At the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board, we are Switching on Learning by integrating Google’s powerful ecosystem into every classroom. This blog is a dedicated space for sharing the ideas, methodologies, and digital tools that transform the modern educational experience.
Our Digital Toolkit
We empower educators and students by leveraging a robust, collaborative environment:
Google Workspace for Education: Driving seamless collaboration through Docs, Drive, and Classroom.
The Power of AI: Utilizing Gemini and integrated AI features to personalize learning and spark creativity.
Data-Driven Assessment: Using MarkBook to track student growth with precision and transparency.
The Process of Learning: Leveraging Revision History to emphasize growth, iteration, and the visible journey of a student's work.
From interactive Chrome tools to digital storytelling, we aren't just using tech—we’re using it to bridge gaps, foster global collaboration, and future-proof our students' skills.
The Widget in the upper right corner of the Chrome Browser that looks like a Bell is going to disappear. This widget has provided notification updates for Google+, Google Photos and Google Apps Marketplace. The disappearance of this widget is not a major issue since you will still be able to manage web and app notifications inside of each individual Google product.
Problem: The Chrome Browser is very slow or freezes up when Bookmarks are selected.
This problem may have been caused by a bug in a Chrome Browser update that replicates the user's bookmarks so many times that they could end up with well over 100000 bookmarks! The large number of bookmarks causes long load times and slows the Chrome Browser down to the point where it will freeze up. Fixing this problem will cause the user to lose all of their bookmarks!
The solution requires deleting the local profile on the computer. If this is a WECDSB school computer, the School Technician will need to be involved as Deepfreeze should be in a "Thawed" state before proceeding.
With Deepfreeze in a "Thawed" state, find the location of the local profile by opening the Chrome Browser and login to the user's Google account. In a new Browser Tab visit the following URL: chrome://version
Look for the Profile Path in the output page; copy the actual Profile Path to the clipboard. Logout of the user's Google account and close the Chrome Browser. Open Windows File Explorer or Mac Finder and paste in the Profile Path you previously copied to the clipboard. Backup one directory level and then delete the entire Profile directory.
Open the Chrome Browser again and login to the user's Google account. Visit the following URL: https://chrome.google.com/sync Notice the number of Bookmarks stored in the Cloud, the number is probably very large. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the Reset Sync button.
That should get rid of all Bookmarks and make Chrome response much quicker. You will most likely need to log the user back into the Chrome Browser and in settings force the browser to once again sync.
You may have played the game Guess Who? as a kid. In it, each player was given a bank of 20 or so faces. You each had to choose one and then take turns asking each other yes/no questions until you could guess which person your partner picked. We have the ability to create a similar game but with images related to our subject areas. For example, consider these 16 images of famous art pieces. Students in an art class could practice their knowledge of both art related knowledge and terminology while asking questions.
To create these games we use a software app called Desmos Activity Builder. This app was developed as a companion to Desmos' free graphing calculator and was used primarily to create activities related to math. In this case, the Desmos version of "Guess Who?" is called Polygraph. And even though this app was developed for mathematics, this Polygraph activity creator can easily be used to create these "Guess Who" type games for any subject area. The hard part, really, is just coming up with 16 related images for your students to look at and describe. Watch the video below to see how to create your own.
To help out, I have created some for a few subject areas
It doesn’t take fancy equipment. Students can record and even edit audio on their smartphones or tablet. Often, videos will require the correct lighting or staging. However, a podcast is different because it’s limited to sound. Many of the tools are free. Students can edit audio with Audacity, which you can use on a Mac, PC, or in Linux.
You can listen on the go. As a teacher, you can load all the audio to one place and listen on the way home. Similarly, students can listen to each other’s podcasts as well.
It’s a chance for students to develop their voice. Students can own the entire process, from inquiry through research, through composition, editing, and launching. In the process, they can practice their public speaking skills, interview skills, and communication skills.
It’s a way for all students to participate. Because you can prep ahead of time and edit afterward, I found that many introverts actually thrive when given the chance to podcast. Similarly, ELL students who might need additional language support have the time and space to practice ahead of time before recording.
It develops lifelong skills. Students learn how to research, think critically, create, iterate, and empathize with an audience. In some cases, you might even have students market their podcasts and learn how to reach an authentic audience.
Things to Consider Before Podcasting:
Before getting started with student podcasts, consider the following:
How much time do you want to spend on your podcasts? Will your students be editing the podcasts and adding audio or is this more of quick record? If you have time to spend on it, you can have students create well-polished podcasts. However, there’s nothing wrong with having students create podcasts quickly with a focus on the learning/processing of information. Consider, too, if you will have students create a single podcast and drop it as a binge-worthy season or if they’ll stick to a weekly schedule.
Who is the intended audience? Think through whether you want students to publish to classmates, to parents, to the school, or to the larger global community. You’ll need to be sure that you are COPA and CIPPA compliant and that you have the correct media releases.
Where will you house the podcasts?If you want to have a public podcast and reach a larger audience, you might want to go with a self-hosted WordPress site that will allow you to upload audio and create a feed on iTunes. However, you create a modified version of this by having students record the audio with a simple image in the background as a YouTube video or by posting a link on Google Drive.
Is there a quiet space? It helps if you have permission to move outside but it might also help to use a foam device to reduce audio distractions.
How will you keep it authentic?The last thing students want to do is create an audio worksheet or even an audio essay. A podcast is a different format and, on some level, a different genre of composition. How will you help students explore an audio-only format? What will they need to focus on?
How is this supporting learning?In other words, how will you connect your podcast to the standards?
This is a fun activity where students make a snowman using pieces and parts provided, and then write a story about them. This is a great way to develop tech skills such as copy and paste, drag and drop, and basic of Google Slides. It also encourages creativity and writing skills.
Google Drawings also works well for drag and drop activities like "Magnetic Poetry". With this template, students are provided with 100 common words from the Dolch list, as well as many winter-themed words. They can then drag and drop these words onto the canvas to write a poem, sentence, or story.
See these activities and many more primary focused Google activities on Eric Curt's blog Control Alt Achieve.
