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I finally shelled out my $10 and sat for my Google Certified Educator Level 1 exam so I now have basic certification in Google to go along with my Microsoft MIEE credentials.  A fellow MIEE recently posted in one of our GroupMe conversations about his frustrations posting in Google Classroom after using Teams, so I thought I’d take a look at the two.  I’d never really thought of comparing the features of something as basic as how can I post in each platform.  So here’s (sort of) Day 101 of 365 Ideas for Office 365– comparing posts in Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams. The StreamRead More →

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I’m breaking from my typical tutorial style posts to talk about Remote Learning with Microsoft Teams, something I’ve created a lot of training materials for recently.  So Day 100 of 365 Ideas for Office 365 is a persuasive essay about using Microsoft Teams for Remote Learning!  Well, not really, because I don’t have the proper introduction, conclusion, one paragraph about each point, counterargument, rebuttal, and all that. Teams vs Slack & Zoom & Google Classroom & Evernote You can read about Teams vs. Slack in the business world, Teams vs. Zoom for videoconferencing, and Teams vs. Google Classroom in education, but right there is theRead More →

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In the last article I showed you simply where to find Teams in Office365 and how to create one.  That did not include adding any students, or files, or your Google Drive (no, that’s not a typo) , so we will do that today, on Day 99 of 365 Ideas for Office 365. Adding Students One of the last steps in creating a team lets you add a co-teacher and students.  You can add students manually by looking them up by last name or student ID number, or skip this for now and let them join by giving them a code.  If you choose toRead More →

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I’ve been putting off writing about Microsoft Teams partly because there’s so much there, I didn’t know where to start.  (I’ve decided to start at the beginning!)  I also wanted to build up to it.  Essentially, everything else I’ve written about in Office 365 is in Teams, so technically I’ve always been writing about Teams.  But today, it’s official.  I wish I could have held out two posts longer, but #RemoteLearning can’t wait any longer, thanks to #Covid-19.  So, welcome to Day 98 of 365 Ideas for Office 365– Introduction to Microsoft Teams, on a Chromebook. Microsoft Teams is pretty much the same in theRead More →

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In: 365 Ideas for Office 365, Differentiation/UDL, Forms, Microsoft Tools, Remote Learning
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A few months ago, Microsoft added a new question type in Microsoft Forms.  It is the File Upload.  This enables you to ask respondents to upload files like screenshots, PowerPoints, Word documents or even audio or video recordings as their response.  Welcome to Day 97 of 365 Ideas for Office 365– file upload in Forms. Google, I mean Microsoft Forms I’ll go ahead and start with “It’s about time”.  Google Forms had this feature a couple years before Microsoft figured this one out.  It used to be when I’d have a conversation about the two platforms, we’d all agree Google Forms had so many moreRead More →

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Unmatched commitment to accessibility is what sets Microsoft Office and their other educational programs and apps apart. Today’s obscure topic is how the Alt key unlocks accessibility features across the Microsoft Office apps. Day 96 of 365 Ideas for Office 365 is the Alt key. Universal Design for Learning Accessibility is an interesting thing.  The idea of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is to provide helps for everybody (make them universally available), not just for individuals with more apparent disabilities.  Sometimes our needs are related to a permanent or temporary disability, but some idea that are created for a specific group of people helps theRead More →

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One of the most useful elements in Minecraft is the NPC, or non-player character.  They’re very resourceful for characters that can’t move and only do what you tell them.  (No jokes about husbands, wives, children or dogs here, please.)  Welcome to Day 95 of 365 Ideas for Office 365– NPC’s. NPC vs mob In video games, the term NPC can refer more generally to any entities that are not controlled by a player.  In Minecraft, the word for that is mobs, not to be confused with mods, which is short for modifications.  NPCs in Minecraft Education Edition are specific mobs you can place and programRead More →

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In: 365 Ideas for Office 365, Differentiation/UDL, Microsoft Tools, OneNote, Whiteboard
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Life is better when you share it with someone.  It’s a lot better when you can share it with a lot of someones.  Microsoft’s Whiteboard app for Windows 10 lets you do both.  Welcome to Day 94  of 365 Ideas for Office 365- Collaborating in Microsoft Whiteboard. Sharing with Individuals If you just need to collaborate with 1 or 2 individuals, you can invite them  Just type in their email address(es), or, if they are someone you already collaborate with often in Office 365, look down and click on them if they show up in your suggestions list for collaborating. Another fun feature is thatRead More →

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In my last article I introduced Microsoft Whiteboard, an open canvas where you can draw anywhere, insert text boxes, sticky notes and images, and the accessibility features built into each of those.  Today, Day 93 of 365 Ideas for Office 365, we will explore the rich options available in the Insert Menu. Just look at all these options in the Insert Menu! These are all items you can insert onto a Whiteboard canvas. Note grid A Note grid is a collection of sticky notes.  When you add sticky notes, you can change the color.  I color-coded these into three categories- items you can add toRead More →

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Did you know there is a Whiteboard app in Windows 10? Whiteboard is our topic for Day 92 of 365 Ideas for Office 365. The Whiteboard Windows 10 app is designed for collaboration.  When you open Whiteboard, you start with a blank canvas.  Since it is an open canvas, all of the items can be placed absolutely anywhere.  Once placed, you can also click and drag to move them or resize them. Digital Inking in Whiteboard It include digital inking tools, which offers an array of drawing tools.  If you place the ruler on the screen, you can make straight lines, or just have studentsRead More →