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.

How OneNote Enhances Memory in Students

Technology has improved education in many ways, from immersive learning through augmented and virtual reality to improved communication between teachers, parents and students. But there are a few “old school” methods that have no substitute and one is handwriting. There was a study published in Psychological Science in 2016, authored by Pam Mueller of Princeton University and Daniel Oppenheimer of UCLA, that showed handwriting is the best way for students to recall what they learn. With Microsoft OneNote, your students can have the best of both worlds. 

OneNote is Handwriting-Friendly

It has been shown that hand-note takers tend to digest, summarize and capture the meat of the information better than typing it, leading to improved understanding and recall. In relation,  when we type, we try to notes every word we hear instead of what they mean, leaving our comprehension of the subject matter more shallow. Using OneNote’s stylus (or a fingertip) is like putting pen to paper so note takers get the recall advantage.

While using OneNote gives the traditional benefits of pen and paper, it goes above and beyond by giving you the ease of being digital.

OneNote Quickly Transfers Handwriting to Digital

Once you’re done taking notes you can convert your handwriting to text by choosing the Lasso Select button on the Draw tab. And, unlike the set pages of a notebook, there’s no limit on how many notes you can take in OneNote, except for how much storage you have. And with cloud storage options, you should be free to take a lot of notes!

OneNote Keeps Notes in One Place

Once you’ve recalled information you can easily reference it. Keeping track of scraps of paper and multiple notebooks is a thing of the past as OneNote is searchable. Took a note about ordering a new shipment of Chromebooks? Simply search by “Chromebook” and OneNote will pull up all your options. You can even pull up content from OneNote if you’re offline. And because you can create multiple tabs in each notebook and pages within tab, organization options are endless.

OneNote Allows You to Save and Store

Gotta run out on a lecture? No problem. OneNote allows you to stop, save and open your note at a different time, so you write some additional notes. Since OneNote goes with you, it’s always in the palm of your hand when inspiration strikes.

What do you love about Microsoft OneNote? Let us know.

9 Tools for 2019

You’re back from winter break, refreshed and ready to get back to work. Why not implement some of the best tools for 2019 to help? There are a plethora of apps and extensions that can help you, your teachers and students make the most of the new year.

1. Flipgrid. We’re going to keep talking about Flipgrid because we think it’s only going to expand in use, especially since Microsoft Teams integrated Flipgrid into its Microsoft Teams for Education. Flipgrid is a video discussion platform for educators and students. It allows students to share their ideas, wonderings, projects and questions in new and creative ways. Administrators can use Flipgrid to engage their professional learning network and build community among staff by creating conversations.

2. OneNote. Come for OneNote’s Staff Notebooks and stay for its other tools. Aside from Staff Notebooks’ collaboration space, shared content library and personal workspace for every staff member, OneNote also allows users to add any content and use digital inking. It also supports Flipgrid.

3. Google Keep. Google Keep is the online note-taker that goes with you. Webpages, images or quotes are saved with a single click when using this Chrome Extension and they are synced across all the platforms you use. Easy.

4. Microsoft Teams for Education. This popular software is free for educators and has recently been updated. We expect even more improvements to roll out in 2019.

5. Google Authenticator. In a time where BYOD is becoming commonplace in schools, making sure your device is secure is a top priority. Google Authenticator helps with that. It generates a code that gives a second-step verification when you sign in.

6. Google Docs Offline Sync. Believe it or not, there are times when you don’t have Internet access, or you just don’t want to use your data. Because Google Docs is available offline, now you don’t have to. Create, view and edit files on Docs, Sheets and Slides all offline.

7. Even the most seasoned writers can use the extra pair of “eyes” that Grammarly provides. The base app, which checks spelling, is free or upgrade to the Premium version which not only checks spelling but grammar and punctuation. You’ll be asking yourself, “How long have I been writing everything in passive voice?”

8. CheckMark. This Chrome extension, created by EdTechTeam, gives teachers the ability to provide students feedback quickly and easily. Highlight text in a Google Doc and an overlay pops up with quick shortcuts to frequently-asked comments like “Check Punctuation” and “Spelling.” It works on Slides too.

9. LastPass. It seems like every website, app, social media platform and even software requires a password; that’s a lot to remember. LastPass makes it easy and secure to kept track of them, plus it’s free.

Have a tool that you can’t live without? Let us know in the comments.

Five Onederful OneNote Tips for Teachers

Microsoft’s OneNote is basically today’s version of a Trapper Keeper; it organizes topics by subject, has a place to store the pictures, videos, and freeform ideas may otherwise fall through the folds, and, bonus, it can be duplicated, shared, locked, and loaded anywhere. For teachers, it means being able to pull every component of a lesson plan together, from quizzes and writing prompts to resources, reading lists, and class notes.

One thing is for certain, the more you learn about OneNote, the easier it becomes to teach. 

Make Note-taking a Team Sport

OneNote gives teachers the ability to frame out a lesson and let their students fill in the gaps with the note-taking. By sharing a note with the entire class, students can access, contribute, and collaborate in real time--and long after the class bell rings. Password protection for notes makes it all the more secure.

Go beyond typed notes.

OneNote allows you to “make a note” of something in almost any medium. Video, images, audio, digital ink--all of it can be noted, recorded, linked, saved, and shared in the OneNote platform. You aren’t limited to an 8.5” x 11” sheet, either; its infinite canvas ensures you’ll run out of ideas long before you’ll ever run out of room to put them on. Creating new sections is easy--and you can even color code them by subject, note type, or student.

Teach in the moment.

Have you ever had an “aha!” moment in class and wished you could share it more readily with your students? Enter OneNote. With its immediate syncing capability across devices, you can take a picture with your mobile phone and add it instantly to your presentation, allowing you to teach and collaborate with your students in real time, just in time.

Embrace your own teaching style.

One of most empowering aspects of OneNote is that it’s not just one thing, nor does it confine its use to one tool. “Learning is messy,” says Tom Grissom, the Director of the Instructional Technology Center at Eastern Illinois University and contributor to the Microsoft Education blog. “OneNote provides the free-from tools to help you--and your students--think through it.” he notes that OneNote excels at “gathering artifacts for learning” while also allowing the information to be redistributed and assimilated. 

Get it all down and get it all done.

OneNote is the perfect bucket in a brainstorm. It speaks Google tools as a first language; you can toggle between Google Docs, Google Sheets, and even Google Forms as part of your lesson planning and classroom management practices. And, since you can take it with you wherever you go, you never have to worry about losing a great idea or missing an opportunity to interact with a student because you aren’t at your desk. OneNote lets you check notes, grade papers, send assignment reminders, share videos, and inspire a new generation of learners with a few clicks. 

How do you use Microsoft OneNote in the classroom, along with other Microsoft technology? We've got a few ideas.

How To Password Protect Notes In OneNote For Windows 10

The password protection utilized in OneNote keeps your notes safe. Whether used in a scholastic, corporate, or business setting, the encryption and versatility of OneNote will give you control over who, and when, specific sections in your notebook can be accessed. 

OneNote is an incredible tool for getting organized and creative. The ability to lock, and unlock, specific sections within a notebook lends itself to many educational applications. Teachers can sharing the entire semester’s notes in one Notebook and unlock one section at a time. They can also place different versions of tests, quizzes, and study guides within each section, and then alternating between them and a new section to prevent hacking. 

If you haven’t used this capability before, it’s a relatively straightforward process. Locking down sections of your notebook is the easy part; coming up with a password you won’t forget, on the other hand, may be a bit more difficult.

Adding a section password:

When a notebook section has been protected with a password, all of its pages are locked and hidden from view. For additional security, password-protected sections will automatically lock after a designated period of inactivity.

1. Right-click the name of the notebook section that you want to protect.

2. Choose “Password Protection “

3. Choose “Add Password”

4. Type the desired password into the Enter Password box.

5. Retype your password into the Confirm Password box. Press Enter, and you’re set.

How to lock all password protected sections

If passwords have been applied to one or more sections in your notebook, they can all be locked simultaneously.

1. Right-click on any protected (but currently unlocked) section, choose Password Protection

2. Choose Lock Protected Sections. All protected sections will be locked immediately. 

In order to unlock a protected section:

Protected sections will be locked automatically when you exit OneNote. To unlock, simply:

1. Click on the section you want to unlock.

2. Type the password into the Password box

3. Press Enter. 

How to change the password for a protected section:

1. Right-click on any protected (but currently unlocked) section whose password you want to change.

2. Choose Password Protection

3. Choose Change Password. (If this option isn’t available, then you must create a password for that section.)

4. Enter the current password into the Old Password box.

5. Enter the new password in the New Password Box.

6. Re-enter the new password into the Confirm Password box. Press Enter.

NOTE: Each section in your Notebook is independent of the other sections. Changing a password for a section will only affect that section. The above steps must be repeated in order to change passwords for all other sections.

Removing the password from a protected section:

1. Right-click on any protected (but currently unlocked) section whose password you want to remove.

2. Choose Password Protection.

3. Choose Remove Password.

4. Enter the current password in the Remove Password window, and press Enter.

Important notes about passwords:

• Passwords cannot be applied to entire notebooks, only to sections within notebooks.

• All passwords are case-sensitive.

• Protected sections will not be included in notebook searches. Sections must be unlocked in order to be searched.

OneNote uses 128 bit AES encryption to secure password-protected sections. This is the same level of encryption that banks and the government use to protect military intelligence and personal banking records. If you forget any of your section passwords, no one will be able to unlock those notes for you (not even Microsoft Technical Support). Use caution when adding passwords to your notebook sections and when changing them. It is strongly recommended that you write down all passwords and store them in a secure location.

This is one of the many features that Microsoft offers. Want to learn more about what OneNote and what Windows 10 can offer for your classroom? Click below.