Lumio by SMART

 

Lumio (formerly known as SMART Learning Suite Online), is a digital learning tool created by SMART. It's web-based interface, allows teachers to create engaging lessons where students can interact with in class on their Chromebooks and tablets, remotely, or on their own time on their own devices.

You can combine your teaching resources, including PDF, Google files, and SMART files to create ONE engaging lesson, or choose from a variety of ready-made resources and full lessons to hit the ground running.

So how do I get to Lumio?  Click here to identify the two locations where you can access Lumio so you can get started today!

Transform lessons into team-based assessments, activities and games, convert static content into collaborative workspaces where students can co-create together on a shared digital canvas from their own devices, or take advantage of ready-made resources like graphic organizers and manipulatives. Click here to explore the types of content you can add to your lesson, along with video resources we have attached to each tool.

Google Workspace for Education Updates Google Meet Part 3

Google Meet is upping their game in the world of video meetings.  If you want the full story on Google meet you can find it here.  

During this past school year, Google has been catching up with other video conferencing tools and they have taken the feedback provided by the millions of teachers around the world to make Meet a better program for everyone. 

Let's take a look at several of these updates:

Classroom Moderator Controls:  

• 
  End Meeting for ALL -  I have already seen this come through on our domain. When you click on the leave meeting Icon you will see this message.  You will be able to end the call for everyone, preventing students from staying on a call after the teacher leaves. 
• 
  Mute ALL - This one is already available in our domain as well. Navigate to Meeting details and you will find the Mute All button.  NICE! 
  
• Host Controls on Mobile Devices -  If you are a mobile device user in Google Meet, then you will now see HOST controls. This is really nice for those who do not have great internet connections at home but their Cellular is good. 
• CO-HOST - YES!  We have been waiting for this one for awhile.  Coming out later in 2021 we will see all teachers on a Google Classroom will share host controls. Now you will have more control over who is monitoring when one teacher is deep in the lesson. This will be great for those classrooms with Co-teachers!  Teachers will still be able to allow students/admin to join but now both teachers will be able to control these features. 
• Calls starting in Classroom - Any calls starting in Google Classroom, students will not be able to join before the teacher.  This feature has had a few issues, which we are hoping this update will fix.  Only teachers and students within the classroom will be able to join, and anyone else will have to request to join.  This is a little different then setting up your quick access controls from a calendar meeting, or from Meet,google.com. 
• Student Engagement - Students will be able to use emojis and change skin color to interact during a Meet. This is a great way to encourage all students to participate in some way.  Teachers will have full control over when reactions can be used, but it will be a great way to get immediate feedback. 





• Breakout Rooms -  Teachers will be able to set up breakout rooms ahead of time in a Google Calendar.  Allowing for smaller focused student group interactions and less time setting up those breakout rooms during class. 

  

  
  
• Transcripts - Transcripts will be available later in 2021.  Teachers will be able to share transcripts out with students, teachers and admin.  This will allow students and teachers to review lessons from the day and maintain records if needed. 
• Performance Updates:  Meet will update it's Audio/Visual Optimization to allow for it to run better when WIFI is not the best. This will allow for better performance while multitasking and reliability improvements. 

As with all updates, some will hit our domain earlier then others, but many of these will roll out later in 2021. For an easy to use guide take a look at the graphic created by John R. Sowash of Chrmbook.com.

Did you miss Part 1 or 2? Google Workspace for Education Updates Part 1

Google Workspace for Education Google Classroom Part 2

Google Workspace for Education Updates Google Classroom Part 2

Google Classroom  has added many new features to its list of updates for the 2021 year. You can read the full article on the Google Blog here.

Add-Ons:  Classroom will have Add-Ons will be added to an assignment and when students open the assignment they will be able to use the add-on without opening any other tools. 

Rich Text: When entering in instructions for assignments you will now be able to add some of these rich text features.  This means you will be able to Bold, Italic, Underline, etc.. 

Unlimited Originality Reports:  This rolled out earlier this year, but deserves another look. As a Google Workspace Plus district, we have access to unlimited originality reports which is a great way for students to check their work for potential plagiarism and will roll out in 15 languages in 2021. 

Student Engagement Tracking:

Teachers will have engagement tracking inside of classroom.  This will allow teachers to see which students are interacting with Google Classroom each day, and submitted assignments.  I’m looking forward to seeing how this one works. 

Classroom Mobile App:  Offline capabilities are going to be available with IOS and Android apps.  Students will be able to start work offline, open drive attachments, review assignments, create assignments in Google Docs all without an internet connection. Submissions will have to be done online. 

Attach/Take Picture Submissions:  Classroom is making it much easier to take/attach a photo to submit for an assignment. The photo app will be built into the Add part of Google Classroom.

Roster Sync:  Setup Classroom for teachers ahead of time, so they don’t have to send out an email or generate a code for students to join.

As with all updates, some will hit our domain earlier then others, but many of these will roll out later in 2021. For an easy to use guide take a look at the graphic created by John R. Sowash of Chrmbook.com.

Did you miss Part 1? Google Workspace for Education Updates Part 1

EdPuzzle

EdPuzzle has been around for years now and  has been a driving force in student engagement especially asynchronously.  As you watch the video by EdTech Cafe on how to get started with EdPuzzle, keep in mind these target points. 

• Videos are enhancements NOT the lesson.

• Create and upload your own videos.

• The shorter the better.  

• Snip videos to make shorter or to highlight specific areas. 

• Include interactive/recall questions which are thought provoking.  

• Add Voice Over  to reinforce important points. 

• Give feedback in EdPuzzle or Google Classroom 

Lastly do not overuse EdPuzzle, you don’t want students to roll their eyes at another EdPuzzle. You are much more engaging then any video.