13 great Google posts this week #21

A developer has created a new font panel for Google Docs. The add-on will allow the user to access more than 1200 fonts.

Get caught up on the sessions and all of the latest announcements from Google, NWEA, Samsung, and more.

The 411 on Google’s New Educator Certifications by Monica Isabel Martinez @mimg1225 and Peggy Reimers @preimers Google recently updated the educator certification options to make them more relevant to educators interested in elevating their skills in educational technology and quantifying their o

Continuing with our series on Google search tips and tricks here are a few more useful and handy tips and trick to using while searching on Google.

As educators in North America begin to prepare for the 2015/16 school year, it seems a good time to pull together the best tips we shared in the last year from schools using Chromebooks. Schools across North America are choosing Chromebooks as devices to support teaching and learning. Districts continue to invest in Chromebooks, purchasing more devices as they continue to see success.

The writer says, "I'm super excited right now because I solved a problem that I didn't think would have an easy answer. No, not running Flash sites on a Raspberry Pi, although I do think that is solvable too.We wanted to be able to allow teachers in our district to share resources from the TCRWP Homegrown Institute in the Teaching of Reading with everyone else, without making everyone join DropBox or go through the unfortunate hurdles that sometimes appear when logging into their GAFE account. A little research and tah-dah… EntourageBox to the rescue!"

Using YouTube as a curation tool to foster Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, & Critical Thinking

The latest tech darling is a school that looks very little like a school. These photos offer a glimpse of how students there spent their time.

Alice says, "Back when I had only had a list of 35 ways to use Google Classroom I submitted a poster session proposal to ISTE. Since then the list has grown and you can now purchase '50 Things You Can Do With Google Classroom."

The writer says, "Over the last couple of weeks I shared a plethora of web tools that teachers can use to create backchannels in class. I have also talked about 10 ways to employ backchanneling in  classroom instruction. In today's post, I am introducing you to a novel way to create backchannels or exit ticket by using only Google Docs. The screencast created by Langwitches shows you how you can use " Google Docs as a backchannel or exit ticket during a presentation, lesson or workshop".

The writer says, "Chrome web store is the go-to platform when looking for educational Chrome apps and extensions. The store features a wide variety of apps covering different categories from productivity to entertainment. We have already featured several of these apps in previous posts and we have also a separate section in this blog where teachers can have access  to the best educational Chrome apps out there. Today, however, we are sharing with you this excellent video from Google to walk you through the process of looking for apps and extensions in Chrome web store. You will get to learn how to search for extensions using different criteria including popularity and categories. Have a look and share with your colleagues."

It’s hard to believe that Google Drive is just three years old...yes, really. For a tool still in its infancy, it’s remarkable how quickly it has inspired the question, “How did I live without it?”

As an administrator, you can allow users with the Chrome browser or Chrome devices to view Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides even when they don't have an Internet connection. To enable Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides offline for your Chrome users when using Google Apps:

• Sign in to the Google Admin console.
• Click Apps > Google Apps > Drive > Data Access.
• If you have Google Apps Unlimited or Google Apps for Education, select the desired organizational unit.
• Otherwise, your setting applies to your entire organization.
• Check Allow users to enable offline docs.
• Click Save Changes.