Download the episode here.
Episode 35
This week, we’re taking a brief respite for Spring Break, but there’s still a lot of education news from Google, Microsoft, IXL, Formative, and Screencastify. I’ve got a nice little treasure in the treasure chest as well.
News & Updates
Screencastify
- New Toolbar
- Sticker emojis
- Rectangles to highlight areas
- Fireworks click added
- Move the toolbar wherever
- Collapse the toolbar
- Blur Tool in Edit
- Blur out information for privacy and focus
- Add Title Clips to Videos
- Submit is now fully integrated with Google Classroom
GoFormative
- Formative updates
- Premium users
- Restore deleted items
- If you accidentally deleted a question or lost student responses by changing the question type, use the 3 dots menu to restore them
- Teachers and students can record video
- Teachers can record or upload videos or screencasts
- Students can record or upload videos to essay questions (2 minute limit)
- Improvements to audio player
- Adjust play time, volume, download file
- Copy and paste images directly into questions
- Free Users
- View your account activity
- Restore deleted Formatives
- Copy and Paste alert
- See what students copied by clicking “details”
- Create teacher and student avatars
IXL
- Checkpoint Performance reports
- Checkpoint skills look at standards readiness by assessing their knowledge of multiple concepts
- IXL will recommend exercises for any gaps
- Teachers can get reports for whole class and individual students
- Good for unit reviews and test prep
Microsoft
- Career Coach in Microsoft Teams for Education
- Personalized guidance for higher education students
- Help navigating their career journey
- Rolling out in May
- Help identifying career goals aligned with their passions, interests, and strengths
- Help finding opportunities to develop real-world skills and connect them with alumni, peers, and faculty for support
- Immersive Reader comes to PowerPoint for web, OneDrive, SharePoint, and MakeCode
- PowerPoint – select text on the slide or in the notes
- OneDrive – launch directly from OneDrive
- Whiteboard.chat adds Immersive Reader and OneNote embedding
- Launch Immersive Reader from various text types in Whiteboard.chat
- Paste any Whiteboard.chat link onto a OneNote page, and it will render as a live interactive embed
Google Workspace
- Add and manage four new types of citations in Google Docs
- 4 new citation types in Docs: film, TV series, TV episode, Miscellaneous
- Tools → Citation
Treasure Chest: Google Slides Text Fitting
- Insert a text box
- Option menu box on lower left side
- 3 options: Do not autofit, Shrink text on overflow, Resize shape to fit text
- Shrink text is good for titles, or anything you have to fit within a certain area
- Resize shape only resizes vertically
- Check out this tutorial to see how to do it.
Crew Members’ Board (#8BitCrew)
We’re entering the home stretch. Hang in there!
Use #8BitCrew on Twitter, tag me @comicsocks, or post longer stories in the comments section here.
Get connected
- Twitter: @comicsocks & #8BitCrew
- Web site
- Youtube
- Email: 8bit.instructor@gmail.com
- Support the show on Patreon.
Check out my Google Classroom Udemy course.
Credits
Music by David Fesliyan (https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/)
- Intro/Outro: “Retro Platforming”
- Boss Battle: “Boss Battle Rock”
- Crew Member’s Board: “Pirate Dance”
- Wrap up: “Game Over” by Patrick de Arteaga
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The Educator's Quest 