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Thursday, February 25, 2021

Out with the OLD Present Mode, In with the NEW Fullscreen Interactive Google Slides Extension

 

So you have a love / hate relationship with PRESENT mode in Google Slides?

We get it.

When you get into Present mode, everything has a crisp, clean, professional look, BUT your options for manipulating your slides are zilch, zero, nada. There's got to be a better way - and there is.

Fullscreen Interactive Google Slides is a new Chrome extension that when installed allows the user to present a fullscreen version of Google slides that remains interactive and editable when viewed. 

This extension is especially useful for educators!  As a teacher, you gain extra real estate when presenting during remote learning or in the classroom allowing your students to view the content better while maintaining the ability to manipulate and edit slides.

To use Fullscreen Interactive Google Slides:

1️⃣. Install the Fullscreen Interactive Google Slides extension

2️⃣. Open your Google Slides presentation as normal and click on the Fullscreen Interactive Slides extension icon  

3️⃣. Present with interactive and editable abilities.

4️⃣. Exit the interactive presentation mode by clicking Ctrl-R or Command-R


Watch this short clip to see how it works:



Thank you Noreen Ranallo for developing such a great tool for educators!

Thursday, February 11, 2021

Google Arts & Culture: Culture Your Mind



Life Goals: Walk the Hall of Mirrors of Versaille in France, stare at Van Gogh’s work for hours, learn more about cultures from all around the globe. Globe trotting has never been so easy or safe! Google Arts & Culture has a website and App that allows you to explore famous museums full of curated art, walk through virtual tours of famous landmarks all around the world, and learn about new cultures all from the comfort and safety of your home at https://artsandculture.google.com/.

Google boasts “treasures, stories and knowledge of over 2,000 cultural institutions from 80 countries at your fingertips” (Google, 2021). NASA even plays a huge role in providing their image archive for a deeper understanding of space. It is literally out of this world!



There are also loads of interactive activities using the website and application! You can use a photo and transform it to a piece of art! You can search the database of art to see if there are any pictures that look just like you! Do you have a doppelgänger from the past? Discover new portraits or images based on the color palette? Are you needing a piece of art in shades of red? Now it's at your fingertips! The Daily Challenges are especially engaging such as “Recreate a Van Gogh masterpiece with things you have at home.”


Image of my selfie transformed into art inspired by Edvard Munch.


Immerse yourself into Galleries and culture using Pocket Gallery and, Art Camera, and 360 degrees videos with virtual reality tours. Explore exhibitions curated by experts in the field and save those that you want to keep or share with friends in your Favorites! Translate text to read about portraits and art from all around the world. Immersing yourself and students in art has never been easier! Where will Google Arts & Culture take you?


Thursday, February 4, 2021

Experiments with Google AutoDraw

 



AutoDraw is a new kind of drawing tool. It pairs machine learning with drawings from talented artists to help everyone create anything visual, fast. There’s nothing to download. Nothing to pay for.
It works anywhere: smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop, etc. 
 
AutoDraw’s suggestion tool uses the same technology used in QuickDraw, to guess what you’re trying to draw. For now, it can guess hundreds of drawings.
 
AutoDraw can help you and your students make your sketches more imaginative and enjoyable.

Here is a before and after:
                                                                       provided by Google

Here is a short video on how you can create and start using AutoDraw

                                                                              video provided by Google



Click here to get started on your amazing creative journey


For more educational technology tools please visit our KIC site at www.kellerisd.net/KIC and please be sure to follow us on Twitter @EdTechKISD and like us on Facebook EdTechKISD.