PPS Instructional Technology

  Screencastify has been an essential tool for us this school year. Creating screencasts with this tool is easy. And best yet, they load right to Google Drive for simple sharing! However, this tool (as with many others) may require some tweaking. Let's look at a couple of ways to get better results. Understanding Screencastify In order for Screencastify to record videos in the way it does, it must record using the hardware on the device until the recording is complete. Once the recording has finished, the video is automatically uploaded to Google Drive and removed from the device. This process means that Screencastify will never fill up the hard drive on your device. Of course, it also means that your device has to have enough space available depending on the length of video you intend to record. The best thing you can do is to keep your Chromebook's hard drive clear of any files that are not essential. Generally, you just need to keep your Downloads folder empty . Speed and S...

Does it seem like Skyward is logging you out before the 30 minute time out setting?  If so, this short video may help you out! Trouble viewing the video?  View it directly on YouTube:   http://youtu.be/VVqkWmT1I6A

In the last month, we deployed 640 chromebooks to the elementary schools and community high.  The possibilities these devices bring to the classrooms can be amazing and overwhelming all at the same time.  It is our goal, as technology integration specialists, to help teachers create engaging lessons using these devices that foster unique, customizable learning opportunities for all students.  With this goal in mind, Paul and I set out to create videos to demonstrate how teachers, right here in PPS, are using these devices with their students.  The short video below is our first attempt.  It features Todd Chappa, 3rd grade teacher at Lake Center Elementary.  In the lesson, he discusses how he uses the tools Socrative.com and Sumdog.com to help him differentiate instruction in math and make it possible for him to effectively run small group instruction.  We hope you find it useful and that it sparks a fire of inspiration for you with your own students. ...

We received a number of replies from individuals who were very thankful for the last Gmail video we sent out. So we thought we would send you another! Gmail: Creating Filters with Gmail This short 3 minute video discusses... Automatic Message Filters Searching Gmail (Find anything) After watching the video, feel free to contact us if you have further questions.

Even though we have discussed archiving mail and labels in this blog post  and this one , some of you would like a more visual tutorial.  For those of you who would like more information about managing Gmail, please watch this short, 3 minute video. Gmail: Managing Email with Gmail This video discusses... Archiving Mail Labels (Folders) After watching the video, feel free to contact us if you have further questions.