Google is my best friend. It is an amazing educational tool for teachers and students. The innovate extensions they come out with only enhance the Google experience and make your life as a teacher easier.
Google Chrome + Google Classroom is a little slice of heaven. If you use Google Classroom, you will love these extensions. Consider using one or more in your daily teacher life.
Below are a few extensions that can make your Google Classroom experience more awesome than it already is.
1. PearDeck
PearDeck is an interactive presentation tool. Once installed, you can open a Google Slides presentation and use PearDeck to add questions to each slide. These can be multiple-choice, short answer, or matching. Students need to sign into the presentation by using a code. The slide presentation will then appear on their individual devices.
As you present your information, the PearDeck slides will appear on students’ individual screens. This gives students a chance to respond and the teacher to monitor what students know. Teachers can anonymously share student answers with the class so they can see how others respond. TPearDeck is way to give instant feedback.
2. Kami
Kami is a way to annotate a PDF. If you assign a lot of reading and want students to interact with the text, Kami is the way to go. Again, some features of this extension are free but there is also a paid version too. Kami works seamlessly with Google Classroom and Drive.
3. Screencastify
This by far is my most favorite extension. I have the paid version and I think it is worth every penny. You can use the free version to make a limited number of videos a month or you can pay $25 a year for unlimited use. The bonus is that I just learned you can easily make GIFs with Screencastify (Thanks to Bethany).
Use this extension to record your lectures, present your slide decks, make GIFs, create comprehension video and so much more. I love this because it syncs with my Google Drive and it will automatically make a YouTube video.
4. Classwork Zoom
This is a teacher’s dream. Classwork Zoom is not video conferencing. It is a game-changer for student engagement and teacher monitoring. Classroom Zoom can answer questions:
- Are my students engaged in the work I’ve assigned?
- Are they managing their time?
- Are they doing their own work in individual assignments?
- Are they contributing evenly enough in group work?
There is a free trial but this does come at a cost. It is not free. If you are interested in it, talk to your district. Learn more about Classwork Zoom here.
5. Mote
Mote is a way to provide verbal feedback. Mote is a voice recording extension that works seamlessly in Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets. I know this won’t work for all teachers but it is worth a mention to save some time. Simply highlight any text to make a comment as usual, then click the Mote icon that appears on the side of the comment box. Students will be able to listen to your voice comment by clicking on the recording link that posts with your comment.
6. Custom Cursor
Custom Cursor is a fun extension that will temporarily replace your default cursor with one in a variety of colors and styles. Although this may seem like a random tool, it’s actually really helpful for things like demonstrations and screen recordings for distance learning. By default, mouse pointers are relatively small and difficult to see, so swapping that out with something more noticeable (even larger) can help students better track your movements in an online video.
Change is good
Don’t be afraid to try something new. Pick one of the extensions and play around with it. Change is a good thing.
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