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Showing posts with label GAFE/Chromebooks tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GAFE/Chromebooks tips. Show all posts

Monday, May 23, 2016

Lots of great new things coming to Google Apps and Chromebooks!!!

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Google Apps for Education New logo.pngchromebooks-apps-flyout-in.jpg


Google Apps for Education and Chromebooks have become truly awesome resources for schools and Google just keeps improving them.

Here are some of the recent announcements:


Android apps are coming to Chromebooks! - some Android apps have already been available for use on a Chromebook. I've been using the Evernote app for a while and love it. But in order to get them to work, developers had to do some work themselves. With this new announcement, the Google Play Store and most of it's app will work with Chromebooks. Three models are getting access in June with more getting access later. See this link for full details on which Chromebooks will get this and when. This is huge for schools as they will be able to benefit from the low cost and ease of use and management of Chromebooks, and use all of the great Android apps that are out there.

With this announcement, touchscreen Chromebooks are even more functional for schools. For specs, 4GB RAM is always my suggestion and 16GB drives should be fine unless you are installing a ton of apps and syncing lots of data. I have over 100 apps on my smartphone, sync Evernote offline (9,000 notes) and sync Google drive offline and I am only using 9GB (18GB if you count the hundreds of photos and videos of my daughter).

I also think that this would be a good time for Google and OEMs to work on a 7" Chrome OS tablet! Think about it - all the Android apps in a small form factor for younger students or mobility, with the management features and ease of use of a Chromebook!




Google Classroom updates:
  1. Interact with other apps and systems - more software and systems will be able to interact with more data in Classroom. One example that teachers will love is the ability for Gradebooks and reporting systems to sync grades with Classroom, eliminating the need for teachers to manually transfer grades.
  2. Teachers can schedule assignments, questions, or announcements to post at a later date. The post is then automatically published to the class stream at the scheduled date and time.
  3. Teachers can poll their students using multiple-choice questions and allow students to see a summary of their classmates answers.


Cover art
Science Journal - a new app that is a digital science notebook that allows students to record data from sensors on an Android phone or connected device, take notes, observer, interpret, predict, create graphs and much more.



Google also announced that they are making their own 3D/Virtual reality hardware that will be prefect for schools - this will fit well with Expeditions and allow students to explore the world, and beyond, right from their classroom.


Some exciting news for schools!!



More Resources:

Benefits of Google Apps and Chromebooks for Schools

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Benefits of Google Apps and Chromebooks for Schools

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Google Apps for Education New logo.png
chromebooks-apps-flyout-in.jpg
Benefits of Google Apps and Chromebooks
Updated version of this as a Google Doc: https://goo.gl/zbcAA2 


How does Google Apps and Chromebooks compare to Apple or Microsoft inside the classroom?
  • Google Apps and Chromebooks are extremely easy to use. Students and teachers can access thousands of web apps and extensions, most free, as well as everything on the internet.  
  • Schools using Chromebooks have great experiences with limited issues or concerns.
  • Unlimited file storage on Google Drive (any type of file)
  • plenty of resources to help teachers use them to improve teaching and learning
  • can use Office Editing (free app) in Docs, Sheets and Slides to edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files
  • can use Office 365 or any web based software
  • can be used as the only device, or in a mixed device environment
  • huge community of users that share and support each other (over 50 Millions users of GAFE!!)
  • Google Classroom is a game-changer…it allows teachers to share resources and communicate with students, distribute, collect and grade assignments, and so much more.  Google Classroom resources for Educators



Resources for Teachers:


How do they manage a Chrome device versus an Apple or Microsoft device from an admin perspective?  
  • Chromebooks are extremely easy to manage, whether managing 30 or 30,000
  • Management is done through web based admin console from anywhere, on any device
  • do not have to physically touch the devices once they are enrolled
  • settings, apps, etc are all pushed out almost instantly
  • over 170 settings can be managed
  • manage users, networks, devices, apps, and much more
  • import users from a variety of systems into Google Apps easily
  • easiest devices to manage
  • no re-imaging,
  • easily shared in as a multi-user shared device


Technical Resources:


What is the ROI and price?  
  • huge ROI and low prices
  • GAFE is free
  • most web apps are free (even when the iPad app had a fee)
  • easy to use so they get used all the time in class (and <7 second start up)
    • Example - 1000 students - 3 year total cost of ownership
    • Windows PC $6,213,000
    • Chromebooks $1,071,000 - savings of $5,141,000 !!! (that is 82 % less)
    • Mac and Apple are  similar to or even higher costs than Windows (higher hardware costs, more labor to deploy and manage, software costs)
  • Example:
  • iPad: $399 + $99 Apple Care + $99 keyboard + $49 case = $646
  • Chromebook: $299 + $30 license  = $329 – half the price of an iPad
    • A Chromebook ($329) and a Nexus 7 tablet ($199 + $30 license + $30 case = $259 ) (Total $588) can both be purchased for less than the price of just one iPad
  • Chrome web apps are 95% free
  • iPad apps, while there are free ones, are more fee based and license is non-transferable
  • Windows devices have higher up-front cost, are harder to manage, require more IT support, Antivirus and more.
  • Most users are using web-based apps anyway, or there is a web based version available



* Easy to use, inexpensive, easy to manage, great training and PD resources, you can do anything on them. *








Thursday, October 29, 2015

Lots of great resources and web apps to use with Chromebooks!

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You can do pretty much anything with a Chromebook so the sky's the limit. Here are some tips and links to web apps:













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Thursday, August 27, 2015

Some app substitutions for iPad apps to use on a Chromebook

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Chromebooks - apps recommendations and substitutions


Many “apps” made for iOS and Android aren’t meant to be used as apps on a Chromebook, anymore than they would be on a Mac or Windows device. You can just use the website. Others have web apps and/or extensions.

  1. Google Maps web app
  2. Kindle - use website or Kindle Cloud Reader web app
  3. Stage - no direct alternative, but there are “whiteboarding apps”
  4. PS Express - Pixlr Editor or PicMonkey
  5. Dropbox - Dropbox Web App
  6. Educreations - (Lensoo) - go to Educreations website and login,
  7. Chatterpix - use Pixlr or PicMonkey (see #4)
  8. PhotoFun Animal - no direct alternative (doesn’t seem educational either)
  9. Wikipanion - just go to Wikipedia site
  10. QR Reader - use ScanQR
  11. Accelerated Reader (AR) - Renaissance Learning AR, Achieve3000 Mobile
  17. Adobe Reader - Acrobat Reader web app, Google Drive will also open PDF files
  19. Pages - use Google Docs
  20. Numbers - use Google Sheets
  21. Keynote - use Google Slides
  22. iMovie - use WeVideo
  23. iPhoto - use Pixlr or Pickmonkey (#4 above) for editing. Google Photos (part of Google Drive) can also be used to organize your photos and do basic editing.

More:


Remember to add these through the Admin Console as pushed or recommended apps for your users.(Scroll down to Force-Installed Apps and Extensions)







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