Deb Norton Tech

Google Earth - You Look Amazing! Today Google introduced a brand-new version of  Google Earth —on the web and Android—two years in the making. You can read all about the updated Google Earth and its features in this post .  The imagery and graphics are amazing. They almost look computer generated.  Hold down the Shift Key while dragging a finger on the track pad to view a location in 360 degree views.  Click and drag the Pegman (little yellow person) onto a street to begin a street view. Click on the arrows to move around. Want to see where I am fortunate enough to spend my days? Click here .  Thank you Google for this update to Google Earth. It looks amazing!

Motivate and Engage Students with Game-Based Learning  and Google Games are a huge motivator for kids, whether they’re reviewing a topic, taking a pre-assessment or receiving a reward for good behavior inside your classroom. When students play games, they feel challenged and enjoy a sense of competition and success. The Google Suite is the perfect platform for creating interactive games.  With tools such as Google docs, Google Sheets, Google Presentation, Google Maps and Google drawings, there are unlimited ways to create games for students. Students can even be challenged to create their own games within the G Suite. Playing games can engage your students with interactive flip cards, board games, geography games and review activities.  Today I’m sharing a few resources from a presentation that I recently presented for a SimpleK12 webinar. Flippity.net Let’s start with one of my favorite Google tools that has a whole bunch of different games...

Google Released a New Tool Called AutoDraw There is a new drawing tool from Google and it is really amazing!  Draw a sketch of something and AutoDraw will find possible images to turn your sketch into beautifully drawn images. AutoDraw uses artificial intelligence to recognize a drawing and then suggests professionally made images to replace your simple sketch. Like this! There are several tools to help make your drawing amazing such as the AutoDraw pencil, a regular pencil, a fill bucket, and a text tool.  Here is a short video explanation: AutoDraw works on Chromebooks, laptops, tablets and smart phones. To access AutoDraw just simply use the URL autodraw.com Here is a little information from the designers of AutoDraw: https://www.autodraw.com/artist Download or share your images with a link and use the side bar (3 lines) menu for additional option.   How might you use AutoDraw with your students or staff?...

Play YouTube Videos in a Google Doc With the DocuTube Add-on Most Google Doc users who want to include a YouTube video in their doc, will simply hyperlink the video or just paste the link in their Google Doc. If a person wants to watch the YouTube video they will click on the link and a new tab will open to the video. But wait. . . there is a more seamless option! With the DocuTube add-on, viewers can see the YouTube videos directly in the Google Doc! Simply open a Google Doc and click on add-ons and then get add-ons. Next search for Docutube.  Once you and your students have the DocuTube add-on, theYouTube videos that are hyperlinked or linked in your Google Doc will be viewable. I first heard about this from Lance Yoder in this video: Anyone creating Hyperdocs will find this add-on particularly useful and a game changer.  Remember:  The DocuTube add-on will need to be added in Google Docs before viewing the YouTube videos in yo...