Google Voice/Hangouts

Google Voice/Hangouts (Hangouts are the alternative to Google Voice outside the USA)

Google Hangouts - https://hangouts.google.com/ - is a great communication utility with huge educational potential. 

NOTE: 

1. To get started with Google Voice you'll need a G Suite Account
2. Google Voice is only available in the U.S.A. If you're outside the U.S.A., you can make calls with Google Hangouts.

Find out how to start a Hangout at https://support.google.com/hangouts/answer/3115553

FOR THOSE IN THE U.S.A...

Educators can use Google Voice to obtain a phone number to use when communicating with learners and/or other stakeholders (Employers etc.) without revealing their personal phone number. 

"Educators can connect their Google Voice number with multiple phone numbers (e.g landline number, mobile number, work number) and have incoming calls routed to all of these numbers simultaneously"

They can also select a single number to forward all their incoming calls to.

Google Voice Voicemail

All voicemails are recorded and transcribed. 

However only transcription of English messages is available for now.

Educators can set up their voicemail so they get voicemails emailed straight to their Gmail account. 

Voicemails are available as audio files that can be saved and embedded into a website or blog or used in audio editing tools such as Garageband or Audacity to create audio files for learning environment projects.

"From language teaching to storytelling, Google Voice can be used in a variety of ways with  learners."

Take a look at the following list of some good video tutorials to help you learn more about how you can integrate Google Voice within teaching and learning. 

1: What's Google Voice - https://www.youtube.com/embed/cOZU7BOeQ58
2: Voicemail Transcription - https://www.youtube.com/embed/fHuai7-jVlY 
3: One Number - https://www.youtube.com/embed/1KSoxdtyc58 
4: SMS to eMail - https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ka3T0RXwIbw 
5: Share Voicemails - https://www.youtube.com/embed/LpX0wbNtkC4 
6: Conference Calls - https://www.youtube.com/embed/QkNEntf6qdw 
7: Mobile App - https://www.youtube.com/embed/YSk9szCUDqA 

Also Check out Google Voice Help centre for more tips and tutorials - https://support.google.com/voice/#topic=1707989 

"We can but hope that Google Voice becomes available outside the U.S.A. in the near future.  Fingers crossed..."

If you give Google Voice/Hangouts a try or have already used Google Voice/Hangouts, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

1. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
2. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post. 

"I post about items that I either like using myself and have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out."

Create stunning multi-touch textbooks

Available free on the Mac App Store, iBooks Author - https://www.apple.com/uk/ibooks-author/ - is an amazing app that allows both educators and learners to create beautiful multi-touch textbooks 

— and just about any other kind of book — for...

• iPad,
• iPhone and
• Mac. 

With...

• galleries,
• video,
• interactive diagrams,
• 3D objects,
• mathematical expressions

...and more, these books bring content to life in ways the printed page never could.

iBook Author provides users with a set of pre-defined templates to help them design the background of their textbook. 

They can choose from a wide variety of styles, like...

1. classic textbook, or
2. photo book 

...in both landscape and portrait orientations. 

Users can also choose from a variety of page layouts in each template, or even create one of their own.

For educators interested in using iBooks Author with learners to create multi-touch books, the iBooks Author Starter Kit - https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/ibooks-author-starter-kit/id987003719 - is definitely a must have. 

This free eBook is available for download with iBooks on your Mac or iPad, and with iTunes on your computer. 

If you give iBook Author a try or have already used iBook Author, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments. 

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

1. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
2. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post. 

"I post about items that I either like using myself and have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out."

Turn Word Documents Into Dynamic Websites

Microsoft has announced a brand new feature that allows users to easily transform any Word Doc into an interactive and easy-to-share SWAY Web Pages that look great on any device - https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/transform-your-word-document-into-a-sway-web-page-65912b2d-8b81-41e1-ac52-c20a65ce8ecf 

SWAY Web Pages - https://sway.office.com/ - is an Microsoft Office app that makes it easy to create and share interactive reports, personal stories, presentations, and more.

This process is pretty awesome and extremely easy to do and I highly recommend educators try it out with their learners a.s.a.p!

Perhaps they could use this for...

• their currently traditional resumes. They could take their Word Doc resume and with a few button clicks they could have a dynamic on-line portfolio that they can then add their photos and videos.
• the traditional 5 paragraph essays and create multi-media featured projects and presentations that will impress any HE, FE, ACL learning providers.

The SWAY Web Pages that users create from their Microsoft account can be shared with anyone. Whoever users send the link to can view the page.

Take a look at https://www.youtube.com/embed/crsiHaYZUuA to find out more.

"Note: In Word Online, SWAY Web Pages can't be created from your personal Microsoft account, only from your work and/or school accounts."

If you give SWAY Web Pages a try or have already used SWAY Web Pages, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments. 

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

1. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
2. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post. 

"I post about items that I either like using myself and have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out."

Digital Markup Technology

Smart Annotation - http://www.smartannotation.co.uk/ - is a new tool from smart apprentices that lets users mark up their digital evidence, including videos, with feedback and comments. 

Providing constructive feedback to apprentices on their evidence of work is crucial to a learner centric delivery model facilitating reflective continuous improvements.

Smart Annotation can be used as...

1. a stand alone tool or
2. integrated seamlessly with Smart Assessor. This means that users only need to log in once and can easily digitally mark evidence, creating a smoother learning journey for both assessors and apprentices.

Find out more by... 

• watching the video at https://www.youtube.com/embed/EZ5N0_UHP5o and/or 
• viewing the Smart Annotation Brochure at http://www.smartannotation.co.uk/smart-annotation-brochure/ or https://issuu.com/design-sg/docs/smart_annotation_brochure/6

If you give Smart Annotation a try or have already used Smart Annotation, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments. 

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

1. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
2. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post. 

"I post about items that I either like using myself and have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out."

Converting Audio Files

Audio Converter - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/audio-converter/ojfphighcpfimfhblaigjckljcoeipga - is a good Chrome app to use on your Google Drive to convert audio files from one format to another.

Audio Converter supports a wide range of formats including...

• mp3,
• wav,
• ogg,
• m4a,
• m4r and
• flac. 

Other features provided by this app include...

1. multiple files support,
2. extracting sound from a video,
3. advanced conversion settings,
4. tag support

...and much more. 

NOTE: no software download is required, the app is web-based and works right in your browser. 

Audio Converter works best with files that are saved on a users computer or Google Drive. 

Covering on-line audio files is a little bit slower but in general the app does a very good job and way better than several other audio conversion apps out there.

"Audio Converter must be worth a try."

If you give Audio Converter a try or have already used Audio Converter, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments. 

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

1. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
2. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post. 

"I post about items that I either like using myself and have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out."

Explore World Cultures and Arts

Google Arts & Culture - https://artsandculture.google.com/ - is a great resource with huge educational potential. 

I reviewed it when it was first launched a couple of years ago and since then new features and materials have been added to the platform. 

Google Arts & Culture puts ‘the world’s cultural treasures at educator and/or learner fingertips. 

Google Arts & Culture allows visitors to explore the historical museums and monuments where ever they are.

Google has worked closely with several institutes and cultural organisations from around the globe to bring together historical and cultural artefacts for on-line access. 

Learners can...

• take virtual tours into different museums and explore exhibitions
• use the search functionality in the website to look for detailed  information on  a particular cultural artefact, a historical event or figure...

...and much more.

"Visitors can also open an account on Google Arts & Culture so they can create  their own galleries and save their favourite items and collections to it."

They can then share their collections with others on Google Plus.

The main resources provided by Google Arts & Culture include:

• Highlights - Browse featured content
• Categories - Explore by artist, movement, medium and more
• Collections - Explore over 1,000 museums worldwide- 
• Popular topics - This week’s top content

The Google Arts & Culture YouTube Channel -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGn7dlcAmH44GqycKa_3ssA - is well worth a closer look as is the introductory video clip - https://www.youtube.com/embed/fqXy2Q8mRQg

If you give Google Arts & Culture a try or have already used Google Arts & Culture, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments. 

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

1. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
2. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post. 

"I post about items that I either like using myself and have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out."

Working With PDFs in Other Formats

Working With PDFs in Other Formats 

CleverPDF - https://www.cleverpdf.com/ - is a free service that anyone can use to convert a PDF into...

• a Word document,
• a Pages file, or
• an ePub file. 

"That's just the start of what CleverPDF offers." 

CleverPDF can also be used to create...

• PowerPoint slides,
• Keynote slides,
• images,
• Numbers, and
• Excel files.

CleverPDF can also be used to convert other files into PDFs. e.g. users, educators and/or learners,  can use CleverPDF to create PDFs from...
- Word,
- PPTX,
- Excel, and
- images.

And if you already have a PDF, but need to modify it, CleverPDF has tools for that as well. 

CleverPDF will let you...

• combine PDFs,
• split PDFs,
• apply watermarks to your PDFs, and
• encrypt your PDFs.

"To use CleverPDF users don't have to register on the site or enter their email address in order to convert a PDF and then download the end product."

There are many uses within education and the "Real World" and must be worth a closer look.

If you give CleverPDF a try or have already used CleverPDF, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments. 

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

1. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
2. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post. 

"I post about items that I either like using myself and have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out."

Great Websites for Younger Learners

Great Websites for Kids - http://gws.ala.org/ - is an excellent platform that reviews websites geared towards learners up to age 14. 

The reviews are carried out by members of the Association for Library Service to Children which is a division of the American Library Association. 

The websites reviewed are organised into eight categories...

• social sciences,
• sciences,
• reference desk,
• mathematics and computers,
• literature and languages,
• history and biography,
• arts, and
• animals. 

These collections provide wonderful resources for educators and/or younger learners to access...

1. content,
2. news and
3. events 

...written specifically for them. 

If you give Great Websites for Kids a try or have already used Great Websites for Kids, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments. 

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

1. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) an
2. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post. 

"I post about items that I either like using myself and have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out."

World Library of Science

Looking for resources for STEM/STEAM educators, learners and science enthusiasts? 

If so, take a look at World Library of Science - https://www.nature.com/wls - offers a wide variety of science resources in the form of...

• eBooks,
• articles, 
• videos, and 
• audio. 

The content of the World Library of Science is meant to inspire more learning and curiosity, and help train learners and educators alike, both in the content and cultural impacts of scientific discovery.

The teachers section in World Library of Science - https://www.nature.com/wls/teacher-page - is a place where educators can create an engaging  virtual space or classroom for their learners.

They can use this space to...

• share course materials,
• initiate discussions, and
• post announcements for learners.

The Library section - https://www.nature.com/wls/library - provides access to the following materials...

• Topic Rooms: central locations for collections of articles, eBooks and groups on a broad topic area.
• eBooks: browse all eBooks, each marked by learning level: basic or intermediate.
• Spotlight: focused explorations of key topics in science: current issues in the news, emerging lab techniques, thought leader perspectives, governmental policy, and a range of other subjects. 
• Multimedia: archives of video and audio interviews and animations. 

"So many resources, the World Library of Science must be worth a closer look!"

If you give World Library of Science a try or have already used World Library of Science, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments. 

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

1. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
2. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post. 

I post about items that I either like using myself and have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out.

Educational Videos, Curated & Rated By Educators

Boclips for Teachers - https://www.boclips.com/teachers - hosts more than two million educational videos from more than 100 vetted video producers.
 

Educators and learners will probably recognise many of the names in the list of videos producers e.g. Crash Course and TED-Ed.

I think that Boclips for Teachers could become a great alternative to displaying YouTube videos in Learning Environments as the vetting of video producers who contribute to Boclips is significant.

When users search in Boclips for Teachers they won't find "related" videos that aren't actually related to their search.

In Boclips for Teachers, users can...

• search for videos according to keyword. 
• can put them into a collection in their Boclips account.

NOTE: Boclips doesn't use the YouTube video player like many other educational video sites and that's significant because it means that if your employer, Learning Provider etc., blocks YouTube users will still be able to access all of the content available through Boclips for Teachers.

At the time of posting this, Boclips for Teachers is still in beta.

"As part of that beta Boclips is asking teachers to complete short surveys in exchange for unlimited, lifetime access to the Boclips library."

If you give Boclips for Teachers a try - https://teachers.boclips.com/ - or have already used Boclips for Teachers, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

 

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

1. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
2. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post.

I post about items that I either like using myself and have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out.