Activity Dashboard in Google Docs Editor

Activity Dashboard in Docs

See who and when people have viewed a doc

Created by Scott Aten, November 15, 2018

Ever wonder if a document you have shared with someone has been viewed by them? What about an assignment given to your students? Have they even opened it? One little known feature of Google Docs is the Activity Dashboard. By accessing the Activity Dashboard you will be able to see who has accessed the document and when they last viewed it. You can also see who has NEVER opened the document.

Practical Uses:

• See if all of your students have accessed an assigned reading.
• Check to see when a colleague has looked at a file to inform them that it has been updated.
• Email a followup on a document that is being collaborated on from within the Activity Dashboard

Here is where to find the Activity Dashboard:

• Open a Google Doc, Sheet, or Slides file
• From the Tools Menu
• Choose "Activity Dashboard..."

The Activity Dashboard will open giving you data on that documents viewing history.  You are also able to see view trends and change the privacy settings for the view history.  A lot of good information is right at your fingertips.  Yes, this is available in Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

Give it a try on a document today!

For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.

Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team

Turn Forms into Checkout

Looking for a way to keep track of what students have signed out your resources?

Created by Scott Aten, October 15, 2018

Keeping track of what students, or other staff members, have borrowed from you can be tricky. By using the
"CheckItOut" add-on for Google Forms, you can create an easy checkout system that will help you keep track
of all your classroom resources. Possible uses...

• Classroom library checkout
• Science materials checkout
• Classroom calculators checkout
• Magazines, newspapers, etc checkout
• Classroom supplies checkout

I have created a video that demonstrates how to get the "CheckItOut" add-on, as well as, how to use it. In less
than 10 minutes you can create an easy checkout system that your students can use. NOTE- Be sure to get the
updated version of the add-on. The picture will look like the one above.


[Demonstration of the CheckItOut Google Form Add-on] - complete instructions for setting up your
form including getting the add-on and using it.

Once you have the form finished, I would just add a link to it in your Google Classroom so that students can easily find it when they want to use one of your resources.

For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.

Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team

YouTube Restricted Message

Some changes to YouTube have been causing some of you to get an error message when you try to play a video. Here is how to fix it!

Created by Scott Aten, September 20, 2018

If you have recently tried to play a video or watch a live YouTube stream and gotten a message similar to the one above. I created a short video that shows you how you can avoid getting this message (see below). Remember
You should always be logged into YouTube with your Google account to be able to watch videos as a staff member. Once logged in you have the ability to see ANY YouTube video and can "Approve" videos. Students can watch any "Approved" video. If you forget how to approve videos, refer to this video I created awhile back.

[YouTube Video Unavailable Fix September 2018]

[Approve YouTube Videos for Students]

For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.

Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team

Add Classwork to Google Classroom

Add "Classwork" to Classroom

If you created your Google Classroom in the Summer before school started, you can now add the "Course Work" section to your existing Classroom.  

Created by Scott Aten, September 19, 2018

For those of you that are Google Classroom users, you know that it has undergone many changes for the start of the school year. If you created your Classroom prior to the start of school you will notice that your Classroom is missing the new "Classwork" section. Google has made a way for you to add this section in your existing Classroom without starting all over. See below for visuals...

1. Open your the Google Classroom in which you want to add "Classwork". 
2. Look in the lower left corner for the ? and click it.
   
3. Once you Click "Add Classwork page", this message will appear.
   
4. Be sure to notice that any content in the "About" section will have to be added again.  The About section doesn't work the same way in the new Google Classroom as it did in the old.  See my earlier blog post on ways to deal with this change.
5. You will now see that "Classwork" has been added and any assignments that were in the Stream are now moved into this section.

You are now ready to continue with adding content in your Google Classroom and it has been updated to the newer version.

For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.

Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team

Book Creator

Create eBooks with Book Creator

Looking for an engaging way for your students to practice their writing?  

Created by Scott Aten, September 14, 2018

Last Spring I attended the ITIP Ohio Summit and went to a session on Book Creator. I had seen this App/Site before, but had forgotten about it. The session was very interesting and the teacher had many examples of students using Book Creator as a part of his class. Basically what it will do is allow you or your students to create your own eBooks. Once created the books can be shared via a link for others to "read". One awesome feature of the published book is the "Read to me" option which will read the text that was added to the book.

Students will be able to add images, text, backgrounds, stickers and more to the pages of their eBooks. Books can be standard books or comic books complete with comic cells. There are many really neat features of this app that makes creating books a creative and fun experience.

Here are a couple books that I created:

Pets! - Basic Book with images, backgrounds and text boxes.
You've Got a Friend in Me - Comic style book with images, stickers, and speech bubbles

There is also a feature that allows the book creator to record their voice onto the page as well as a camera option to access the web cam on their device to take pictures for the book.

When using sites like this, it is important to verify that the data they are collecting isn't being used in some way
that violates FERPA or other student protection laws. Even though this site has a free component it is important
to verify how the data is used, especially if you are allowing your students to create accounts. The Book Creator site makes the privacy information easy to find (read their privacy statements).

The free version of this site allow you to create 1 library and store up to 40 books. Students can connect to your
library as well, making this a great resource to share between students as well as going home to parents.

How could I use this?

• Science - have the students make a review book of the concepts covered in your unit
• Math - a book that explains the process for solving a particular type of problem
• Foreign Language - Take an existing book and translate it into a new language with students recording their voice reading sections.
• Social Studies - create a book that illustrates the sequential series of events of a particular event in history.
• Health - a book of nutritional facts around various food groups
• Language Arts - Too numerous to mention

There can be application for any content area at really any grade level. Look for PD opportunities coming in the near future.

For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.

Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team