Articles tagged "Google Sites"

Weekly post #56 – ManageBac subject pages, Sites updates and the iPhone 14

ManageBac subject pages

ManageBac is working to development more community around the use of the platform. Expect to see various community focused initiatives over the coming months.

Something to check out straight way are subject pages.

ManageBac DP geography subject page

Log into ManageBac → from your Home page → click on → Curriculum → Explore Subjects → then either use the search box or look through until you find the subject you are looking for.

You will find a page which includes an external newsfeed, resources from ManageBac, resources from the IB as well as additional resources suggested by the 'Subject Leader'.

Google Sites updates

Google Sites

There has been a recent slew of Google Sites updates. Here they are with links to the necessary explanations and support →

Embed content as a full page in new Google SitesSite editors can now add content as a full page from the following sources: custom code, other websites, and Google apps, such as Maps and Docs.

Import existing custom themes to new Google SitesYou can now import a custom theme from one new Google Site to another.

Adjust spacing between content in Sites using new density theme settingSite editors using new Google Sites can now adjust the spacing between the content on their site with a custom theme setting that offers Compact, Cozy, or Comfortable spacing options.

Conveniently connect site visitors with social channels in new SitesSite editors can now insert stylized social media links into pages within their site.

Wiki2Map

Wiki2Map is a useful research tool. It takes a Wikipedia page that you give it and turns it into a mind map.

Certainly useful you helping break down a 'big' topic or idea.

Apple's iPhone 14 event

Consumer electronics → this week saw the annual Apple iPhone announcement. If you missed the hour+ long event check out this 8 minute super-cut:

Weekly post #55 – Interview Warmup, mote's STEM model and the work of Childnet

Google's Interview Warmup

Google released Interview Warmup this week as part of their Grow with Google programme.

The Interview Warmup is interesting. It poses interview questions, it then transcribes the responses and offers tool to highlight the most-used words, job-related terms etc.

Even if you are not looking for a new job the technologies here are worth a look.

If you still have classic Google Sites take action now!

Google has kept extending the related deadlines but if you still have 'classic' Google Sites now is the time to transition them to 'new' Sites.

The new timeline is:

  • Starting December 1, 2022 (previously June 1, 2022): You will no longer be able to edit any remaining classic Sites in your domain.
  • Starting January 1, 2023 (previously July 1, 2022): Classic Sites will no longer be viewable unless they are converted to new Google Sites.

Read more here → Google Workspace Updates - Migrate your classic Google Sites before December 1, 2022 [16 May 2022]

Using mote STEM mode

mote enables you to easily leave audio comments/feedback within the Google Workspace for Education tools that we use. These comments can also be transcribed by mote.

For those of you appreciate any equations or compounds in your mote transcriptions to appear nicely formatted mote has 'STEM mode'.

Just enable the Enable STEM Mode and transcription sliders in the mote popup so all your new motes enjoy this feature. To access the mote popup, click on the extension icon in the upper right of your browser window.

If you are wondering about the syntax for equations and compounds is, it's a standard known as AsciiMath.

Read more here → support.mote.com - Using mote STEM mode

Top tips for talking to teenagers about online safety

A useful blog post worth reading titled → Top tips for talking to teenagers about online safety [23 September 2021]

A really good outline of ideas and starting points!

Childnet is a UK-based charity who empower children, young people, and those who support them in their online lives, and its mission is to work with others to make the internet a great and safe place for children and young people.

Their blog is certainly worth following for updates, ideas and resources. You could also follow them on Twitter →

Weekly post #43 – 2021 in Search, copying pages in Google Sites, document approvals and new ways to work with tables in Google Docs

Google – Year In Search 2021

Google produces one of these videos every year. You can explore more trends from the year at https://yearinsearch.google.

Copy a single page or subset of pages in Google Sites

Copy a single page or subset of pages in Google Sites

Google have added the ability for editors to copy a single page or subset of pages into a new site. Previously, it was only possible to make a copy of an entire site. This feature gives site editors more control, allowing users to reuse part of a site or easily break up a large site into smaller sites.

Read more here → Google Workspace Updates - Copy a single page or subset of pages in new Google Sites

Request and review formal document approvals in Google Docs

Request and review formal document approvals in Google Docs

Once a document is sent for approval, reviewers get email, browser or Google Chat notifications, based on where they have selected in Google Drive’s web settings to receive notifications. They will then receive a link they can follow directly to the document. 

If you set a due date, your reviewers will receive email reminders that their approval is needed or past due.  

If you request approval from multiple people, the document is considered approved once all reviewers approve the file. If an edit is made during the approval process, all reviewers will need to re-approve the latest version of the file and will receive email notifications in those instances. The document approval request is rejected for all reviewers if a single reviewer rejects the file. 

Once all reviewers approve the document, the file will be locked.

Read more here → Google Workspace Updates - Request and review formal document approvals in Google Docs

New ways to customise tables in Google Docs

New ways to customise tables in Google Docs

Google have added several new ways to customise tables in Google Docs.

You can now:

  • Pin a table header row to repeat on each page
  • Designate that a row should not be split across pages
  • Quickly add, and arrange columns and rows
  • Sorting tables to better organize data.
  • Use a new table sidebar to manage table properties

Read more here → Google Workspace Updates → New ways to customize tables in Google Docs

Weekly post #17 – Google Sites, Earth, Meet and the Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation

Four things to check out

Customize text style and appearance in Google Sites

Those of you using Google Sites can now adjust text size, color, font, spacing, and more while typing in a text box. This significantly expands control over how individual words, paragraphs, pages, and sections look.

In 2021, Google will add the ability to create themes, which will allow users to easily set fonts, colors, and styles across your whole site.

Read more here → Customize text style and appearance in Google Sites

Google Earth in the Classroom

Worth 7 minutes of anybody's time! Google Earth doesn't just have to live in the Individuals and Societies classrooms. Any teacher who is interested in integrating Google Earth (or Maps) into their lessons - please get in contact!

Google Arts & Culture - The First Journey Around The World

Google Arts & Culture, the Spanish Ministry of Culture and the Spanish National Commission of the First World Tour have released a new project →  “The First Journey around the World” which explores the details of the Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation.

In 1519, an expedition commanded by Ferdinand Magellan set sail from the port of Seville, Spain. The approximately 245 crew members aboard the five ships went in search of a new western route to the Maluku Islands (formerly the Moluccas or Spice Islands) in Indonesia. The voyage ended three years later, with the return of a single ship captained by Juan Sebastián Elcano. He and the 17 survivors became the first people to circumnavigate the globe in a single expedition.

You can dive into historical documents and maps, see where the expedition made landfall, take a virtual tour of a replica of the Nao Victoria, the only ship that returned to Seville, or discover the spices of animals encountered during the expedition.

The First Journey Around the World” is available to everyone through the Google Arts & Culture site and via its iOS and Android apps.

Some Google Meet settings are now “sticky”

Google Meet

Google has changing the behavior of some Google Meet settings for G Suite for Education and Enterprise for Education customers. Specifically, certain settings are now “sticky.” This means that if you turn them on or off during a meeting, they will be saved for any future meetings that use the same meeting code.

This change will apply to these settings:

  • Quick access
  • Prevent students from sharing their screen
  • Prevent students from sending chat messages

Read more here → Some Google Meet settings now “sticky” for Education users


Weekly post #5 - Google Sites, Lucid for Education and Google Arts & Culture

Two things to check out

Transition your classic sites to new Google Sites

Google Sites

If you have a 'classic' Google Site you need to take steps to move it to 'new' Google Sites before November 2020.

If you have 'classic' Google Sites associated with your G Suite account you should have received an email from Google explaining the steps you need to take.

Lucidchart and Lucidpress certification trainings

LucidPress and LucidChart are apps within the International School of Geneva - Campus des Nations Digital Toolbox.

Lucid are making a real effort with the development of 'Lucid for Education' to support the use of the Lucid apps in schools.

If you want to improve your skills with LucidPress and LucidChart you will find the Lucidchart and Lucidpress certification trainings here.

Google Arts & Culture - have you had a look at it recently?

Google Arts & Culture is a fantastic resource which should be used beyond the arts department! There are all sorts of resources and experiences that have uses in most subject areas. Have a look, share what you find with a colleague and if you would like help integrating it into your teaching and learning please just ask!

The app is worth adding to your smartphone even if it is just for the 'Art Selfie' feature that compares your selfie to thousands of artworks to see if any look like you!

Art Selfie
Art Selfie

Gridlines in Google Earth - lesson updated

With the announcement that gridlines are available in Google Earth for Chrome it would seem time to update a rather old geographyalltheway.com lesson to make use of this new feature.

"You can turn gridlines on and off in the Map Style panel, and they’ll appear in either decimal degrees or degrees, minutes and seconds, depending on the format you’ve chosen in Settings. Gridlines are available on Google Earth for Chrome, iOS and Android." Source

As Google Earth for Chrome evolves I will be adding new/redeveloped resources to geographyalltheway.com.

What is the latitude and longitude of these placemarks?
Location A - from an imported kml file

What is the latitude and longitude of these placemarks? is a straightforward resource that has students change some of the settings of Google Earth for Chrome, import a kml file of locations and then work out their latitude and longitude. The latitude and longitude of the placemarks can be entered into a Google Forms quiz for feedback.

If there are any other geographyalltheway.com resources that use Google Earth that you would like to see evolved to use Google Earth for Chrome - please let me know.

10 things to cover when introducing somebody to Google Sites

Google Sites

Google Sites is Google’s website creation tool and is a key part of G Suite for Education. Google Sites helps students and educators to efficiently create websites that work equally as effectively on a whole range of device sizes - from smartphones to desktop computers. An example worth checking out of a site created by an educator for their students is geogalot [a website for MYP Individuals and Societies and IB DP Geography by the talented Ellena Mart].

1  Where to find Google Sites

Google Sites can be accessed from the ‘waffle’ if you are in your email, calendar or Drive. Organizations may have set up an URL for direct access - for example at the International School of Geneva sites.ecolint.ch will get you there. Sites you create can also be found in your Google Drive.

The G Suite Waffle

The G Suite Waffle

2  ‘New Google Sites’ versus old Google Sites

‘Old’ aka ‘Classic Google Sites’ are on their way out! If you are creating a new site today you want to be using ‘New Google Sites’.

Old Google Sites

Old Google Sites

3 Why are you creating a website?

Before you start a frenzy of clicking and typing it is always worth taking a few moments to reflect upon why you are creating a website. The reasons why will impact the sharing options you choose and the structure you may use. Is a Google Site the best choice for what you want to do? If you want to build a blog style site - you may be better looking at Blogger.

4  Who are you creating a Google Site for?

This is an important question because it impacts how you share the site. The easiest way to share it to have a completely public site - this means there is no need for users to log in etc. However, a public site means that your work is public and accessible to all. This is a great way to collaborate! Changes made to a Google Site are not available to the users until they are ‘published’ - this allows you to easily have an editorial team (this can just be you…) working on the site and only publishing it when it is ready.

Share with others

5  How is your website going to be structured?

This part of the process is best mapped out on a piece of paper or using an online tool such as LucidChart. How will a user navigate the site? If you wanted a user to find a certain resource/lesson/piece of information - how would they get there from the homepage of the site. The easiest way to give the site a clear structure is to use a series of pages and then have sub-pages ‘below’ them.

6  What is going to be the address of your website?

Every website has an ‘address’ - otherwise known as the site’s URL (Uniform Resource Locator). If you are an educator at the International School of Geneva your site’s address will be https://sites.google.com/ecolint.ch/the-name-you-choose-here. ‘the-name-you-choose-here’ has a 30 character maximum. If you want a more ‘individual’ address this is possible and best done after a conversation with your ‘Technology for Learning Coordinator’.

7  How are Google Site pages structured?

Each page has a ‘Header’ where the title of the page goes and behind which an image can be added. The easiest way to manage these images and find them easily again is to store them in a Google Photos album. You will see in INSERT pane in the column on the right of the page that you have a choice of six different layouts to help you easily structure the page. You will also see the wide range of things that you can insert into the pages of your site. Once items (text, images etc) have been inserted they can then be moved around by clicking on the item and then waiting for the cursor to turn into a compass rose.

Google Sites Header Type options

Header type options

8  How do I make my Google Site look like I want it to?

The look of your Google site is controlled through ‘themes’ There are currently six to choose from - each of which have a number of colour choices and text styling options. When you add an item to a page such as an image or text - you can change the colour of the background. It is not the full design options that you might get from some other services - but the huge ease that comes with Google Sites easily outweighs that issue.

Theme choices

9  Will my site look differently on a phone versus a laptop or tablet?

Preview allows you to see what the page will look like once it is published without the actual need to publish it. One the preview page you will see the option to preview your page on a smartphone, tablet and computer. The dynamic resizing of your site is one of the super useful features of Google Sites. Gone are the days when everybody uses the Internet on a computer!

Google Site Preview Choices

Preview Choices

10  Are there any shortcuts I should know about?

One of the best ‘shortcuts’ is double-clicking on the pane and using the ‘shortcut circle’ that pops up to add items. Other keyboard shortcuts for Google Sites can be found here.

Google Sites Shortcut Circle

Shortcut Circle