
2. Then, in the bottom left hand corner of your screen, hit the little arrow next to your camera, then click “Choose Virtual Background” like so:
   
3. Next, you’ll see a screen looking like this:
   

4. Click the plus button in the top right hand corner of your screen. This will allow you to select an image off your computer that you can use for your backdrop while you are in the zoom meeting. As you can see, I downloaded a picture of Mars off Google and made it my background. How did I get here? Zoom Magic.
   

Side note: Zoom might ask you “would you like to download the virtual backgrounds update?” Press Okay! It’s free, awesome, and it’ll turn some heads at your next Zoom meeting. Make sure that you pick something that expresses you!

 

REACTIONS: 

Now what if you are in class but you’re not sure what feels appropriate to emote on? In real life, after all, we can emote to what we find in lectures by smiling, applauding, or even giving a nod in approval. If something clicks with us in a class. How would you be able to do that in an online meeting? Well, it’s not as simple as doing it in real life because the people in the meeting do not always have everyone else’s camera on full display. The resolution is to do the following. Reactions. Truth be told, this is just a miniature tool that some classes have that is highly underutilized, and we thought it would be fun to explain its utility with a brief ‘how to do’ Here are the steps:

1. First, click on the reactions button in the toolbar. (note, some classes might not have this function enabled
2. Next, select the emote that you want to have represent a reaction in class. There are a bunch of options, like a thumbs-up when you wanna say ‘I understand’ or a laughing face when you want people to know that you find something hilarious!
   You might even notice that there is a Raise Hand function! That is something that might come in handy if you want to find a moment to interrupt a conversation without actually interrupting people. Once you click on one of these, however, it will show it activate in the top left hand corner of your screen, like so!          

Not only can this boost engagement in the classroom, but it can also help folks that might be a little shy when it comes to interrupting the class to make a comment. It allows the students or professor to say, ‘yeah, this attendee is listening!’ without actually seeing them directly emote or say anything. 

Also: If you use a Chromebook to host a Zoom meeting, these features may not be available.

 

CHAT TIPS

Have you ever noticed the chat feature in Zoom? This is a great way to interact with others in the meeting! If you want to chat and have everyone in the meeting see your message, make sure the chat is set to “everyone”. 

As the host of a Zoom meeting, you have the ability to control whether your meeting participants can privately chat with each other or only post in a public fashion. To change the chat permissions when you are hosting a zoom meeting, open the chat, select the three horizontal dots on the lower right corner of the chat box, and select which permissions you would like to implement.

ZOOM SECURITY FEATURES

As the host of a Zoom meeting, you have a myriad of security features available to you. You can select whether or not people need to be in the waiting room before joining the meeting, if you would like them to have the ability to chat during the meeting, or even if they are allowed to unmute their microphones. 

To see these features, click the Security icon on the bottom of your Meeting screen. Select which features you would like to use.

If you’re new to Zoom, these features will be very useful as a meeting host. So the next time you have to host a Zoom meeting, never fear! You’ve got this!