It’s Madness: The Biggest Players In Tech

There’s a lot of chatter this year about basketball, brackets and top-seeded teams but we’re more interested in some of the standout players in the EdTech field. 

These two champions are always coming up with new products, tips and updates to help administrators and educators effectively do the job of teaching students.

Reigning Champs

Microsoft Education has been at the forefront of EdTech since the beginning. The company and its partners are consistently updating products and providing tips for users. For example, Microsoft Education recently released 10 learning tool updates for the new year which includes adding Translator in the Immersive Reader, combining step-by-step solving in Math Assistant and reading aloud in Immersive Reader and page colors in Word Desktop.

Some other Microsoft products that are moving and shaking are,

• FlipGrid – As more schools and classrooms connect through FlipGrid, #GridPals, a spin on penpals, help engage students with peers around the world. This awesome dynamic helps students learn from others, share their love of learning through books and offer support.

• OneNote – Custom tags are now in OneNote! Users can now name the tag and select an icon to create a custom tag that will sync across devices and show up in app search results. Brilliant!

• Skype Classroom - Skype in the Classroom is unveiling all sorts of different PD options educators can use to get more out of the product. The best news is the courses are FREE!

The Cinderella Team

Google For Education has become a major player in the EdTech world. Its powerful yet affordable Chromebooks have helped make technology accessible to all students. Its GoogleEdu YouTube channel regularly hosts product updates and EdTech know-how, like the new gradebook in Google Classroom and lock mode for quizzes in Google Forms on managed Chromebooks. 

Some other Google For Education product updates and tips include,

• Gmail – Customizable keyboard shortcuts, how are we not already doing this? Make your Gmail work for you by creating your own keyboard shortcuts. A couple quick clicks in Settings can change your entire day.

• Google Drive – No Internet, no problem. Google Drive allows users to access stored files without Wi-Fi or any other type of Internet. You can work on the go, edit Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and more when you’re in the dark.

• Google Classroom – Google is rolling out new features in 2019, including allowing teachers to create and assign a forms quiz directly from classroom. This saves time and streamlines the entire process.

The good news is you don’t have to pick a team. Microsoft Education and Google for Education have tons of programs and products that seamlessly work together making the fans the real winners.

Tackle Productivity Head-On With These 5 Tech Hacks

Time. It’s always something you need more of, especially as school administrators. Your days tend to be full of improving instruction, managerial tasks, delegating and creating a climate where kids want to learn. That’s a lot to pack into a single day. Good thing there are lots of tech hacks that can get help get you organized and STAY organized.

Here are 5 tech hacks you should be using every day to boost productivity:

1. Use Microsoft Outlook. Microsoft Outlook has tons of productivity and time management tools. You can use it to set appointments and remind yourself of tasks with the Calendar. You can also organize your schedule by day, week or even year. Outlook Calendar has these fun, colorful sticky notes that you can drag anywhere on your screen. Don’t forget to list the times you aren’t available – lunches, personal development time and vacations. This hack helps to keep your staff updated about your time too.

2. Set a daily reminder to check Microsoft Teams and Google Tasks. Microsoft Teams is the hub for teamwork in Office 365. It contains chat threads and online meetings. Make it a point to come in every day and check Chat and note any meetings that may have popped up so you’ll never have to scramble at the last minute. If Google is more your thing, the same rule applies. Google Tasks can only keep you on, well, task, if you use it on a daily basis.

3. Set up email filters. Whether you use Gmail or Outlook, filters are wildly available. With filters, you can automatically sort your emails and move them into folders. You can filter messages by subject line, sender, large attachments, etc. and even send canned responses. If you’re not filtering your emails, you could be missing the important ones because they’re lost in all the junk that’s littering up your inbox.

4. Download a personal dashboard extension. This can be a real timesaver, especially if the first thing you do in the morning is look at your laptop. Wake up knowing your to-dos, the weather and even add words of inspiration.

5. Keep your digital workspace tidy. It’s easy to let general digital housekeeping duties fall to the wayside, especially when you’re busy. But, if it takes you forever to wade through your files, folders or desktop to find what you need, skipping clean-up tasks won’t do you any favors. Set a reminder for the end of each day or week to clear out your downloads and desktop.

Put these hacks into practice and you’ll be on your way to your most productive year yet! Let us know how it goes in the comments.