Teaching with Technology

Using educational technology to enhance the learning environment and increase student engagement!

Create Smartphone Apps with Google Sheets

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Hello, friends! Do you ever stumble upon an app, site, or tool and have no earthly clue how you got there, but are totally thrilled that you did? That is 100% what I’m feeling right now as I write to you today about Glide – a super fantastic tool that lets ANYONE create smartphone apps with Google Sheets WITHOUT CODING. That’s right. Create an app without coding. YAY!!!

Here’s how it works:

  1. Go to glideapps.com and sign in with a Google account. Since your new apps will be made from an existing Google Spreadsheet, you’ll need to be signed into a Google account.
  2. Select your Google Spreadsheet, and Glide will import the data, creating a default app that you can manage.

Each sheet in your Spreadsheet will be a different tab on your app. You’ll notice in the screenshot below that my Spreadsheet has three sheets, which means my app has three tabs.

Next, you’ll be able to customize your app by selecting “edit sheet” on the left, or by clicking on an icon on your home screen and choosing “add component” in the top right corner of your screen. Add the option to comment, take notes, send an email, or link a URL to a button.

Each column of your spreadsheet will be a different property of your app. The sheet of the app listed below shows two columns on the “unit” tab of my app. When users see the Foundations and Formations of Government unit on the app, they’ll see the Bitmoji image I included as a link on my spreadsheet. Awesome, right?!

When you’re ready to launch your app, simply click “open app” at the bottom of your app creation screen. You’ll see the option to share the app or open it on your device by scanning the QR Code.

When you scan the QR Code, you’ll see a pop-up with directions on how to add your new app to the home screen of your smartphone.

That’s it! You’ve created an app using a Google Spreadsheet with NO CODING. You won’t be able to download the app from your App Store unless you opt for one of the premium account options that Glide offers. I’m a teacher, so I chose the freebie!

Any time you need to update your app, just log into your Glide account, click on your created app and then “Edit Spreadsheet.” Back on your Glide screen, you’ll be asked to reload your Spreadsheet which lets Glide add your updates to your app.

It’s that simple!

I’m excited to add “create your own app” to the options on our Apply HyperDoc page! Since Glide works with a Google Spreadsheet, our students can also collaborate with their peers on app creation – again, with NO CODING required! Super cool!!

Have a fantastic rest of the week and thanks for reading 🙂

 

 

Turn OFF Desktop Notifications for Padlet

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Hey, all! Four of my six high school classes are currently working with Padlet in some capacity this week, and both of my online classes are collaborating on a Padlet as well. If you haven’t noticed – I LOVE THIS TOOL! Yes, I know they changed their free option last year – I remember the sheer panic that occurred on Twitter – but I’ve dealt with it and have cleaned up my old/under/unused padlets in order to make room for the new. Thank goodness!

I’ve gushed about Padlet before, but here’s the real reason for this post…

I’m sure I’m not the only one that has clicked “accept” at some point in time when a dialogue box pops up on my screen while I’m frantically trying to create something to use as part of a lesson, right?

Don’t lie, you know you’ve been there, too 🙂

At some point in time, I seem to have enabled desktop notifications for Padlet, no doubt thinking it would be fantastic. It does sound great, right? I’m immediately notified when someone updates or adds to a padlet wall that we’re using.

Except …

I’M IMMEDIATELY NOTIFIED WHEN SOMEONE UPDATES OR ADDS TO A PADLET WALL THAT WE’RE USING.

Seriously. My dual credit students were viewing a presidential documentary prior to beginning our unit on American imperialism and BAM. We hear near constant “dings” and see messages appear in the bottom of the screen because students in my online EdTech class were adding resources to their class padlets.

I mean, hooray that my students are collaborating and sharing!

But, holy moly. If I heard one more ding over the voice of a historian discussing the influence of William McKinley’s presidency, I was probably going to lose my mind.

If you’ve found yourself in the same boat, here’s how to fix it.

Simply open the Padlet and click on the “lock” icon on the address bar. You’ll see a list of options appear – click on the notifications dropdown menu and click “BLOCK.”

You won’t regret it.

Maybe you’ll need to set a reminder on your phone so you remember to go back and check on the responses to the padlets you’re using in class. Maybe, you’ll go back when your class is finished viewing the documentary and adjust the settings so you are notified of any changes to the padlets. Maybe you won’t 🙂

I hope you’re having a great week and you can use this trick to save your sanity!

Thanks for reading 🙂

March Mystery Post – Teaching with Technology

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Happy March! I don’t know about the weather in your neck of the woods, but here in Southeast Missouri, March is coming in like a LION! Thursday and Friday of last week were ice days for us, and we’re expecting 4-6 inches+ of snow tonight into tomorrow morning. I love snow days and we’ve definitely had our share this year! In keeping with the tradition of the last 6 months, here is the monthly mystery post from Teaching with Technology!

Throughout the last few months, we’ve looked at formative assessment, QR codes, the flipped classroom, teacher self-care, and more great topics. What, oh what, will our topic be for March???

Hmmmm…

DRUMROLL, PLEASE …

The March Mystery post topic from Teaching with Technology is …

GOOGLE FORMS!

That’s right, Google Forms are absolutely amazing. As I say in my book, Illuminate, Google really hit a home run when they introduced Forms. They’re so versatile, can be used for just about anything, and are a fantastic way to intentionally use technology to illuminate learning.

One of the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the school year was to use pre and post-assessments for every unit to get a clearer picture of student growth in relation to our learning goals. Of course, I used Google Forms to administer the assessments, but instead of only gathering the data on the Google Sheet that collects the responses, I decided to create a spreadsheet for my students to collect evidence of learning and progress. Check out how we chart learning targets here using available technology.

I also love using Forms for summative assessment and probably will begin to shift my assessments from my LMS to Google Forms soon. Why? Because of the ability to lock students into the Form when it’s assigned from Google Classroom (and when they’re on a school Chromebook)!! That’s right! Locked Forms is currently in beta testing, but when assigning a Form (using the quiz feature) in Classroom, teachers can toggle a lovely little button to turn on “locked mode.” When students begin the quiz, their screen completely locks and will not allow them to exit until they submit or close the quiz. The response from my students has been hilarious – “wait, it just locks us out of everything?!” and “hang on, let me figure out how to destroy this, Mrs. Petty.” To date, they have not been able to “destroy” the locked form which is absolutely fantastic.

How do you use Google Forms in your classroom? Check out these posts for more ideas!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Social Media Book Study – Teacher Resources

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Happy Monday! We’re one week into the “Illuminating” social media book study, and I’m having a blast keeping up with all of the great resources and ideas that our teacher group is sharing on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

Here’s a quick rundown of what was shared last week …

On Monday, our study began and our teacher group shared a few “must follow” educators across social media. Who would you add to these suggestions?

On Tuesday, we talked about awesome formative assessment tools …

On Wednesday, our teacher group geeked out about the flipped classroom concept, which is one of my MOST FAVORITE things to talk about …

Thursday, we talked about virtual reality and virtual field trips …

And on Friday, our teacher group looked outside of the edu realm to reflect on a “non-edu” book that we’re reading or that we’d recommend, and I’m sharing my current obsession … OUTLANDER! I’m on book 6 of the series and want the books to GO ON AND ON!!

I’m having SO much fun with this book study style … have you joined the fun, yet? Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@Bethany_Petty), Instagram (@bethanypetty_educ8), and Facebook (http://facebook.com/usingedtech) to catch our daily topics!
Thanks for reading and joining the discussion!

 

 

Try This Tomorrow Podcast Episode 2: Inquiry Inquiries

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Back to back posts? What the WHAT?! That never happens, but today is your lucky day! As you’ve read, I launched a podcast last month for teachers called, “Try This Tomorrow: Talks with Teachers,” because I wanted to share not only my perspectives on education, but also ideas and strategies from other teachers from around the world. Yesterday, I recorded an episode with MY FIRST GUEST, Trevor MacKenzie to learn about using inquiry in the classroom.

I don’t know about you, but when I first heard about inquiry my mind immediately went to topics like genius hour or 20 time or passion projects – things that are typically supplementary or ancillary to the curriculum. I’m SO GLAD that I talked to Trevor yesterday because he totally cleared up this common misconception that I, along with many other educators, had/have about the use of inquiry in the classroom!

One of my goals in my podcast is sharing applicable, easy-to-implement strategies that teachers can use in their classrooms tomorrow – hence the name of the podcast! I took this idea from the end of the chapters of Illuminate which wraps up the chapter by giving teachers easy-to-implement ideas they can use right away.

I am SO EXCITED for you to hear what Trevor has to say about using inquiry in the classroom and how you can “dive into inquiry” on Monday!

Be sure to check out Trevor’s resources for implementing inquiry as well as both of his books at trevormackenzie.com and listen to the Try This Tomorrow podcast, episode 2!

Thanks for reading & listening 🙂