Thursday 22 June 2017

Google Tip: Saving a file to two or more folders

Has there been a time when you have wanted to save the same file to more than one folder and for it to be simultaneously updated at the same time?


  1. Go to Drive
  2. Click on file to be saved in other folders
  3. Press Shift - Z



Tuesday 13 June 2017

Split screen and Slide over on iPad

Split Screen and Slide over on the iPad is one of those hidden gems that most people don't know about. I had a teacher tell me today that she had one child who completes 95% of his work on the iPad because of his dysgraphia condition. But he also needs to use 2 devices particularly if he is researching as he finds it difficult to switch back and forth between apps, so he uses the iPad for his recording of information and a Chromebook for his researching. I showed them today how they could use 'Slide Over' and 'Split Screen' and only use one device.
The Slide over works on most apps
but allows only a slim view of the other app
The Split Screen works on only some apps and gives 2 apps
half the screen each 


Swipe left from the right hand side of the screen and this will show the 'Slide Over', tap and hold on the handle in the middle and drag to the middle of the screen and this will be the Split Screen. You can see both screens and work independently in each screen at the same time. If you want to choose a different app, swipe down from the top 
You can't do this in all apps but there are loads you can split screen like... Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, Safari, Chrome, iBooks, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, Photos, Drive, Explain Everything, Dropbox, Calendar, Canva, Classroom, Edpuzzle, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Inspiration, iTranslate, Mail, Maps, Notability, Notes, Padlet, Google translate, Twitter, Youtube and many more.

I was disappointed you couldn't use Split Screen with Kindle but what you can do is open the Kindle app, do the Slide over and open Docs, Slides, Word etc. If you want to copy some text, do the highlight - copy on the Kindle (the Slide over will disappear) and then do the Slide over and paste into the Doc.
I can see so many applications for this functionality. Be aware though that Slide View works on iPad Air, iPad mini 2 and up and the Split Screen works for the iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4 and up.

Monday 6 March 2017

Add MP4s and .MOV to Google Slides


Google has just recently added a new functionality to Google Slides. Previously the only way to add a movie to Google Slides was through Youtube. You can now upload movies from your Google Drive without sending them to Youtube. You can also set the Movie to Autoplay when in Present Mode and... you can choose where you want the movie to start and end. I can see that is a feature that I will use a lot in my math workshops. Now I will be able to start the movie just at the parts I want the students to see, instead of having to watch it all, or scroll through.
For privacy issues, teachers will like that they don't have to put their school or student movies onto Youtube anymore, and there is less of a process to go through.



Friday 10 February 2017

Experimenting with Rocketium

Rocketium is very easy to use. The only thing you can't do is adjust how the graphics appear with a free account. Make sure you make all graphics landscape rather than portrait, as you can see in mine that some of the portrait graphics are cut off. This is a great tool for younger students to use when publishing their inquiry or writing work. It could also be used as a great reflective tool.




Friday 13 January 2017

Reading Activity Idea using QR codes and movie making

Create a book trailer in iMovie using the Trailer option which makes it approximately a minute long

  • advertise the book for others to read
  • tell the synopsis of the story
  • explain one part of the story in more detail



Create the graphics by using the Free Adobe Illustrator Draw app. Follow instructions for how to use the app on this post 'Creating Clipart, Cartoons and Avatars'.






Once the movie is made and uploaded to a Youtube channel, copy the Youtube URL and make a QR code of it on QRStuff

Print out the QR code and stick it to the cover of the book. Build up a series of books that are kept in the Library.

12 ways to energise Learning

I came across this infographic by Atomic Learning '12 ways to energise Learning'. Some of these you may already be doing, consider using some of the other ideas in your daily planning.