Lemon Tech Tidbits

     How many of us want to be in the present mode in Google Slide yet still be able to edit it at the same time? I find this is a huge pain myself. Maybe I have a slide where I want to draw or add text after class discussion. Or maybe I want to be able to move objects around when I need to. You either have to project your Google Slide presentation in the Edit mode which shows your thumbnails or stick with the presentation view. That is unless you install the Fullscreen Interactive Google Slide Extension.      Download the extension. Next, open up the Google Slide in the edit mode. Finally, click on the extension which will automatically open up the slides in the full screen just like in presentation mode but still allow you access to the toolbar above. This means you can easily edit slides while still projecting it to the class. Once you are done, simply click the Esc key to return to normal mode. The app was created especially for teachers to use during...

From Matt Miller , author of DitchThatTextbook blog, comes an article where he shares ready-to-use PowerPoint Presentations and other ideas to use in your classroom to add some spice. Some of them include “Snapchat” games, Infographics, Instagram stories, and sticky notes. I know what you are thinking...these are POWERPOINTS and we use G Suite for Education. No problem….all you have to do is drag a Powerpoint into your Google Drive, do a right-click, and select Open With Google Slides. This will convert your Powerpoint into a Google Slides presentation. (There may be some minor format issues you will need to change). Don’t want to convert a Powerpoint every single time you find one? Simple. Go to Settings in Google Drive (Click on the gear - select settings). Make sure you have a checkmark in the box that says Convert Uploads. Now, every time you upload a Powerpoint or Microsoft Word document, it will automatically convert it over for you.

I saw this post on Twitter being shared by many others so I decided to check the original post on Matt Miller’s blog titled Ditch That Textbook and found it was by a guest named Paula Martinez. Paula Martinez is the creator of SlidesMania , a place where you can find templates for both Google Slides and Powerpoint. This is a hobby for Paula and something she likes to do to explore her creative side when she is not at work. Luckily for us, she not only likes to create special themes but she freely shares them as well. In her post, Paula Martinez shares 20 special themes for teachers. These include themes such as: Desktop Organizer for Bell Ringers Bulletin Board for Brainstorming Potter Theme for Genius Hour Doodles for Visual Notes Digital Notebook Theme Ogawa Theme for Notes Farm Animals And so much more…. Check it out all of the different themes here: http://bit.ly/381Cb21

There are two new updates to Google Slides that I wanted to share with you. In a rapid release, users will now be able to copy individual slides instead of the entire deck. In another new change, you will be able to remove speaker notes when making a copy. Think about all of the time this will save when you share presentations with each other. For more information, click here: http://bit.ly/2QW1T2F

This was a feature Google announced was coming in April only to be delayed. BUT...it is finally here! On rapid rollout, Google is allowing all users the ability to add MP3 and WAV audio files to an existing or new Google Slide presentation. The audio file does need to be uploaded into your Google Drive before you can add it to a presentation. There are format options available to the audio you add much like if you add in a video. You can choose to have the audio play automatically, play on a click, set the volume, loop the audio, and stop it after the slide progresses. So how can you use this new feature? Well, you can spice up a boring presentation by adding some free copyright or public domain music such as from ccMixter . Maybe add in some special sound effects from BBC Sound Effects or Freesound.org . Add a famous speech from the Internet Archive or from Wyzant . Or how about adding in your own audio? Simply go to Online Voice Recorder , Vocaroo , or Audacity .

Last week, I talked about a few new updates concerning Google Slides. Today, I want to share with you a way to find cool Google Slide templates that will help to spice up your presentations. My favorite site to find different themes and templates is SlidesCarnival . I like how the website is clean and very user friendly. There are not a lot of ads filling up the space and it has a nice search bar at the top that allows you to easily find the template to match your theme. Another good site to use is GoogleSlidesPPT . Again, the website is clean and user friendly to use. It also includes a search bar at the top to allow you to easily find the template to match your theme. One of the things that makes it unique is how it shows you each slide included in the template before you download which can be handy to know. The last one to share is SlidesGo . This website is very similar to the others. It contains 145 different themes with some of them created for current events. Like GoogleSli...

Google has announced a few updates to help when you are presenting a Google Slide presentation.  On rapid release will be an update that will allow you to easily switch to a black or white screen in the middle of a presentation. All you have to do is use a keyboard shortcut: B for Black or W for White.   Why would you want to switch to a blank screen? Well, let’s say that during the middle of your presentation, there are some questions that you want to answer or quickly go into more detail. You can also use this feature as a way to do a quick review with the students. Simply go to a white or black screen and ask them a few questions to check for understanding. Another new feature is the ability to autoplay and loop a Google Slide presentation. This is easier than the old method. Now, all you have to do is to go to the settings (the gear icon) in the presentation navigation bar. For more information on how to use these new features, go to this site: http://bit.ly/2oank4...

Spice up your next presentation or lecture by using s li.do for audience interactions such as asking questions or using polls. Although the site has been created for businesses, there are ways teachers can adapt it to use in a classroom setting. This is a free and paid service with the free version being more than enough for a regular class. On a blog titled TechNotes , Diana Benner writes about using this site in an educational setting. She provides step-by-step instructions on how to get started that are easy to follow. Here are a few things she liked about the site: “I created a meeting event to test this tool out and it was incredibly easy to set it up. It provides you with an overview of how many active users are logged into your event, how many questions have been asked in order of popularity, and how many poll votes have been taken. In addition, an infographic can be created from the results, which can then be shared or embedded.”  - Give it a try today to see what ...

25 WAYS TO USE AUDIO IN GOOGLE SLIDES In last week’s Tech Tidbit, I told you about the new update in Google Slides that will allow you to insert audio. In a blog post by Kasey Bell , she explains how you can use this new feature in 25 different ways along with a brief introduction. Reflection: students reflect on what they learn Presentation Narration Background Music to set the tone Simulate Podcasting Evidence of Collaboration Tell a Story Insert Historical Audio Create an Interactive Slide Voice Comments and Feedback Ask Questions Interactive PD Snippets and Tips Interactive Tutorial Choose Your Own Adventure Stories with Voice Fluency and Oral Reading Practice Anecdotes Explain Answers Asynchronous Conversations Verbally Label an Image Perform / Sing Add Audio to e-Book Create an Audiobook PreWriting Sentence Stems Create a Soundtrack Bring comic strips to life

Google Slides recently announced a new update to make it easier to embed audio files. You can embed mp4 or WAV to spice up your presentation. You can either have a short audio clip playing on one slide or a longer one that covers the entire presentation to serve as background music. In the Toolbar under Insert , you will see a new Audio feature to upload a file from your drive or computer. Once you have added in the file, you can hover over it to select options such as volume, playback controls, and the seek bar. You can change the icon of a speaker to a picture if you prefer or leave it as it is and make it small so it is out of the way. Under Format Options , you can change when you want the audio file to play much like if you were inserting a video. You can select for it to play after a click, automatically, only when the slide is shown, or loop it throughout the presentation. If you don’t see these features yet, wait as they are starting to roll out today. In a few weeks, t...

Did you know you can have real-time captions displayed when you show a Google Slide presentation? And the best part is it is super easy to do. All you have to do is go to View - Present and then click on the Caption button located on the bottom left-hand side of your screen. When you have the captions feature turned on, Google Slides will use the microphone on your computer to automatically create captions of what you say. For more information, click here . Go a step further…. Earlier, I talked about how you can record Google Slide presentations using Screencastify . Well, with this change, it will record your presentation as well as the captions! How cool is that! It gets even better. Screencastify recently announced a Google Slide Add-on that allows you to insert a Screencastify video directly into the Slide! So now, you can create a Screencastify video of your presentation with captions. Then, open up a new Google Slide and insert that video on the first slide. Select Format Opti...

QUICK ACCESS SIDE PANEL in Google Docs, Sheets & Slides Google recently announced they have once again moved some of the tools in a design to make it easier for you to use. This time, they created what they call a Quick Access Panel to allow you to integrate other popular G Suite products without having to leave your tab. Currently, there are three products in this quick access panel: Google Calendar, Google Keep, and Google Task. I have raved about Google Keep before as one of the G Suite products I can not live without. I have also shared how students can use Google Keep in research for note taking . Now, it is even easier to use. To see the Quick Access Panel, open up an existing or new Doc, Sheets or Slide. Take a look on the right-hand side and you will see this new update feature. Give it a try. To see it in action, watch this short video: http://bit.ly/2QDOQR9

EXTRA : One more thing to share with Google Slides. There is a new add-on called Paletti . This add-on allows you to color your slides with a touch of a button in over 200 different combinations.

SLIDESCARNIVAL: Google Slide Templates While we are on the subject of Google Slide presentations, are you tired of always seeing the same templates being used and want something different? Well, a website called SlidesCarnival has come to your rescue. This site has hundreds of free templates ready to be downloaded into Powerpoint and/or Google Slides.  Their motto is: “ The more strikingly visual your presentation is, the more people will remember it. And more importantly, they will remember you.”   To see how SlidesCarnival works, click on this short video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1msnRC1LXhKANRXkxHTJJKGaFpQd8ysE7/view?usp=sharing

REMOTE FOR SLIDES You have been asked to do a presentation in front of the entire staff at your school. You spent all week preparing your Google Slide presentation and are ready to go. But there is a problem. You would like to have the ability to walk around while giving your presentation instead of being glued down to your computer. You don’t have a remote or any hardware that will allow you to advance the slides so what do you do? You download Remote for Slides - a Chrome extension and web app that allows you to use any device such as your SmartPhone to control your slides. How do you use Remote for Slides? Open a presentation in Google Slides. On the top right, click the " Present with Remote" button. Wait until the presentation is fully loaded. Click on the "Show ID & Start Remote" button to view the 6-digits code. Open http://s.limhenry.xyz on another device and enter the code on the page. (this website doesn’t change so bookmark it to make it ...

MENU UPDATES IN GOOGLE DOCS & SLIDES Google just announced a slight change in the menu or toolbar for both Google Docs and Slides. The goal is to make finding and using certain tools easier to use. Many of the changes reflect nothing more than a name change. In other cases, Google has changed where items are locating trying to make the drop-down menu more streamlined. Below is a list of some of the changes. 1. Adding in a page or column break: Before: Insert > Page break or Column break. After: Insert > Break > Page break or Column break 2. To change a shape or use an alt text in slides: Before: Select shape > Format > Change shape. After: Right-click on the shape and make a selection. (Right-click on Mac and on Chromebooks is 2 fingers on touchpad at the same time).

G SUITE UPDATE Image Function You can now insert images more easily in Google Docs, Slides, and Drawing. Before, when you clicked on the Insert - Image search, a box would open with many different options. The problem was the box would open up on top of what you were working on. With this new update (soon to be rolled out to everyone), the choices of where to find the image will be from a drop-down box. Any searches of images will create a menu on the right-hand side of your screen making it easier to use. See below: While we are talking about G Suite updates, did you notice the change in the Revision History ? You can now easily name the different Revisions right from the toolbar. This is great for those doing research. They can name their revisions Draft 1, Draft 2, Final Draft, etc. See more: https://goo.gl/imz1DW

G SUITE TRAINING APP From the blog Free Technology for Teachers - Richard Byrne comes an excellent short article about a Chrome extension called GSuite Training. This extension provides you with a searchable list of tutorials over many of the different apps such as Docs, Sheets, Sites, Classroom, Gmail, calendar and more. Like Richard Byrne says, it is “ almost like having a Google coach sitting right next to you. “ Click here to read the blog post: https://goo.gl/lpXB Click here for the extension: https://goo.gl/rgs0hC

NEW UPDATES TO GOOGLE SLIDES Recently, Google announced a few new updates to Google Slides. I am sure you will be happy to hear all about them. To make things easier, Google has their own blog post detailing all of the new changes. Here are a few of my personal favorites. Google Keep can now be used with Slides Two or more slides from different presentations can be linked together. Rearrange slides using the Gridview instead of thumbnails. More add-ons such as Adobe Stock Pictures. Integrate PEAR DECK with Slides: this lets you add formative assessments and/or interactive questions right into your presentation. Diagram Templates have been added. Makes it easy to add a Timeline to a Slide. Skip a slide when giving a presentation without having to delete it.

GOOGLE DOCUMENT URL TRICKS By TONY VINCENT We all use Google Documents such as Google Slides, Docs, Sheets and more. And we all know how we can share these G Suite files with others. But did you know there is an easy way to change the URL settings to customize HOW that file is shared? In this blog post: https://learninginhand.com/blog/google-document-url-tricks Tony Vincent shares how changing the URL of the share link can create some nifty tricks. For example: Share a clutter-free view of your document → Replace /edit with /preview Force others to make a copy before viewing your document → Replace /edit with /copy Share an easy-to-copy template of your document → Replace /edit with /template/preview Share a direct download of a PDF version of your document → Google Docs & Sheets: Replace /edit with /export?format=pdf → Google Slides & Drawings: Replace /edit with /export/pdf