Chanatown

One of the earliest experiences I had with Google Sites when we started using Google Apps for Education was noticing all of the cool gadgets that you could use in Sites. Unfortunately, many gadgets were also inappropriate and able to fly in under our school's filter. With Domain Gadget Directory Manager (DGDM), we can set up a "White List" filter and specifically choose which gadgets to allow for users on the domain. Alternatively, one can also create "Black List" filter to exclude specific gadgets. I chose to implement the former due to the large number and possible expansion of inappropriate gadgets. A video tutorial on how to set up DGDM follows after the jump.

This week, I had a teacher request an introduction and ongoing support for Prezi . I'm a big fan of the zooming presentation editor and have written several posts about the tool.  For this assignment, the class was divided into 3 groups, and each group had approximately 6-8 students. This represented a perfect opportunity to test the collaborative features of Prezi in a live student environment. After some minor testing with a few dummy accounts, we were ready to go.

Perhaps, it's because I use Groups mostly through our school domain, which is not currently set for pre-release features, or perhaps, it's because I've been so consumed with other work, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the new Google Groups features when logging into my personal Gmail account this morning. Apparently, users were given opt-in options starting late last year , but I swear the link only popped into my account recently. Anyways, here's three reasons why educators may be particularly interested in the new Groups.

Image via Wikipedia So, I finally completed the certification process for becoming a Google Apps for Education Certified Trainer . Yesterday, we had a meetup in the Google offices in downtown Chicago with the live feed from Mountain View, and although I learned a few things I'm not allowed to share, I'd like to reflect on a few nuggets of Google goodness that's open knowledge but might have flown under the radar.

Image via Wikipedia I've given a lot of love to Google Apps for Education lately, including a set of "Tech Talks" this week at ETHS. However, I think it's important to consider some potential reasons why a teacher and possibly a school would choose not to "Go Google."

Image by Håkan Dahlström via Flickr As New York has declared that it's going Google, and more teachers and students are starting to use the suite of Apps in their classes, I thought I'd share a few tips for some features that might come in handy as you get more acclimated with Google Apps. Specifically, we'll look at two of the more commonly requested "how-to's" from our teachers: Making Templates and Student Email Lists.

Living in the " second city ", I'm a big fan of the Improv scene and local comedy clubs that are close by.  This morning and earlier this summer, I've been giving short presentations to our incoming 9th graders on using our electronic gradebook system along with Google Apps.  After introducing students to their mail account, I gave a brief talk on Google Docs .  Rather than making students sit through a presentation, however, I tried to get them as active and immersed in the activity as possible, even if it's something as simple as sending an email to their teacher, though this proves to be very useful, as the teacher can then create a quick group contact list.

This link will take you to the Agenda for the Google Apps workshop. This workshop is part of a week-long series of voluntary technology trainings provided by Evanston Township High School (ETHS).  Its main objective is to train teachers across disciplines on the features, benefits, and impact of using Google Apps in the high school classroom.