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Lots of strategies that facilitate critical thinking, discussion, accessing prior knowledge, and more.

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Access Google Slides with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).

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Feeling overwhelmed with all the sudden shifts in education?

Regain control with HyperDocs: digital lesson design that you create for your own students.

Why digital lesson design?

When was the last time you sat down to think through all the steps of a lesson plan? After years of implementing the curriculum in a classroom, this likely becomes natural to you. However, remote teaching and learning call for a new way of designing instruction. Educators have been called to action -- change the way you teach! HyperDocs are digital lessons that can help you navigate this new territory, and do it in a meaningful way for all.

Our teaching manifesto reveals all the ways teachers are asked to reach learners. And now there have been new layers added to that list, such as: simultaneously teach in asynchronous and synchronous ways, use new web tools, assess students with non- "Google-able" questions, help students develop executive functioning skills on their own, promote social skills via screen, develop video conferencing norms, consider how to provide meaningful feedback remotely. The list goes on. We have been called to change the way we teach, overnight. The most effective way to lean into this sudden opportunity is to design HyperDocs. During a time where many educators are feeling like they lost control of their teaching lives, we believe that lesson design is something you are in control of!

In the image below, we highlight the 5 Reasons Why HyperDocs are Changing Education.

Our lesson design principles are grounded in the 4C's, SAMR model, Universal Design for Learning framework, ISTE standards, and research around various cycles of learning. We do not want teachers to simply assign a document with links. Instead, we invite the educator to create a digital learning experience for students. Now let's determine how to create a HyperDoc in just five (5) steps.

5 Step Lesson Planning Tool

Thinking through these five components will help you prepare for creating your own HyperDoc lesson. These are the five steps involved in designing a digital lesson. Once you complete this thinking, you are ready to start your lesson! The following tool will guide you through the five steps.

This fillable lesson planning tool will help you think through the first steps of lesson design online.

More of a pen/paper thinker? You can also print out this pdf version to write in your lesson ideas.

If you use Microsoft Word, you can download the first version as Word (.docx)

The Design Process in Action

Curious how the lesson planning process works? Once you have considered the 5 steps to create a HyperDoc, you are ready to begin designing. You have three choices on how to get started: remix one you have already seen, use a template, or start from scratch. If it helps, check out the three links below to see the transition from tool → planning/thinking → HyperDoc lesson!

For Example:

TOOL THINK/PLAN THE HYPERDOC LESSON

"Designing a HyperDoc is a series of decisions that you make with your learners in mind."

Ready to learn more?

Check out the USS Maine lesson by @scottpadway and the remix version for remote learning:
Lesson for traditional classroom setting
Lesson for an at-home/remote learning setting
Annotated version to show the modifications

Our Remote Teaching Course and Study Guide can help you further navigate the design process.

Comments (1)

Thank you for the tool and short video.

Thank you for the tool and short video.

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Feeling overwhelmed with all the sudden shifts in education? Regain control with HyperDocs: digital lesson design that you create for your own students. When was the last time you sat down to think through all the steps of a lesson plan? After years of implementing the curriculum in a classroom, this likely becomes natural to you.

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Book Creator is a simple tool for creating awesome digital books. Create your own teaching resources or have your students take the reins.

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Coronavirus (COVID-19) Latest Updates and Information - ICOE is working with local, state, and federal partners to provide the most accurate and up-to-date information for our community. Staff are encouraged to direct all inquiries to this interagency resource: Imperial County COVID-19 Information

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Matt Miller taught in public schools for more than 10 years, teaching all levels of high school Spanish. In his career, he planned nearly 12,000 class lessons. He taught more than half a million instructional minutes. And he graded work for nearly 2,000 days of class.

His blog and book, both titled "Ditch That Textbook", have equipped and inspired tens of thousands of educators in more than 100 countries. He is a Google Certified Innovator (Austin '14), a Skype Master Teacher, a Bammy! Awards nominee, and winner of the WTHI-TV Golden Apple Award.

He lives in west central Indiana and says that he's living the dream -- happily married ... with three kids ... two dogs ... and a mortgage.

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The tips, tools and practices you need to teach remotely

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Community of Practice May 5 May 19 Dates Dates: May 6 May 20

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Coronavirus (COVID-19) Latest Updates and Information - ICOE is working with local, state, and federal partners to provide the most accurate and up-to-date information for our community. Staff are encouraged to direct all inquiries to this interagency resource: Imperial County COVID-19 Information

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ICOE Professional Development Calendar - Spring 2020

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ICOE Professional Development Calendar - Spring 2020

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"I wish that you were HERE or that I were THERE or that we were together ANYWHERE"
- Anonymous

English Language Arts/Literacy

If you are looking for a fun way to connect with your child's reading, play the Roll and Chat game! Research shows that adult and child communication is one of the top literacy skill development strategies. You can also take these questions and adapt them to suit your child's abilities or any topic. This is our very own ICOE Coordinator, Jessica Din, with her son, Andrew. Enjoy!

Check out this resource from Story Corps that allows students to practice speaking and listening skills as they conduct interviews. Recordings can be uploaded to the Library of Congress where they will join thousands of other stories. So, download the app and get started today. Listen, honor, and share the stories that can be remembered forever.

Do you need an alternative to reading stories to your children or students?
Finger Plays are short stories or nursery rhymes put to movement. They are a great way to support language development, directionality, and vocabulary. Finger Plays also promotes the development of large motor skills while at the same time helping with cognitively and physically controlling those large muscle movements in our young children. Finger Plays help to build a solid foundation for learning.

History Social Science

If you are looking for lessons that focus on students creating primary sources during the COVID19 Pandemic, this video will walk you through a great resource that can be used for all grade levels, students who need language support, and students with disabilities. Here is a link to the resource: https://tinyurl.com/covid-journal-all, created by UC Berkeley History Social-Science Project. If you have any questions, please email her at tracy.canalez@icoe.org.

Looking for a resource to inspire your child/student to ask questions? Well, check out this crash course, and learn how to use the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) at home or in the classroom. Want more resources? Click here to access more QFT resources to use at home or the classroom.

Social Emotional Learning

Talking about our emotions is never easy, but having a the space and the vocabulary to do so is absolutely necessary for our mental and emotional well-being. In the Book Permission to Feel, Dr. Marc Brackett describes the skills and gives us the steps to build our own emotional intelligence. Watch this video to learn the RULER method, which can help anyone to identify, name, and manage their emotional state.

Do you find your kids are struggling to focus? Give them constant breaks and try a Pomodoro break (brain break). Here is a link to brain breaks you can try with your children as they tackle distance learning. Maybe you would benefit from a brain break, as you work on the various tasks you have yourself.

Math

Help students continue to building their conceptual understanding of math topics through the LESH Model. Through modeling, writing, and number sentences students are diving into their math problems with rigor and creativity. This strategy can be used at all grade levels and with many concepts. Grab a piece of paper, think of a math problem, and dive in!

Looking for a fun activity to get your child/students excited about math, try some clothesline math activities. All you need is some string and the printed cards from this link to get them started. Don't have a printer? Go to this link and create your own cards. The most important part are the math conversations around the activity.

Take a look at another way in which students can practice recognizing numbers in clusters. Remember this can be duplicated at home with any physical book, online readings or household objects. Enjoy!

New Generation Science Standards/Science Technology Engineering Mathematics

A great way to start NGSS lessons and pique curiosity is to use phenomena. This video demonstrates a way phenomena can be introduced along with using interactive science notebooks and the "See, Think, and Wonder" routine. This video was put together by John Lazarcik, ICOE NGSS Coordinator. Enjoy!

This is the second part of yesterday's crushed can phenomenon video. First-Draft thinking and new knowledge are introduced today to help students revise their models describing "What happened to the crushed cans?" New knowledge is introduced in the form of another phenomenon that is similar to the crushed cans. Can anyone come up with an explanation of the cans? Hope to hear from you soon. Tomorrow's NGSS video will introduce the question, "Do I have to touch objects to get them to move?" This has been modeled in 2 nd and 3 rd grade classrooms. See you soon.

Today's phenomena can be used for 5 th grade, Middle School, and High School. Students will need their Interactive Science Notebooks we introduced yesterday and a talking stick which I explain during the video. This is an excellent phenomenon to try at home and really engage your kids. The use of models is introduced as way to help make kids thinking public. I will complete this lesson in another video tomorrow. Any feedback or ideas for videos would be welcomed. Enjoy!

This video takes us outside as we try to answer the question, "Where does the water go?" A small amount of water is poured on a hot sidewalk and we observe what happens over time. The students are then asked the question and are given three choices to reply:

1. The water disappears

2. The water goes right to the clouds

3. The water goes to the air around us

Today's lesson helps students develop a mindset of curiosity and provides language tools to actively and directly engage with the natural world. The "I Notice, I Wonder, and It Reminds Me Of" is an excellent protocol to get students to become better observers and notice things others don't notice. The protocol was created by beetlesproject.org.

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If you are looking for a fun way to connect with your child's reading, play the Roll and Chat game! Research shows that adult and child communication is one of the top literacy skill development strategies. You can also take these questions and adapt them to suit your child's abilities or any topic.

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CDE/SBE Remote Learning Guidance Document

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Whiteboard.fi

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Amazing Online Whiteboard with Collaboration and its FREE!

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Yvonne Keaton Imperial Unified School District

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AMLE - Association for Middle Level Education

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Much of the writing we assign our students is public writing-writing to communicate with others. Writing-to-learn is personal writing, writing that helps students increase comprehension of texts-fiction and nonfiction-in all disciplines. Reader response compels readers to interact with the text and makes visible for readers and their teachers the depth of text comprehension. This is the ninth in a series of columns on scaffolding writing-to-learn by teaching a variety of reader response strategies before, during, and after reading.
Effective after-reading response employs a text reformulation strategy in which readers reconstruct text read into another type of text. This synthesis, a critical thinking skill that involves putting together assorted parts to make a new whole, helps readers in all disciplines not only relate information learned, but rethink the meaning of this learning and connect new learning to other learnings and their developing views of their world.

The Importance of Comparing and Contrasting

We go to the grocery store to buy a product. There are multiple varieties, so we need to "read" them, comparing them to decide which one to buy. First, we must determine the basis of comparison we will employ such as cost, size, value, company reputation, and ingredients. Sometimes we choose the more expensive brand because the ingredients are healthier; sometimes we choose the cheaper store brand because the ingredients are exactly the same and in the same proportions. At times, the packaging of the more expensive brand is sturdier and will keep the product longer. Or the contents are organically grown.

As informed citizens, we compare and contrast constantly. We decide which politician will garner our vote, which route to take to work, which outfit is most appropriate for a particular activity. Comparing-contrasting is a decision strategy, one that is crucial to teach our students. It requires the engagement of critical thinking, such as analysis, to discover subtle, but important, differences and unexpected similarities between two subjects as adolescents learn to compare and contrast in meaningful ways to make informed decisions.

And although comparative thinking is a natural operation and essential to learning, research shows that most students have a difficult time making use of comparisons. However, when learned, this structure helps them organize both new and known information and develop their ideas, especially about what they have read. Comparing and contrasting based on text read is crucial for deeper understanding, and readers need scaffolding to determine important information and organize it. One way of doing so is by writing poetry in two voices.

Poetry in Two Voices

Probably the first example of poetry in two voices was Paul Fleischman's Joyful Noise: Poetry in Two Voices, which compared the lives of insects. One example is the poem "Honeybees," in which the similarities and differences between a queen bee and a worker bee are revealed. In poetry in two voices, poets write from two perspectives, comparing and contrasting. Items or content that are similar are written directly across from each other and are read simultaneously; the contrasting details are written on separate lines and read one at a time, in whatever order the writer determines more effective. Or, the material can be written in the manner of a Venn diagram with the lines pertinent to both entities written in the middle. Examples of both formats will be shown in this article.

Students can compare two texts or compare elements, such as characters, settings, events, or ideas within a text or they can compare elements within a text to themselves or the world at large. When students compose poems in two voices based on the content they are learning, they are examining and analyzing similarities and differences and going back to the text and reformulating the text into another genre. They are interacting with the text (Roessing, 2013). Read aloud by two people, these poems take on the power of their voices. Many times after taking part in reading their poem, or listening to it being read by two other voices, students want to revise so the poetry most effectively communicates their message.

As a reading strategy, two-voice poetry requires students to return to text multiple times, looking at what was read from divergent perspectives.

English-Language Arts

In ELA classes students read many texts in different genres and divergent forms. To create their poems, they can compare and contrast characters from within a text to determine their similarities and differences and, more importantly, the consequences of those similarities and differences. In Langston Hughes' short story "Thank You, Ma'am" there are two characters: an older woman, Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, and a teenager named Roger. Their lives unexpectedly intertwine when Roger attempts to snatch Mrs. Jones' purse and she decides to take him home and teach him a valuable lesson. While on the surface, these two appear to be very different, the reader finds that they are not. The importance of that connection and their similarities comes out when crafting a poem in their two voices (see figure 1).

Another way two-voice poetry can be employed is to compare and contrast characters from two texts, illustrating the commonalities in the characters despite their "residence" in a separate text and setting and reflecting the universality of conflicts that characters face. Some examples are shown in the social studies section below. Many secondary teachers pair canonical texts with modern texts, and writing a poem in two voices between characters in those paired texts would illustrate their commonality while acknowledging the difference in their lives and experiences.

A third way students can employ poetry in two voices with literature is by comparing and contrasting a character with either an actual person or with themselves, connecting even more closely with the text. One student, a reluctant reader, discovered a strong personal connection with Lonnie from Walter Dean Myers' novel Hoops. See figure 2 for an excerpt from his poem in two voices "Lonnie & Me" (Roessing, 2009).

Comparing oneself with a character from the canon may serve to illustrate to students that modern life presents similar conflicts-although events may differ-and illustrates that we all have more in common than one may assume.

Social Studies

In a sixth grade world cultures class, students studied traditional cultures through Cinderella variants. The teacher reviewed the familiar French fairytale Cendrillion, and compared it to the Grimm brothers German variant, Aschenputtel; these two tales are similar since they both derive from traditional European cultures. The teacher then read Lily, a Japanese variant, and the class compared the stories based on the nine motifs common in Cinderella tales, such as the mother dying, help from a magical agent, a test of identity, and a happy ending. Students compared the cultures based on their background knowledge and as reflected in the tales. Next, small groups of students each read a variant from a different traditional culture from Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America; charted the motifs; and prepared and presented a puppet show of their variant to their classmates (Roessing, 2012).

As a last step to compare and contrast traditional cultures as part of their world cultures studies, students were introduced to poetry in two voices. They were paired with a student who had read a different variant and tasked with writing a poem in two voices as their Cinderella characters. The teacher first created and presented an example based on the French and German Cinderellas (see excerpt from the poem in figure 3). Because the students' tales were so different from each other, she next showed them an example of a two-voice poem from two very different cultures, based on Aschenputtel and Lily (see figure 4).

The students, in pairs, then wrote their own poems in two voices following the examples. The student poem about the heroines in two of the oldest variants, Yeh-Hsien, more commonly known as Yeh-Shen, from China, and Rhodopis, the Egyptian Cinderella, is seen in figure 5. While they may not appear to have much in common, readers were able to discover and analyze the importance of their similarities.

Science

Taking poetry into an eighth grade science class, the teacher used this method to review plate boundaries. After introducing poetry in two voices with examples from other disciplines as well as a simpler science poem comparing apples and oranges (Roessing, 2013), students were assigned to review their textbook and notes and were given the choice of collaborating with a partner or working alone to write a poem in the voices of convergent and divergent plate boundaries. Madelyn and Morgan's poem is found in figure 6. Employing this structure for the first time, the science teacher commented, "The two-voice poem is appealing because it provides a concise, creative avenue for students to show they understand the differences and similarities between two concepts."

There are countless opportunities to employ this type of poetry in science, many times leading to poems in three voices, and in mathematics classes to examine and review math functions and concepts, such as fractions, decimals, and percentages.

Conclusion

When students compare and contrast, they use multiple reading and thinking strategies:

Processing information

Discriminating

Analyzing

Exploring higher-order thinking

Using a specific thinking structure

Making decisions

Making connections among multiple literary elements, real life events, people, places, objects, ideas, and concepts.

And when students write poetry in two voices, they are comparing, contrasting, collaborating, reading, writing, and speaking in a creative and fun manner.

References

Climo, S. (1989). The Egyptian Cinderella. New York: HarperCollins Children's Books.

Fleischman, P. (1992). Joyful noise: Poems for two voices. New York: HarperCollins.

Grimm, J. & Grimm. W. (2010). "Aschenputtel." In Grimm's Fairy Tales. Mineola, NY: Calla.

Hughes, L. (1986). "Thank You, Ma'am." Impact fifty short stories. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Myers, W.D. (1983). Hoops. New York: Laurel Leaf Books.

Perrault, C. (1999). Cinderella. Translated by Anthea Bell. New York: North-South Books.

Roessing, L. (2009). The write to read: Response journals that increase comprehension. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Roessing, L. (2012). No more "us" and "them": Classroom lessons & activities that promote peer respect. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Roessing, L. (2013). Writing to learn: Using poetry in two voices. Middle Ground, 16(3).

Schroeder, A. (1994). Lily and the wooden bowl. New York: Delacorte.

Sierra, J. (1992). "Yeh-Hsien." In Cinderella. The Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series. Westport, CT: Oryx.

Lesley Roessing taught middle school for 20 years before becoming the founding director of the Coastal Savannah Writing Project and senior lecturer in the College of Education of Georgia Southern University, Armstrong campus. Lesley has published four professional books for educators, as well as chapters and articles on literacy. The ideas in this column were based on The Write to Read: Response Journals That Increase Comprehension (Corwin, 2009).
lesleyroessing@gmail.com

Published in AMLE Magazine, August 2019.

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After-Reading Response: Poetry in Two Voices to Compare and Contrast

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Much of the writing we assign our students is public writing-writing to communicate with others. Writing-to-learn is personal writing, writing that helps students increase comprehension of texts-fiction and nonfiction-in all disciplines. Reader response compels readers to interact with the text and makes visible for readers and their teachers the depth of text comprehension.

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Differentiate with Learning Menus and Choice Boards

"...at its core, differentiated instruction means addressing ways in which students vary as learners." - Carol Ann Tomlinson

[Tweet "Interactive Learning Menus with @GoogleforEdu #edtech#gsuiteedu"]

What Are Learning Menus?

IT'S ALL ABOUT CHOICE! Learning menus (aka choice boards) are a form of differentiated learning that gives students a menu or choice of learning activities. Learning menus and choice boards can be created in a variety of styles and mediums. They've been around for a long time and originated in a static, paper format. But with digital tools, we can bring the menus to life with interactivity and creation. Menus can be a simple list, a tic-tac-toe or bingo-style game, or get as creative and intricate as you like. Check out my Pinterest board for ideas.

Learning Menus Can Be Used with Any Age Group

I have found that menus and choice boards tend to be more popular among elementary teachers, but I used them in my middle school classroom, and now I use them in professional learning workshops with adults. Any grade level can use learning menus!

Learning Menus Can Be Used in Any Subject Area

Since learning menus are so flexible, they can easily be created and adapted for just about any subject area. So no excuses! Any teacher who is willing to try can make use of this student-centered strategy.

[Tweet "Any teacher who is willing to try can make use of this student-centered strategy. #edtech"]

Are Learning Menus Hyperdocs the Same Thing?

No, but they could be part of a Hyperdoc assignment. I love Hyperdocs! But these two are not one in the same. Keep in mind the definition of learning menus stated above. It is simply a menu of choices from which students can choose. Student choice is the big idea behind learning menus and choice boards.

A Hyperdoc is a complete packaged assignment that also meets some additional criteria. A Hyperdoc doesn't have to include choice, but it could. To learn more about Hyperdocs, visit their site or read the AMAZING book by Lisa Highfill, Sarah Landis, and Kelly Hilton.

Creating a Tic-Tac-Toe Learning Menu in Google Docs

One easy way to dip your toes into the learning menu water is a Tic-Tac-Toe menu. A Tic-Tac-Toe can be used for anything from short activities to more long-term projects, both assessment FOR learning (formative) and assessment OF learning (summative).

Below is an example of a Novel Unit Tic-Tac-Toe menu that I created as a summative project. It was created in Google Docs, nothing fancy, just a table and some color. Depending on how you want to use, you can add links, rubrics, images, video and more. (Click here to use my blank tic-tac-toe template.)
CLICK HERE to use the Novel Study Tic-Tac-Toe template. On mobile? CLICK HERE to make a copy.
Learning Menu Design

Remember when you are creating a learning menu to align it with your learning goals! First, I use the middle square as my non-negotiable, the one activity that I want every student to complete. This could be reading an article, watching a video, or in this case; every student will write a summary and add it to a collaborative Google Slide deck where they will also add links to their other projects. Everything in one place!

Some teachers also make the middle square a free space where students can propose their own ideas to demonstrate their learning. LOVE THIS IDEA!

I had some students who would try to find the easiest or fastest way to complete the tasks. But if you pay attention to the learning design, you can design it so that it gives choice and flexible learning paths, not just an easy completion grade.

I use the color to guide the learning design. Because I use the middle square as a non-negotiable, I control how they make the tic-tac-toe just a little bit more. Every student will do the middle square and one from the blue and one from the yellow. In this summative example, students are mostly creating, but in the example below, you will see how it can also work for activities that guide the learning.

Below is a professional learning example that I designed for teaching Google Chrome. As a trainer, I typically have very mixed groups in my training sessions (multiple grade levels, subject areas, and tech savviness). I usually address general skills, and apps and extensions that are applicable across all grade levels and subject areas as a whole group.

Then I move into an activity like the Chrome PD Tic-Tac-Toe learning menu to allow teachers to dig deeper into their own subject areas and grade levels AND move at a pace that is comfortable for their level and learning style.
CLICK HERE to use my Chrome PD Tic-Tac-Toe template. On mobile? CLICK HERE to make a copy of the template.
Other Types of Learning Menus

As I said, a tic-tac-toe is just one type of menu. It happens to be a favorite of mine because they are easy to design and are not too overwhelming. But I have used many other types of menus, and I have been curating ideas on this Learning Menu Pinterest Board.

Digital Menu for Student Creation with Google Slides by Tommy Spall

Below is a Google Slide example of a learning menu that takes on the look of a restaurant menu from my friend, Tommy Spall. Follow him @TommySpall. (You can thank me later!) Click here to make a copy of Tommy's template that includes linked slides to lots of Googley projects and room for you to make it your own. (If you are on mobile and having trouble with the template link, try this make a copy link.)

Professional Development BINGO Board by Amber Teamann and Melinda Miller

Another option is to make it a full out BINGO board, like in this example from my friend Amber Teamann and her collaborator Melinda Miller. (Follow them at @8Amber8 and @MMiller7571, and yes, you will thank me for this one, too!)

Amber and Melinda are both elementary school principals. They issued this BINGO PD Challenge to her teachers over the summer, and I thought it might inspire you with some other options for choice and challenges in your classroom or professional learning. You can learn more details about PD Bingo in Amber's blog post.

Using G Suite to Create Learning Menus

The possibilities are truly endless! Consider all the ways you could use G Suite to create learning menus and the extended activities and links. Try thinking of the ways you could create menus using these G Suite tools:

Google Docs

Google Slides

Google Drawings

Google Sheets

Google My Maps

Google Sites

How to Use Google Templates and Assign in Google Classroom

If you enjoyed this post, you will love the more in-depth look at the power of choice boards and more examples in this post and podcast episode.

© Shake Up Learning 2023. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kasey Bell and Shake Up Learning with appropriate and specific direction to the original content on ShakeUpLearning.com. See: Copyright Policy.

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Interactive Learning Menus (Choice Boards) Using Google Docs

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I love learning menus, and it is one of my favorite ways to incorporate student choice and to differentiate learning. And with digital tools like G Suite for Education, it's super easy to make menus interactive, digital, and more dynamic! Digital Differentiation offers teachers and students many ways to reach all learners.

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How to Keep Uninvited Guests Out of Your Zoom Event

We love that so many people are finding Zoom to be an easy way to stay connected in this time of social distancing, school closures, and work-from-home routines. All these virtual happy hours, coffee breaks, afternoon hangs, dance practices, yoga sessions, and so many other events over Zoom - your creativity and resilience in these tough times are inspiring!

Some fun & much needed comic relief on our @zoom_us happy hour today. 🍻 pic.twitter.com/vLpxusPeJw

- Beth Duncan (@bttopo) March 20, 2020

What's more impressive is that many of us are learning to host these events on the fly! As more people use our platform and host their virtual events using Zoom, we wanted to offer up tips to ensure everyone joining an event does so with good intentions. Like most other public forums, it's possible to have a person (who may or may not be invited) disrupt an event that's meant to bring people together.

So, a couple of reminders on using Zoom to host public events:

When you share your meeting link on social media or other public forums, that makes your event ... extremely public. ANYONE with the link can join your meeting .

Avoid using your Personal Meeting ID (PMI) to host public events. Your PMI is basically one continuous meeting and you don't want randos crashing your personal virtual space after the party's over. Learn about meeting IDs and how to generate a random meeting ID ( at the 0:27 mark ) in this video tutorial .

Familiarize yourself with Zoom's settings and features so you understand how to protect your virtual space when you need to. For example, the Waiting Room is an unbelievably helpful feature for hosts to control who comes and goes. (More on that below.)

Read on for a list of Zoom features that can help you safely share your Zoom virtual cocktail hour or dance break without unwanted interruptions. Ok, Zoomer? Let's do it!

Manage screen sharing

The first rule of Zoom Club: Don't give up control of your screen.

You do not want random people in your public event taking control of the screen and sharing unwanted content with the group. You can restrict this - before the meeting and during the meeting in the host control bar - so that you're the only one who can screen-share.

To prevent participants from screen sharing during a call, using the host controls at the bottom, click the arrow next to Share Screen and then Advanced Sharing Options.

Under "Who can share?" choose "Only Host" and close the window. You can also lock the Screen Share by default for all your meetings in your web settings.

Manage your participants

Some of the other great features to help secure your Zoom event and host with confidence:

This is useful if you want to control your guest list and invite only those you want at your event - other students at your school or colleagues, for example.

Lock the meeting: It's always smart to lock your front door, even when you're inside the house. When you lock a Zoom Meeting that's already started, no new participants can join, even if they have the meeting ID and password (if you have required one). In the meeting, click Participants at the bottom of your Zoom window. In the Participants pop-up, click the button that says Lock Meeting.

Set up your own two-factor authentication: You don't have to share the actual meeting link! Generate a random Meeting ID when scheduling your event and require a password to join. Then you can share that Meeting ID on Twitter but only send the password to join via DM .

Try the Waiting Room

One of the best ways to use Zoom for public events is to enable the Waiting Room feature. Just like it sounds, the Waiting Room is a virtual staging area that stops your guests from joining until you're ready for them. It's almost like the velvet rope outside a nightclub, with you as the bouncer carefully monitoring who gets let in.

Meeting hosts can customize Waiting Room settings for additional control, and you can even personalize the message people see when they hit the Waiting Room so they know they're in the right spot. This message is really a great spot to post any rules/guidelines for your event, like who it's intended for.

The Waiting Room is really a great way to screen who's trying to enter your event and keep unwanted guests out.

Keep Zooming responsibly

Zoom is a great way to stay connected right now, and we hope these tips will help you continue to host amazing events using our platform! If you're not sure whether a public Zoom event is the way to go, share the meeting link only with your close friends, co-workers, and clients. You can even password-protect it for another layer of security.

And keep those pictures from your Zoom virtual events coming! Share them with us on LinkedIn , Facebook , and Twitter, and we'll like, fave, or retweet a few!

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How to Keep Uninvited Guests Out of Your Zoom Event - Zoom Blog

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We love that so many people are finding Zoom to be an easy way to stay connected in this time of social distancing, school closures, and work-from-home routines. All these virtual happy hours, coffee breaks, afternoon hangs, dance practices, yoga sessions, and so many other events over Zoom - your creativity and resilience in these ...

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Find what you were looking for (and more) in the Zoom Learning Center, a free educational platform for all new and existing users, no matter your account type or user role.

The Learning Center offers a growing list of on-demand courses and short videos designed to give you just what you need when you need it. Whether you're a new user looking for help joining your first meeting, or a Zoom Administrator setting up Zoom Phones, we've got you covered.
Enroll in an On-demand course
Not sure what to take or how to get started? Check out the course catalog and enroll today .
View the Video Tutorials
If you're looking for quick help on a specific skill or feature, explore our vast "Show Me" video collection. View video collection here!

We hope you're as excited as we are. The Zoom Learning Center is just one more way we hope to deliver happiness to you.

Watch Videos

Or get started today!

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Find what you were looking for (and more) in the Zoom Learning Center, a free educational platform for all new and existing users, no matter your account type or user role. The Learning Center offers a growing list of on-demand courses and short videos designed to give you just what you need when you need it.

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When Elizabeth Self starts teaching her 11 a.m. class via Zoom, she has to remember that it isn't 11 a.m. for all of her students. She's in Tennessee-where she is an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University-but some of the students she's teaching are now taking the class from California, where it's only 8 a.m. And a couple of students are back home in China, where it's midnight.

Even when students are all in the same time zone-such as for most K-12 schools and community colleges-getting to a live online class on time can be challenging for those who live in households where there aren't enough computers or tablets for every learner, or where the internet connection isn't robust enough.

But the benefits of being online together, when it works, are huge, Self said in a recent episode of the EdSurge Podcast. "Those weekly face-to-face sessions are as much about seeing people's faces-seeing how tired they look, seeing how engaged they are in the material, seeing all of those kinds of things, and having that back and forth-as it is learning new content together," she noted.

As professors and K-12 teachers adjust to the sudden move to online teaching, one question keeps coming up: How much of class time should be done live-known in education parlance as "synchronous" teaching-and how much should be done so that students can do the work at their convenience-or "asynchronous" teaching.
For more about how education is changing, check out the weekly EdSurge Podcast. Subscribe on iTunes or wherever you listen.
Experts in online teaching have been debating and researching the question of synchronous versus asynchronous for decades.

"The first distance learning programs were all correspondence programs in the '50s and '60s and '70s," meaning that students were sent materials and assignments in the mail and then they sent back their homework and exams, says Susan Patrick, president and CEO of the Aurora Institute and the former director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education. Back then, everything was asynchronous by default.

"It was really in the '80s and the '90s that the first satellite distance learning programs came up," she adds, meaning students could sit in classrooms connected via interactive satellite TV. Students could ask a question of a professor over the satellite link and folks linked at other locations could hear the exchange. At first, such synchronous teaching was expensive and cumbersome.

Since the 1990s and the rise of online video conferencing, though, it has been possible for educators to choose which activities in their distance-education courses to conduct synchronously and which to leave as asynchronous.

The overall advice from experts is to mix both formats in any given class. "The challenge I see in this debate is the dichotomous thinking," says Bonni Stachowiak, dean of teaching and learning at Vanguard University of Southern California and the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. "If we stick to one or the other (synchronous versus asynchronous), we are going to be leaving someone out."

Here's some advice from education experts on what to consider when deciding which part of your teaching should be done live and which might work better on-demand.

Synchronous Works Better For Some Students Than For Others

Holding an online class via a live video platform like Zoom or Google Meet can closely resemble an in-person classroom dynamic. The instructor can lecture and students can ask questions, or the instructor can lead a live discussion.

That means that the format will likely work best for the same kinds of students who thrive in in-person settings, argues George Siemens, director of the LINK Research Lab at the University of Texas at Arlington. In other words, students who raise their hand the most during in-person classes will likely do the same when sessions shift to live video.

Meanwhile, shifting to an asynchronous approach, such as threaded discussions in a learning management system, may benefit shy students, because they will "have the ability to think in detail what you want to say and respond," Siemens says.

Asynchronous Can Still Be Interactive

If instructors get creative, they can build personalized interactions into asynchronous teaching, argues Michele Eaton, director of virtual and blended learning for a school district in Indianapolis. She's also the author of the book " The Perfect Blend: A Practical Guide to Designing Student-Centered Learning Experiences," published by ISTE, EdSurge's parent organization.

For instance, professors can have students submit video responses to a discussion question using a platform like FlipGrid. Everyone sends in their reply by a set deadline. Then the professor can either respond to each video with feedback or ask the students to post video responses to each other.

Or students can create joint projects using collaboration tools like Padlet, she adds.

"Just because it's asynchronous," she says, "does not mean it's devoid of interaction."

In Many Cases, Simpler Is Better

While using the latest tools to include video and shared whiteboards may be slick, there's also a benefit to using low-tech tools, says Eaton.

For instance, instructors can ask students to post a one-sentence summary or brief reflection after going through an assigned reading or watching a short video lecture. "Give opportunities for practice for students to be really transparent about their thinking," she says.

And some live video platforms, including Zoom, give participants the option to connect to the discussion by phone. Reminding students of that low-tech option could help make sure everyone can get to virtual class.

Mike Caulfield is one of the people stressing the value of minimalist online course construction at this time. In a series of blog items, he outlines what he calls a " dirt simple online course " with a bare-bones approach. "The value in what Caulfield shares is recognizing how much can be accomplished using low bandwidth, low immediacy tools," argues Stachowiak.

Start By Teaching Students How to Learn Online

The remote format of instruction is likely new for students, so step one may be helping them adjust to the format, says Patrick at the Aurora Institute

"We can have some really important lifelong learning lessons," during this time, she says. "Start with the skills for lifelong learning and learn those." One free online course on that topic is Learning How to Learn, and a key concept is developing habits to seek out new knowledge and skills on your own.

Patrick adds that schools and colleges that have embraced competency-based learning may have an easier time adapting to remote learning during the pandemic. That's because in competency-based approaches, course designers have carefully articulated what concepts need to be learned to meet course objectives, and "every day a student is coming in and saying what's my learning goal for the day?"

Encouraging that kind of student empowerment can work well for asynchronous assignments, where students can be given an objective, like analyzing how protagonists function in fictional stories, and asked to work through an assignment like writing a report about the protagonist in a particular work of literature.

Consider Your Learning Goals

When deciding whether to teach material in live video or through a self-paced mode, it's also important to consider the learning goals, Siemens said.

"Asynchronous is very good for community knowledge building," he argues, since everyone can have time to contribute. He gives the example of Wikipedia, where a crowd of writers and editors curate articles, and notes that a live video chat would not be a good platform to create those articles.

If you need to impart key points or provide a forum for people to ask questions and get everyone on the same page, a Zoom forum might be a better option.

In a 2010 meta-analysis of online-learning research compiled by the U.S. Department of Education, authors found that some research shows that "asynchronous discourse is inherently self-reflective and therefore more conducive to deep learning than is synchronous discourse."

Ask Your Students For Feedback on Your Online Teaching

For many teachers right now, moving online is like going back to the first year of teaching, when everything was new, argues Eaton.

That means it's important for instructors to get feedback from students often and continue to adapt and iterate.

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When to Teach Online Classes Live and When to Let Students Learn on Demand - EdSurge News

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When Elizabeth Self starts teaching her 11 a.m. class via Zoom, she has to remember that it isn't 11 a.m. for all of her students. She's in Tennessee-where she is an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University-but some of the students she's teaching are now taking the class from California, where it's only 8 a.m.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When Elizabeth Self starts teaching her 11 a.m. class via Zoom, she has to remember that it isn't 11 a.m. for all of her students. She's in Tennessee-where she is an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University-but some of the students she's teaching are now taking the class from California, where it's only 8 a.m. And a couple of students are back home in China, where it's midnight.

Even when students are all in the same time zone-such as for most K-12 schools and community colleges-getting to a live online class on time can be challenging for those who live in households where there aren't enough computers or tablets for every learner, or where the internet connection isn't robust enough.

But the benefits of being online together, when it works, are huge, Self said in a recent episode of the EdSurge Podcast. "Those weekly face-to-face sessions are as much about seeing people's faces-seeing how tired they look, seeing how engaged they are in the material, seeing all of those kinds of things, and having that back and forth-as it is learning new content together," she noted.

As professors and K-12 teachers adjust to the sudden move to online teaching, one question keeps coming up: How much of class time should be done live-known in education parlance as "synchronous" teaching-and how much should be done so that students can do the work at their convenience-or "asynchronous" teaching.
For more about how education is changing, check out the weekly EdSurge Podcast. Subscribe on iTunes or wherever you listen.
Experts in online teaching have been debating and researching the question of synchronous versus asynchronous for decades.

"The first distance learning programs were all correspondence programs in the '50s and '60s and '70s," meaning that students were sent materials and assignments in the mail and then they sent back their homework and exams, says Susan Patrick, president and CEO of the Aurora Institute and the former director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education. Back then, everything was asynchronous by default.

"It was really in the '80s and the '90s that the first satellite distance learning programs came up," she adds, meaning students could sit in classrooms connected via interactive satellite TV. Students could ask a question of a professor over the satellite link and folks linked at other locations could hear the exchange. At first, such synchronous teaching was expensive and cumbersome.

Since the 1990s and the rise of online video conferencing, though, it has been possible for educators to choose which activities in their distance-education courses to conduct synchronously and which to leave as asynchronous.

The overall advice from experts is to mix both formats in any given class. "The challenge I see in this debate is the dichotomous thinking," says Bonni Stachowiak, dean of teaching and learning at Vanguard University of Southern California and the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. "If we stick to one or the other (synchronous versus asynchronous), we are going to be leaving someone out."

Here's some advice from education experts on what to consider when deciding which part of your teaching should be done live and which might work better on-demand.

Synchronous Works Better For Some Students Than For Others

Holding an online class via a live video platform like Zoom or Google Meet can closely resemble an in-person classroom dynamic. The instructor can lecture and students can ask questions, or the instructor can lead a live discussion.

That means that the format will likely work best for the same kinds of students who thrive in in-person settings, argues George Siemens, director of the LINK Research Lab at the University of Texas at Arlington. In other words, students who raise their hand the most during in-person classes will likely do the same when sessions shift to live video.

Meanwhile, shifting to an asynchronous approach, such as threaded discussions in a learning management system, may benefit shy students, because they will "have the ability to think in detail what you want to say and respond," Siemens says.

Asynchronous Can Still Be Interactive

If instructors get creative, they can build personalized interactions into asynchronous teaching, argues Michele Eaton, director of virtual and blended learning for a school district in Indianapolis. She's also the author of the book " The Perfect Blend: A Practical Guide to Designing Student-Centered Learning Experiences," published by ISTE, EdSurge's parent organization.

For instance, professors can have students submit video responses to a discussion question using a platform like FlipGrid. Everyone sends in their reply by a set deadline. Then the professor can either respond to each video with feedback or ask the students to post video responses to each other.

Or students can create joint projects using collaboration tools like Padlet, she adds.

"Just because it's asynchronous," she says, "does not mean it's devoid of interaction."

In Many Cases, Simpler Is Better

While using the latest tools to include video and shared whiteboards may be slick, there's also a benefit to using low-tech tools, says Eaton.

For instance, instructors can ask students to post a one-sentence summary or brief reflection after going through an assigned reading or watching a short video lecture. "Give opportunities for practice for students to be really transparent about their thinking," she says.

And some live video platforms, including Zoom, give participants the option to connect to the discussion by phone. Reminding students of that low-tech option could help make sure everyone can get to virtual class.

Mike Caulfield is one of the people stressing the value of minimalist online course construction at this time. In a series of blog items, he outlines what he calls a " dirt simple online course " with a bare-bones approach. "The value in what Caulfield shares is recognizing how much can be accomplished using low bandwidth, low immediacy tools," argues Stachowiak.

Start By Teaching Students How to Learn Online

The remote format of instruction is likely new for students, so step one may be helping them adjust to the format, says Patrick at the Aurora Institute

"We can have some really important lifelong learning lessons," during this time, she says. "Start with the skills for lifelong learning and learn those." One free online course on that topic is Learning How to Learn, and a key concept is developing habits to seek out new knowledge and skills on your own.

Patrick adds that schools and colleges that have embraced competency-based learning may have an easier time adapting to remote learning during the pandemic. That's because in competency-based approaches, course designers have carefully articulated what concepts need to be learned to meet course objectives, and "every day a student is coming in and saying what's my learning goal for the day?"

Encouraging that kind of student empowerment can work well for asynchronous assignments, where students can be given an objective, like analyzing how protagonists function in fictional stories, and asked to work through an assignment like writing a report about the protagonist in a particular work of literature.

Consider Your Learning Goals

When deciding whether to teach material in live video or through a self-paced mode, it's also important to consider the learning goals, Siemens said.

"Asynchronous is very good for community knowledge building," he argues, since everyone can have time to contribute. He gives the example of Wikipedia, where a crowd of writers and editors curate articles, and notes that a live video chat would not be a good platform to create those articles.

If you need to impart key points or provide a forum for people to ask questions and get everyone on the same page, a Zoom forum might be a better option.

In a 2010 meta-analysis of online-learning research compiled by the U.S. Department of Education, authors found that some research shows that "asynchronous discourse is inherently self-reflective and therefore more conducive to deep learning than is synchronous discourse."

Ask Your Students For Feedback on Your Online Teaching

For many teachers right now, moving online is like going back to the first year of teaching, when everything was new, argues Eaton.

That means it's important for instructors to get feedback from students often and continue to adapt and iterate.

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When to Teach Online Classes Live and When to Let Students Learn on Demand - EdSurge News

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When Elizabeth Self starts teaching her 11 a.m. class via Zoom, she has to remember that it isn't 11 a.m. for all of her students. She's in Tennessee-where she is an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University-but some of the students she's teaching are now taking the class from California, where it's only 8 a.m.

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Copy the link below to share this lesson with others.

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This summer something magical happened for teachers everywhere! Book Creator came out for Chrome (insert excited shrieks here). What this means for teachers is that if you have Chromebooks in the classroom, you have just hit the creation jackpot.
Why do I love Book Creator for Chromebook so much?
Book Creator | Book Creator Blog

Book Creator is simple to use - it takes literally no time to explain it to students and they can jump on and use it pretty fluently in the classroom

It's so much more than just a Book

It has a comic book option

Adding layers of information is almost intuitive for your Generation Z students

Book creator is amazing because everything students create begins with two simple buttons. The "+" button and the universal"i" button.

Although at first glance it seems simple, the power is in the layers of information you can create that make its so powerful and meaningful. Book Creator is a formidable tool teachers have come to cherish on iPads - but now that it is on Chrome - everyone can enjoy having students create demonstrations of learning that are meaningful, creative and highly informative.
Fun Ways to Use in the Classroom : Where Tools Meet Pedagogy (okay there are way more than five)

Published Book/ Comic Book - Each year students write creative narrative pieces. Book Creator is a great way to have students publish their final writing to give them even more ownership over their work. Better yet -do a complete writing portfolio by having students publish their best narrative, persuasive, expository and descriptive pieces. Include pictures , media and videos to make it even more interesting or turn into an audiobook by having students read the writing aloud.

3. Image courtesy of Book Creator and Emma B.

4. 2. Learning Journals - This is my personal favorite use of BC. Have students create a journal of their learning over time. Collect assessment of prior knowledge, pieces of work, formative assessments and then final products to show growth and understanding over time. When the unit is complete, have students examine their work and do a learning reflection - noting their strengths, weakness and overall assessment of their personal learning journey.

6. 3. Sketchnoting Journal - I am obsessed with this idea. Have students create sketchnotes and keep them in one easy to access book creator journal - and then have students explain the thinking and information in their sketchnotes so that you can make their thinking visible. BOOM this is a game changer as you make the move toward visual note-taking rather than the tired text heavy linear version we all learned.

7. 4. Student Created Textbooks - Have students work together to retell parts of a unit. They can work on the textbook together (and in real time in January) helping each other find mistakes and add needed additional information. They can even send their book to an expert to get even more feedback.

9. Image courtesy of Book Creator

10. 5. Collaborative Book - Students can work with students in another class or city to write a book together. Example from Carolyn Skibba from students from Chicago wrote a book with students in Iceland sharing details and fun facts about each of their cities. Burly School in Chicago -

11. 6. Student Fluency Journal - Capture student reading fluency by having them take pictures of reading material and then record themselves reading the section. Collect these over time to show student growth throughout the year. Consider capturing comprehension by having them explain what happened after the reading.

12. 7. Wonder Journal - Thinking Routines. Thinking Routines are a great way to have students think about and unpack their learning. Using the thinking routines found here have students keep a journal of their thinking and wondering throughout the year or at the end of a unit.

13. 8. Student Created Language Books that Talk - Teaching foreign language? Lucky you, technology should be your go to for exceptional lesson ideas! With Book Creator, have students create a talking language book. They can take pictures of items and record their pronunciation and put into a complete sentence. In the final pages add a video where students take someone on a tour of an area using their new words and verbs. I have even seen great sentence starter books by Hebrew teachers that I loved and more importantly that parents loved!

15. 9. Math Tutorials Workbook - Using a great program like SeeSaw or Explain Everything have students create math tutorials. Compile them into one book that students can quickly reference and find. Why not publish and share with the world!

16. 10. History Journals/Instagram Feeds - Have students take on the characters of a historical person during a unit of study. As they learn more have them create a diary like journal or fake Instagram postings from his time period - using text and hashtags - that you compile in book creator. It's a fun way to include and app they love, while keep the information private.

17. 11. Science Journals or Lab Reports - Students can take time-lapse videos using their phones - during the science experiment phase. Then bring the video into Book Creator and use that to do the write-up of the lab - the can do this collaboratively and later they can compare their findings with that of the other groups as they look at the library for other examples.

18. 12. Character Study Journals - While reading a book students follow a character constructing a timeline of their changes throughout. Have them think of themselves as a detective noting details about the character and how their personality is being revealed through the authors words. This might be a fun place to incorporate Book Snaps that grab quotes from the book to further illustrate the characters personality traits.

19. 13. Field Trip Journal - Going on a field trip? Don't miss out on an incredible learning opportunity. Have students take pictures and use those pictures to later explain and reflect on learning that happened on the trip. It is sad how many times we take field trips with no documentation of learning.

20. 14. Reflection Journals - Collect work over a unit and have students reflect on how that affected their learning and where they felt they were strong learners or might need to develop more skills.

21. 15. What I love Journals - In an effort to help students learn who they are as learners and begin to discover their passions have them collect learnings they love or that really hit home with them. Then at the end of the year have them reflect on how this might help them discover what job they might consider when they get older.

Book Creator on Chrome allows teachers with Chromebooks to finally begin creating content and really powerful demonstrations of learning. Go ahead in 2018 try to find one way to use this amazing tool into your curriculum - you won't be sorry!

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Fun Ways to Use Book Creator in the Classroom | The Infused Classroom

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This summer something magical happened for teachers everywhere! Book Creator came out for Chrome (insert excited shrieks here). What this means for teachers is that if you have Chromebooks in the classroom, you have just hit the creation jackpot. Why do I love Book Creator for Chromebook so much?

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Using Book Creator in the classroom - Click to view this library, made with Book Creator

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This book is a quick guide for how to embed content from the most popular educational apps into Book Creator.

Although the guide focuses on Book Creator for Chrome, you can also embed content into Book Creator for iPad, and in most cases the process will be very similar.

App Smashing is an important process for giving students voice and choice, and improving digital literacy. Book Creator is often the last step in an appsmash - it's where you bring everything together to showcase it, reflect on it and share your creations with the world.

Editor's note - some content in this book may already be out of date, as 3rd party apps change all the time!

We update info on the most popular apps in our Knowledge base.

Read more on our blog and listen to this embedded podcast on this page (a conversation with Greg Kulowiec, the teacher who originally coined the term "App Smashing".

What is an embed?

A lot of web apps these days offer embed codes as a way of sharing content. Rather than just linking to the web page, it allows the web page, video, image or audio to be embedded in another website (or in this case, a book).

Below is an example of an embed code from YouTube. They will often be contained in an <iframe>. Book Creator can take these iframes and convert them into an embedded link on the page.

How do I import content into Book Creator?

You can get detailed instructions on how to do this from our Support articles.

Essentially, you need to be familiar with the + button, and the More menu. From here, you can add files and embeds from the web, as well as accessing our dedicated App Store.

New! Integrated apps from the Book Creator App Store. (January 2022)

Some of the info in this book will be slightly out of date now. Power up your Book Creator experience with these new apps in the Book Creator App Store.

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The Ultimate Guide to Embedding Content in Book Creator

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Did you know you can embed content from other apps straight into Book Creator? This book covers how to do this with some of your favorite online tools. Let the AppSmashing commence!

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Holly is an education thought-leader, international speaker, best selling author and an advocate for students. She is a twenty-plus year educator who has spent over 15 years teaching in a 1:1 classroom and over five years as an administrator in both public and private schools. She holds a master's degree in Instructional Design and Educational Technology from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her passion is for helping teachers create classrooms where students want to learn and can become the agents of their own thinking and understanding.

She is a National Board Certified Teacher, Google Certified Innovator, and she still spends time co-teaching in classrooms where she can better help teachers and schools begin the process of putting students at the center of the learning . Holly consults with schools globally on blended learning environments where meaningful pedagogy is infused with the strategic use of technology. She authors a popular education blog: hollyclark.org and gives keynotes to audiences worldwide. You can follow her on twitter and instagram @HollyClarkEdu.

In 2017, Holly published her first book The Google Infused Classroom and in 2020, both The Microsoft Infused Classroom and The Chromebook Infused Classroom will be released.

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Holly is an education thought-leader, international speaker, best selling author and an advocate for students. She is a twenty-plus year educator who has spent over 15 years teaching in a 1:1 classroom and over five years as an administrator in both public and private schools.

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Students love it. Teachers love it. Book Creator is the simplest, most inclusive way to create content in the classroom.

This intuitive tool uses the magic of simplicity to open up a universe of ideas and imagination.

Learn more and get started at https://bookcreator.com.

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Promoting Safe and Secure Digital Learning

# data[].attributes.subject
Promoting Safe and Secure Digital Learning

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Promoting Safe and Secure Digital Learning Environments

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Establish and communicate norms for good behavior in digital learning environments to students and their families. Emphasize how classroom behavior expectations translate to a digital environment.

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How to Use Flipgrid to Make Screencast Videos

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Integrating Studies Weekly with Google Classroom

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Integrating Studies Weekly with Google Classroom

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Elementary Resource

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25 virtual field trips for your classroom

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Virtual field trips allow us to take our students where the bus can’t. Here are 25 field trips and 10 activities to do while you’re on one!Imagine your

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Upgrade your PDF by making it a Google Form. Former math teacher John McGowan, the creator of g(Math), EquatIO, Form Creator and more has developed a Drive Add-on Automagical Forms on to take your PDF and turn it into a Google Form!! THIS WILL SAVE YOU HOURS!!

Install Automagical Forms

First install the Add-on from the webstore. This will get you the free version.

Locate a PDF in your Google Drive. Single click on the file.

Click Automagical icon in the sidebar.

If your PDF takes more than 30 seconds to convert to a Form you will need to authorize more time.

Select questions.

Click Create Form

Not Free: OCR page reading uses AI technology from Amazon, which charges per page.

I have asked John to make special pricing for teachers. He has enabled $7 for 3 months up to 100 PDF pages. He is a former teacher and would like to give it away for free, but he's a one man band with a baby and his current job is freelance Google Apps Developer. Amazon AWS charges him per PDF sheet to convert to Google Forms so he has reduced the price as much as he can to not lose money.

OCR Text Recognition

Automagical Forms is looking for your text questions. It can not recognize math symbols (yet) or pictures.

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Automagically PDF Worksheet to Google Form - Teacher Tech

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Upgrade your PDF by making it a Google Form. Former math teacher John McGowan, the creator of g(Math), EquatIO, Form Creator and more has developed a Drive Add-on Automagical Forms on to take your PDF and turn it into a Google Form!! THIS WILL SAVE YOU HOURS!!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Using Adobe Scan to Turn in Work - Part 2

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Using Adobe Scan to Turn In Assignments - Part 1

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Teach students to recognize phishing and scams

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Teach students internet safety and privacy

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Google Digital Literacy Course for Educators

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Google Digital Literacy Course for Educators

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Learning never stops. Explore free technology training and resources for educators.

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The Be Internet Awesome curriculum gives educators the tools and methods they need to teach digital safety fundamentals. The materials developed by Google in partnership with iKeepSafe enable educators to bring the most critical teachings-and the excitement of Interland-into the classroom.

Included in the curriculum are lesson plans for the five topics, with activities and worksheets that were designed to complement Interland.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Align with ISTE Standards

Don't require any personal information or login

Can be used across devices

Are free for everyone

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We've created internet safety resources to make it easier for educators and students to incorporate and practice good digital habits in the classroom.

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Navigating Digital Information Crash Course

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Navigating Digital Information Crash Course

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In 10 episodes, John Green will teach you how to navigate the internet! We’ve partnered with MediaWise, The Poynter Institute, and The Stanford History Educa…

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Game-like self-guided tutorial with assessment & certificate

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Slides w/links that are in the above video

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You can no longer enroll in this course.

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By accessing or registering on Nearpod Inc.'s ("Nearpod", "us", "we", "our") website, or by downloading or using any of the Nearpod® mobile applications (collectively, "Nearpod® Materials"), you agree to become bound by these Terms and Conditions. If you do not agree to all the Terms and Conditions, then you may not access the Nearpod website or use any of our products or services. Please read these Terms and Conditions carefully, as they (among other things) provide that you and Nearpod will arbitrate certain claims instead of going to court and that you will not bring class action claims against Nearpod. Please only create a Nearpod account or otherwise use the Nearpod Materials if you agree to be legally bound by all terms and conditions herein. Your acceptance of these Terms and Conditions creates a legally binding contract between you and Nearpod.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Nearpod is intended for use by teachers and by educational institutions, public or private. Each Nearpod User (defined below) should have an individual account that is not to be shared with other individuals.

If you are interested in using Nearpod for either: (a) commercial or corporate purposes; or (b) for use by multiple teachers or other education users in a single school or school district, we'll be happy to discuss your options, but first you should contact us at biz@nearpod.com. Such uses may be subject to different terms and conditions than these Terms and Conditions. Unauthorized commercial, corporate or other misuse of Nearpod may result in the cancellation of your account. In the United States, Nearpod does not intend, require, or allow students to create Nearpod accounts. Nearpod has no intention of collecting personally identifiable information from students.

Outside the US, if you are under the age of majority in your country of residence, you must review these Terms and Conditions with your parent or guardian to make sure that you and your parent or guardian understand it.

Nearpod and the Nearpod Materials comply with applicable law, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). We do not intentionally collect any personally identifiable information from individuals under the age of 13. If you are a parent or guardian or teacher and believe that your child or student under the age of 13 has provided Nearpod with personally identifiable information, please notify privacy@nearpod.com so that we can immediately delete the information from our servers. For more information about our privacy policy, please click here.

1. In order to access the Nearpod Materials, you may be required to provide certain information (such as name, e-mail, etc.). You agree that any information you provide will always be accurate and complete, and you agree to update any such information if it changes.

2. The Nearpod Materials may contain material that is owned by or licensed to us. This material includes, but is not limited to, the design, layout, look, appearance, and graphics. Reproduction of such material outside the Nearpod Materials is prohibited.

3. Nearpod owns all legal right, title, and interest in and to the Nearpod Materials, including any intellectual property rights, whether those rights are registered or not, and wherever in the world those rights may exist. Attempting to license, sublicense, copy, duplicate, distribute, modify, publicly perform or display, transmit, publish, edit, adapt, create derivative works from, reproduce, sell, trade, or resell the Nearpod Materials (including, without limitation, the reproduction, sale, trading or resale of Nearpod Materials customized by other Nearpod users) is strictly prohibited without our prior written agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Nearpod Materials may include functionality that will allow you to create new content slides, delete slides and certain other editing functionality. These activities are permitted to the extent enabled within the Nearpod Materials, provided that such edited content is used solely for private educational purposes. Unauthorized use of the Nearpod Materials may give rise to a claim for damages and be a criminal offense. Nearpod reserves the right to modify or discontinue the Nearpod Materials or any version(s) thereof at any time in its sole discretion, with or without notice.

4. Moreover, the Nearpod Materials may include content created by Nearpod users that can be shared to third-parties. You acknowledge and agree that Nearpod is not responsible and shall have no liability for the content of such third-party sites and services, products or services made available through them, or your use of or interaction with them.

5. Use of Nearpod's mobile applications requires usage of data and messaging services provided by your wireless service carrier. You acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for data usage fees, messaging fees and any other fees that your wireless service carrier may charge in connection with your use of the Nearpod Materials.

6. As a condition of your use of the Nearpod Materials, you will not use the Nearpod Materials for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms and Conditions. You may not use the Nearpod Materials in any manner that in our sole discretion could damage, disable, overburden, impair or interfere with any other party's use of them. You may not obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information through any means not intentionally made available through the Nearpod Materials. You agree not to scrape or otherwise use automated means to access or gather information from the Nearpod Materials, and agree not to bypass any robot exclusion measures we may put into place. In addition, you agree not to use false or misleading information in connection with your user account, and acknowledge that we reserve the right to disable any user account with a profile which we believe (in our sole discretion) is false or misleading (including a profile that impersonates a third party).

7. By using the Nearpod Materials, you may provide contents and any other materials, information, ideas, concepts, and know-how ("Content"). Under no circumstances will Nearpod become liable for any payment to you for any information that you provide. You, and not Nearpod, are solely responsible for any Content you make available through your use of the Nearpod Materials. Nearpod does not control the Content hosted via the service, nor does it guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of such Content. Except as expressly set forth in these Terms and Conditions, users shall retain all rights, including intellectual property rights, for user-generated Content that they create with their Nearpod account, unless they enter a publishing agreement with Nearpod. You acknowledge that all posted Content is stored on and made available through the Nearpod Materials by Nearpod's servers and not on your device. You understand that all Content is provided to you through the Nearpod Materials only on an "as-available" basis and Nearpod does not guarantee that the availability of Content will be uninterrupted or bug free.

8. In connection with your Content, you further agree that you will not: (i) use material that is subject to third party intellectual property or proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless you are the owner of such rights or have permission from their rightful owner to post the material and to grant Nearpod all of the license rights granted herein; (ii) use material that is unlawful, defamatory, libelous, threatening, pornographic, obscene, harassing, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive or encourages conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, violate any law or is otherwise inappropriate; or (iii) post advertisements or marketing content or solicitations of business, or any content of a commercial nature.

9. We are not responsible or liable in any way for any Content provided by others. You hereby acknowledge that you may be exposed to Content from other users that is inaccurate, offensive, obscene, indecent, or objectionable when using the Nearpod Materials, and further acknowledge that Nearpod does not have any obligation to monitor such Content for any purpose. However, we reserve the right at all times to determine whether Content is appropriate and in compliance with these Terms and Conditions, and may pre-screen and remove Content at any time if such Content is found to be in violation of these Terms and Conditions or is otherwise objectionable.
Copyright Claims (Digital Millennium Copyright Act)
10. Nearpod respects the intellectual property rights of others and requires that the people who use the Sites do the same. It is our policy to respond promptly to claims of intellectual property misuse. Our procedures for responding to alleged copyright infringement are consistent with the form suggested by the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the text of which can be found at the U.S. Copyright Office web site http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf. Please note that you will be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you make any material misrepresentations when making or countering a copyright infringement claim.

11. If you believe that your work has been copied and is accessible on this site in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you may notify us by providing our copyright agent with the following information in writing:

a. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
b. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit Nearpod to locate the material (e.g., URL).
c. Information reasonably sufficient to permit Nearpod to contact you, such as name, postal address, telephone number, and, if available, an email address at which you may be contacted.
d. Include the following statement: "I have a good faith belief that use of the material described above in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law."
e. Include the following statement: "The information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed."
f. A physical, electronic or digital signature, in a form reasonably acceptable to Nearpod, of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
g. Send written communication to the following contact:
1855 Griffin Rd., A290
Dania Beach, FL 33004
h. Send electronically-signed communication to dmca@nearpod.com.

12. DMCA Counter-Notification Procedure: After receiving a notification of alleged infringement, Nearpod will remove or disable access to the material claimed to be infringing or claimed to be the subject of infringing activity. At the same time, Nearpod will provide the provider of affected material with a copy of the notice. The provider of affected material may make a counter notification pursuant to sections 512(g)(2) and (3) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Please be advised that you may be held liable for damages if you make material misrepresentations pursuant to federal law in the counter notification. When we receive a counter notification, we may reinstate the material in question. To file a counter notification with us, the provider of affected material must provide a written communication (by postal mail, overnight mail, or, when digitally-signed, by email) that sets forth the items specified below. To expedite our ability to process your counter notification, please use the following format (including section numbers):

a. Identify the material that Nearpod has removed or to which Nearpod has disabled access and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled.
b. Provide your name, postal address, telephone number, email address, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in Miami, Florida (if your address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which Nearpod may be found), and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided the initial notification of infringement or an agent of such person.
c. Include the following statement: "I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have a good faith belief that the removed material was removed or disabled as a result of a mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled."
d. Sign the paper or affix an electronic or digital signature to the communication in a form reasonably acceptable to Nearpod.
e. Send written communication to the following address:
1855 Griffin Rd., A290
Dania Beach, FL 33004

f. Send electronically- or digitally-signed communication to copyright@nearpod.com. Upon receipt of a counter notification in substantial compliance with the DMCA, Nearpod will provide the person who provided the initial notification of claimed infringement with a copy of the counter notification promptly. After receipt of the counter notification, Nearpod will generally replace the removed material and cease disabling access to it, unless Nearpod's designated agent first receives notice from the person who submitted the initial notification that such person has filed an action seeking a court order regarding the removed material.

13. Nearpod is generally unable to evaluate the merits of trademark disputes because trademark rights may be based on registration or common law use, exist only for certain categories of goods or services and may differ internationally. Therefore, Nearpod expects you to resolve trademark disputes directly with the individual rather than utilizing Nearpod as an intermediary.

14. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of passwords associated with any account you use to access the Nearpod Materials and you are responsible for all activities that occur under your account(s). You are solely responsible for any consequences, losses, or damages that we may directly or indirectly incur or suffer due to any unauthorized activities conducted by you. If you become aware of any unauthorized use of your password or of your account, you agree to notify Nearpod immediately at privacy@nearpod.com

15. Nearpod's Privacy Policy, at https://nearpod.com/privacy-policy (the "Privacy Policy"), describes the collection, use and disclosure of data and information (including location and usage data) by Nearpod in connection with the Nearpod Materials. The Privacy Policy, as may be updated by Nearpod from time to time in accordance with its terms, is hereby incorporated into these Terms and Conditions, and you hereby agree to the collection, use and disclose practices set forth therein.

16. We may provide various open communication tools on the Nearpod Materials, such as blog comments, blog posts, chat forums, message boards, and the like. By posting information or otherwise using any open communication tools as mentioned, you agree that you will not upload, post, share, or otherwise distribute any content that: (i). is illegal, threatening, defamatory, harassing, degrading, intimidating, fraudulent, racist, and pornographic or contains any type of inappropriate or explicit language; (ii). infringes any trademark, copyright, trade secret, or other proprietary right of any party; or (iii). attempts any type of unauthorized advertising.

17. We reserve the right to anonymously track and report a user's activity inside of the Nearpod Materials using non-personally identifiable information as more fully discussed in our Privacy Policy. We will not advertise or market to students who use Nearpod, nor will any student information collected by Nearpod be shared with third parties for advertising and marketing purposes.

18. We may, at our sole discretion, suspend or terminate your access to all or part of the Nearpod Materials with or without notice and for any reason, including, without limitation, breach of these Terms and Conditions.

Data Ownership

19. Although the Nearpod account owner is and remains the owner of any data, including student Content, submitted through the Nearpod Materials, you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, sublicensable and transferable right and license to use, reproduce, publish, display, modify, make derivative works of, transmit and copy your anonymized Content and to additionally distribute and publicly perform your Content in connection with the Nearpod Materials and Nearpod's (and its successor's) business, in any media formats and through any media channels. You also hereby grant to each user of the Nearpod Materials a non-exclusive license to access and view your anonymized Content as permitted by the functionality of the Nearpod Materials and these Terms and Conditions. For the avoidance of doubt, such anonymized Content shall not include any personally identifiable information.

Pricing Terms and Conditions

20. In case you decide to upgrade to a Nearpod paid account and to provide Nearpod with your payment account information, you hereby agree to the following payment terms and conditions:

Paid Accounts

21. Nearpod offers you the option of upgrading your account to increase your storage and enjoy additional features for a fee. If you choose to upgrade, your account will be converted to a Paid Account and will not be subject to some of the restrictions placed on Free Accounts as described at https://nearpod.com/pricing.

22. Nearpod accepts credit cards and certain other specified payment methods and will automatically charge your payment instrument on file before upgrading your account. In the event we are not able to charge your payment instrument for applicable charges, we may suspend your account until due amounts are paid. Additionally, if your Nearpod balance is not paid within seven (7) days after Nearpod provides you with notification that your account is in arrears, Nearpod reserves the right to use our discretion to delete some or all of your files so as to reduce your storage space and to convert your Nearpod Paid Account back to a Free Account.

Billing

23. The fees for your Paid Account will be billed from the date you convert to a Paid Account and on each renewal thereafter unless and until you cancel your account. Nearpod will automatically bill your credit card on the calendar day corresponding to the commencement of your Paid Account. All fees and charges are pre-paid and nonrefundable, and there are no refunds or credits for partially used periods. If payment is not received from the credit card issuer, you agree to pay all amounts due upon demand. You must provide current, complete and accurate billing and credit card information, and you agree to pay all costs of collection, including attorney's fees and costs, on any outstanding balance. In certain instances, the issuer of the credit card may charge a foreign transaction fee or related charges, which you shall be responsible to pay.

Cancelling Your Account

24. You may cancel your Nearpod Paid Account at any time, and cancellation will be effective immediately. Your Nearpod Paid Account will continue in effect unless and until you cancel your Nearpod Paid Account or we terminate it. You must cancel your Paid Account before it renews in order to avoid billing of the next period's fees to your credit card. Should you elect to cancel your Paid Account, please note that you will not be issued a refund for any previous payments.

Disclaimer of Warranties

25. THE NEARPOD MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS." NEARPOD AND ITS LICENSORS, SERVICE PROVIDERS AND PARTNERS HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. NEARPOD DOES NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTY THAT THE NEARPOD MATERIALS WILL BE ERROR-FREE OR THAT ACCESS THERETO WILL BE CONTINUOUS OR UNINTERRUPTED, OR THAT THE NEARPOD MATERIALS OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKE AVAILABLE THE FEATURES AND FUNCTIONALITY THEREOF ARE FREE FROM VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.

26. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU USE THE NEARPOD MATERIALS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK. YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER OR OTHER DEVICES AND FOR ANY LOSS OF DATA THAT MAY RESULT FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF SUCH CONTENT. WE DO NOT PROVIDE ANY WARRANTY OR GUARANTEE AS TO THE ACCURACY, PERFORMANCE, COMPLETENESS, OR SUITABILITY OF THE INFORMATION AND MATERIALS FOUND OR OFFERED ON THE NEARPOD MATERIALS. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT SUCH INFORMATION AND MATERIALS MAY CONTAIN INACCURACIES OR ERRORS AND WE EXPRESSLY EXCLUDE LIABILITY FOR ANY SUCH INACCURACIES OR ERRORS TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. NEARPOD DOES NOT GUARANTEE OR WARRANT THAT ANY CONTENT YOU MAY STORE OR ACCESS THROUGH THE NEARPOD SERVICE WILL NOT BE SUBJECT TO INADVERTENT DAMAGE, LOSS OR REMOVAL. CERTAIN STATE LAWS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES. IF THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOU, SOME OR ALL OF THE FOREGOING DISCLAIMERS, EXCLUSIONS, OR LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND YOU MIGHT HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS.

27. It is your responsibility to maintain appropriate alternate backup of your information and data.

Limitation of Liability

28. IN NO EVENT, EVEN IF NEARPOD OR A NEARPOD-AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, WILL NEARPOD OR ITS AFFILIATES, CONTRACTORS, EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, AGENTS, OR THIRD PARTY PARTNERS, LICENSORS OR SERVICE PROVIDERS BE LIABLE WITH RESPECT TO ANY SUBJECT MATTER OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS (INCLUDING YOUR INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER USERS) UNDER ANY CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHER LEGAL OR EQUITABLE THEORY FOR: (I) ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES; (II) THE COST OF PROCUREMENT FOR SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES; (III) FOR INTERRUPTION OF USE OR LOSS OR CORRUPTION OF DATA; OR (IV) FOR ANY AMOUNTS THAT EXCEED THE FEES PAID BY YOU TO NEARPOD. APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY OR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, IN WHICH CASE NEARPOD'S LIABILITY WILL BE LIMITED TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

Representations and Warranties

29. You represent and warrant that, in connection with these Terms and Conditions or the Nearpod Materials: your use of the Nearpod Materials will be in strict accordance with these Terms and Conditions and with all applicable laws and regulations (including, without limitation, any local laws or regulations in your country, state, city, or other governmental area, regarding online conduct and acceptable content); (ii) your Content and your use of the Nearpod Materials will not infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of any third party; (iii) you will not and will not attempt to re-join or attempt to use the Nearpod Materials if Nearpod has banned or suspended you; (iv) you will not and will not attempt to defraud Nearpod or another user; and (v) you will not and will not attempt to use another user's account or allow another person to use your user account. A Nearpod User is a single, named, individual person over the age of 18 (or the age of majority in the country where they are located if different) and who is not a student. Districts and/or Schools represent and warrant that it and its members, employees, contractors, permitted successors, permitted assigns, administrators permitted legal representatives will not share accounts between two or more Users. User accounts may be reassigned to accommodate District's users changes, such as employee turnover, upon notice to Nearpod during the Subscription Period.

30. Any illegal activities undertaken in connection with the Nearpod Materials may be referred to the authorities.

Indemnification

31. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Nearpod, its contractors, and its licensors, and their respective directors, officers, employees, and agents from and against any and all claims, losses, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses, including attorneys' fees (any of the foregoing, a "Claim"), arising out of or relating to your use or misuse of the Nearpod Materials, including but not limited to your breach of these Terms and Conditions or infringement, misappropriation or violation of the intellectual property or other rights of any other person or entity, provided that the foregoing does not obligate you to the extent the Claim arises out of Nearpod's willful misconduct or gross negligence. Nearpod reserves the right, at our own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us and you agree to cooperate with our defense of these Claims.

Arbitration

32. This Section is referred to herein as the "Arbitration Agreement." The parties that any and all controversies, claims, or disputes between you and Nearpod arising out of, relating to, or resulting from these Terms and Conditions, shall be subject to binding arbitration pursuant to the terms and conditions of this Arbitration Agreement, and not any court action (other than a small claims court action to the extent the claim qualifies). The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Arbitration Agreement.

33. THIS PARAGRAPH IS REFERRED TO AS THE "CLASS ACTION WAIVER." THE PARTIES AGREE THAT EACH PARTY MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING. UNLESS BOTH PARTIES AGREE OTHERWISE, THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE OR JOIN MORE THAN ONE PERSON'S OR PARTY'S CLAIMS AND MAY NOT OTHERWISE PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF A CONSOLIDATED, REPRESENTATIVE, OR CLASS PROCEEDING. ALSO, THE ARBITRATOR MAY AWARD RELIEF (INCLUDING MONETARY, INJUNCTIVE, AND DECLARATORY RELIEF) ONLY IN FAVOR OF THE INDIVIDUAL PARTY SEEKING RELIEF AND ONLY TO THE EXTENT NECESSARY TO PROVIDE RELIEF NECESSITATED BY THAT PARTY'S INDIVIDUAL CLAIM(S).

34. Arbitration will be conducted by a neutral arbitrator in accordance with the American Arbitration Association's ("AAA") rules and procedures (the "AAA Rules"), as modified by this Arbitration Agreement. If there is any inconsistency between the AAA Rules and this Arbitration Agreement, the terms of this Arbitration Agreement will control unless the arbitrator determines that the application of the inconsistent Arbitration Agreement terms would not result in a fundamentally fair arbitration. The arbitrator must also follow the provisions of these Terms and Conditions as a court would, including without limitation, the limitation of liability provisions above. You may visit http://www.adr.org for information on the AAA and http://www.adr.org/fileacase for information on how to file a claim against Nearpod.

35. The arbitration shall be held in Miami-Dade County, Florida. If the value of the relief sought is $10,000 or less, you or Nearpod may elect to have the arbitration conducted by telephone or based solely on written submissions, which election shall be binding on each party, but subject to the arbitrator's discretion to require an in-person hearing if the circumstances warrant. Attendance at any in-person hearing may be made by telephone by either or both parties unless the arbitrator requires otherwise.

36. The arbitrator will decide the substance of all claims in accordance with the laws of the state of Florida, without regard to its conflicts of laws rules, and will honor all claims of privilege recognized by law. The arbitrator shall not be bound by rulings in prior arbitrations involving different Nearpod Materials users, but is bound by rulings in prior arbitrations involving you to the extent required by applicable law.

37. Payment of all filing, administration, and arbitrator fees (collectively, the "Arbitration Fees") will be governed by the AAA's Rules. Each party will be responsible for all other fees it incurs in connection with the arbitration, including without limitation, all attorney fees.

38. All aspects of the arbitration proceeding, and any ruling, decision or award by the arbitrator, will be strictly confidential for the benefit of all parties.

39. If a court decides that any term or provision of this Arbitration Agreement other than the Class Action Waiver is invalid or unenforceable, the parties agree to replace such term or provision with a term or provision that is valid and enforceable and that comes closest to expressing the intention of the invalid or unenforceable term or provision, and this Arbitration Agreement shall be enforceable as so modified. If a court decides that any of the provisions of the Class Action Waiver is invalid or unenforceable, then the entirety of this Arbitration Agreement shall be null and void. The remainder of these Terms and Conditions will continue to apply.

Miscellaneous

40. Nearpod may make modifications, deletions and/or additions to these Terms and Conditions ("Changes") at any time. Changes will be effective: (i) thirty (30) days after Nearpod provides notice of the Changes, whether such notice is posted to Nearpod, is sent to the e-mail address associated with your account or otherwise; or (ii) when you opt-in or otherwise expressly agree to the Changes or a version of these Terms and Conditions incorporating the Changes, whichever comes first. Under these Terms and Conditions, you consent to receive communications from Nearpod electronically. Except to the extent that applicable law, if any, provides otherwise, these Terms and Conditions and any access to or use of the Nearpod Materials will be governed by the laws of the state of Florida, U.S.A. You agree that any action at law or in equity arising out of or relating to these Terms and Conditions or the Nearpod Materials that is not subject to arbitration under the Arbitration Section shall be filed only in the state or federal courts in Miami-Dade County, Florida (or a small claims court of the above-referenced jurisdiction) and you hereby consent and submit to the personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purposes of litigating any such action. The failure of any party at any time to require performance of any provision of these Terms and Conditions shall in no manner affect such party's right at a later time to enforce the same. A waiver of any breach of any provision of these Terms and Conditions shall not be construed as a continuing waiver of other breaches of the same or other provisions of these Terms and Conditions. If any provision of these Terms and Conditions shall be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these Terms and Conditions and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. These Terms and Conditions, and any rights and licenses granted hereunder, may not be transferred or assigned by you, but may be assigned by Nearpod without restriction. This is the entire agreement between us relating to the subject matter herein and shall not be modified except in a writing, signed by both parties, or by a change to these Terms and Conditions made by Nearpod as set forth above.
Contact Information:
If you have any questions or comments about these Terms and Conditions or our Privacy Policy, you can contact us at: privacy@nearpod.com

For the previous version of our terms and conditions, effective from Nov, 12, 2016 - March 1, 2019, please click here.

Posted Date: January 16, 2019

Effective: March 2, 2019

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By accessing or registering on Nearpod Inc.'s ("Nearpod", "us", "we", "our") website, or by downloading or using any of the Nearpod® mobile applications (collectively, "Nearpod® Materials"), you agree to become bound by these Terms and Conditions. If you do not agree to all the Terms and Conditions, then you may not access the Nearpod website or use any of our products or services.

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Your privacy and that of your students is important to us:

We do not use personal information to market or advertise to you or students, nor do we permit third parties to do so. Our Flipgrid website and apps do not show advertising.

We do not sell user personal information.

Flipgrid does use your personal information for certain stated purposes, such as providing and improving the service and communicating with Discussion Owners (but not Students) about new Flipgrid features and events. Please read the Privacy Policy below, as it describes what information we collect from you, how we use that information, and the legal bases we have to process your information.

This Privacy Policy governs how Flipgrid, Inc., a Microsoft subsidiary, ("Flipgrid," "we," "our," or "us") uses and shares personal information collected by our website at Flipgrid.com, the Flipgrid mobile app, and any associated services (the "Service").

"You" may be a:

"Discussion Owner" (i.e., an adult over the age of 18, a teacher or other School representative that subscribes to the Service with the administrative right to create, invite, manage, moderate or delete a Flipgrid video that may be set up using the Service );

a "School" (i.e., an educational institution, organization or other educational business for which one or more Discussion Owners offers the Service to Students);

a "Student" (i.e., an individual who was invited to use the Service at the invitation of a Discussion Owner); or

a "User" (i.e., any individual user of the Service, including a Discussion Owner or a Student).

1. Information Flipgrid Collects

Flipgrid may collect personal information from Users as described below.

1.1Discussion Owner Personal Information (Collected from the Discussion Owner)

When a Discussion Owner creates an account on the Service, we ask you for certain information, such a Discussion Owner's first name, last name, email address, password, instruction type, and country. If you are a teacher or a School, we will also collect your School email address and School name to set up an account.

When a Discussion Owner posts content (text, images, photographs, videos, messages, comments, or any other kind of content) on the Service, the information contained in the posting, including first name, last name, email address, any audio and image included within any video, will be stored in our Service for purposes of providing the Service.

When a Discussion Owner logs into an existing account through their Microsoft or Google account, we may collect first and last name, email address and other information specific to that third party account to authenticate the Discussion Owner.

When a Discussion Owner provides feedback to a Student, such as replying to a video book report, assessing foreign language skills, encouraging group discussion, or prompting the scientific method, we store the feedback in the Service for purposes of providing the Service.

If a Discussion Owner provides us feedback or contacts us via email, we will collect the Discussion Owner's name and email address, as well as any other content included in the email for purposes of replying to the Discussion Owner and improving the Service.

1.2 Student Personal Information

Discussion Owners provide consent for the collection of Student personal information as discussed in Section 6 of this Privacy Policy, below. When a Student posts content (text, images, photographs, videos, messages, comments, links, or any other kind of content) using the Service, the information contained in the posting, including first name, last name, email address, and any audio and image included within any video will be stored in our Service as per the consent provided by the Discussion Owner. Depending on the Discussion Owner's privacy settings for the Group or Topic, other Users may view and share Student content.

If a Student provides us with feedback or contacts us via email, we will collect the Student's name and email address, as well as any other content included in the email, for purposes of replying to the Student and improving the Service.

1.3 Automatically Collected Information

When a User uses the Service, some information may be automatically collected to help us understand how the Service is being used and how to improve the Service. For example, device type, the device identifier (UDID), the Open Device Identification Number (ODIN), date/time stamps for each visit, browser type, operating system, Internet Protocol (IP) address, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, clickstream data, and domain name are all collected for purposes of administering, tracking usage of, and improving the Service. We may store this information in log files.

Cookies and Similar Technologies

Flipgrid uses cookies (small text files placed on your device) and similar technologies to provide the Service, to help collect data, and to share information about Flipgrid and its features and functionalities to Discussion Owners. These cookies help us provide the Service. For example, they allow you to log in to secure areas of the Service and help the content of the pages load quickly. We use cookies to provide Users with a more personal, useful, and interactive experience with our Service. We also use web beacons to help deliver cookies and gather usage and performance data. The Service may include web beacons and cookies from third-party service providers.

In addition to the cookies we set, third parties can also set cookies when you visit our sites. For example:

Companies we hire to provide services on our behalf, such as site analytics, may place cookies when you visit our sites.

Companies that deliver content, such as videos a Discussion Owner links to or embed, place cookies on their own. These companies use the data they process in accordance with their privacy policies, which may enable these companies to collect and combine information about your activities across websites, apps, or online services.

Each User has a variety of tools to control cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies, including browser controls to block and delete cookies and controls from some third-party analytics service providers to opt out of data collection through web beacons and similar technologies. User browser settings and other choices may impact the functionality of the Service.

2. Use of Personal Information

We store and process User personal information in the United States, and we use this information as follows:

To provide the Service, including updating, securing, troubleshooting, and providing support.

To improve and develop the Service.

To respond to User comments and questions and provide customer service.

To communicate with Discussion Owners about upcoming Microsoft education or Flipgrid events, new Flipgrid features and other news.

To send the User information including confirmations, technical notices, updates, security alerts, and support and administrative messages.

To identify specific Users in our system.

To facilitate the creation and management of accounts on our Service.

To process and deliver orders.

To comply with applicable laws, including website accessibility laws that may require transcription of audio or other methods to make User content available on the Service.

For other purposes with your permission.

Flipgrid does not use your personal information to market or advertise to you (regardless of whether you are a Student or other User). Flipgrid also does not use your personal information to track and target advertisements on third party websites or services.

3. Information We Share

Flipgrid does not sell User personal information. We share personal information we collect on Users (including Students and Discussion Owners) when Users create accounts, request support, record videos, share their experiences with us, or otherwise use the Service. We may also share User personal information with vendors, consultants, and other third party service providers who need access to such information to carry out work on our behalf and at our direction. For example, we rely on data center operators and communications vendors to operate our Service or send you notifications.

We may also share User personal information for legal, protection, and safety purposes. For example,

We may share information to comply with applicable laws.

We may share information to respond to lawful requests and legal processes.

We may share information in an emergency, such as protecting the safety of our employees and agents, our Users, or any person.

We may share information to protect the rights and property of Flipgrid, our agents, employees, customers, and others, including by enforcing our agreements, policies, and terms of use.

We may disclose or transfer your personal information in connection with the sale, merger, bankruptcy, sale of assets or reorganization, in whole or in part, of our company.

Flipgrid reserves the right to share Users' personal information to respond to duly authorized information requests of governmental authorities or where required by law. Flipgrid reserves the right to use or disclose personal information provided to Flipgrid in response to a lawful request by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements, or if Flipgrid reasonably believes that use or disclosure is necessary to protect Flipgrid's rights and/or to comply with a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process. In exceptionally rare circumstances where national, state, or company security is at issue, Flipgrid reserves the right to share our entire database of visitors and clients with appropriate government authorities. If we are going to share User personal information, we strive to provide the User with advance notice by e-mail unless prohibited by law from doing so.

4. Information Users Share

Each Group and Topic and the content submitted, will be displayed in the Group or Topic, respectively and will be visible to anyone who joins the Group or Topic as administered and permitted by the Discussion Owner, subject to the Discussion Owner's ability to deactivate or moderate submissions. The Discussion Owner, and not Flipgrid, sets the Group or Topic privacy settings.

Discussion Owners choose whether Users are permitted to link to external sites. External sites are governed by their respective privacy policies. Flipgrid leverages Youtube.com's and Vimeo.com's enhanced privacy modes to mark links as 'do not track. Discussion Owners may also record Shorts videos and may share the videos with others.

We may publish comments or feedback from a User about Flipgrid only if we obtain that User's consent.

5. Information Choices and Changes

Users may opt out of providing personal information to the Service at any time by uninstalling the application. Users may also opt out of providing personal information by emailing support@Flipgrid.com to have their account removed or by asking their Discussion Owner to remove their content. Flipgrid will stop collecting the User's personal information in these cases, but may still retain the User's personal information as outlined in the "Data Retention" (Section 8) of this Policy (below).

Our communication email regarding events, news and other such topics explain how to opt out of receiving such emails. If a User opts out, we may still send them operational emails that pertain to the User's account and notifications regarding our services.

Users may send requests about their personal information to our contact information in Section 14 below, including to change contact choices, opt out of our sharing with others, and review, update, correct, or delete personal information. Once the User has been authenticated, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to honor these requests. We may retain an archived copy of User records as required by law. Such opt outs may result in disruption or cancellation of the Service or impairment of certain Service functionality.

Users may also contact the Discussion Owner and request that the video be removed. If the Discussion Owner is not able to remove the video, Users can contact us at support@Flipgrid.com and request that such videos be removed. However, we will only be able to remove the video if (a) the User provided their email address when posting the video and (b) the User sends the email request to us using that same email address. Otherwise, we may not be able to remove a posted video. Deletion of a video removes it from the Group or Topic.

Discussion Owners have certain options with respect to the privacy settings of their Groups and Topics. For example, Discussion Owners choose how Users gain access to their Groups and Topic and whether those Groups and Topics are moderated. Parents and Students should send all requests regarding these privacy settings directly to the Discussion Owner.

6. COPPA AND STUDENTS

6.1 Notice to Parents and Schools

Under the United States Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA"), verifiable parental consent is needed to collect, use, or disclose personal information (e.g., full name and email address) from each User under 13 years old. In accordance with COPPA, a teacher or Discussion Owner may act as the agent of the parent or legal guardian of a Student and provide consent on behalf of the parent for Flipgrid's collection, use, and disclosure of the Student's personal information. By enrolling a Student under 13 to use the Service, the School provides such consent to us and agrees that the Students' activities while on the Service are subject to our Terms. Please see Flipgrid's Teacher Toolkit (https://static.Flipgrid.com/docs/Flipgrid_dos_donts.pdf) and Parent Consent Form (http://static.Flipgrid.com/docs/Flipgrid_consent_form.pdf) for guidelines on how teachers and Schools should provide consent on behalf of parents.

This Privacy Policy does not govern any School's collection, use, or disclosure of a Student User's personal information through the Service, and we are not responsible for any such collection, use, or disclosure. Parents should contact the teacher or Discussion Owner directly to understand the Discussion Owner's privacy practices or to request to access, change or delete information collected by the Discussion Owner in connection with the Service that cannot otherwise be accessed, changed or deleted as described in this Privacy Policy.

As required under COPPA, parents can make certain choices regarding how their child's information is used. (For more information, see "Parent's Choices Regarding Information on Students Under 13," in Section 6.2 below). Parents should submit these requests to the teacher or Discussion Owners, and the teacher or Discussion Owners, as the parent's agent, must pass those requests to us by emailing support@Flipgrid.com.

6.2 Parent's Choices Regarding Information on Students Under 13

Under COPPA, parents of Students under 13 have certain rights with respect to our collection, use, retention, and disclosure of their Student's information. This includes the right to review, update, or delete Student information, as well as prohibit our sharing Student information with third parties. Parents can exercise these rights by contacting the Student's Discussion Owner, and the Discussion Owner should submit these requests, on the parent's behalf, to Flipgrid by emailing support@Flipgrid.com. Notwithstanding any such requests, we may continue to share the Student information for non-Service purposes as described in Section 3, "Information We Share."

A parent should request deletion of the Student's information (such as videos submitted) through the Discussion Owner. Upon receiving such requests, the Discussion Owner can request deletion of the Student's information by emailing support@Flipgrid.com. This will delete the Student information from our live databases. We will not have any liability whatsoever for any termination of the account or related deletion of the Student information. When we delete personal information, it will be deleted from our active databases but may remain in our archives for up to 30 days.

Schools and Discussion Owners should always obtain parental consent for a Student under 13 to use the Service. Please see Flipgrid's Teacher Toolkit (https://static.Flipgrid.com/docs/Flipgrid_dos_donts.pdf) and Parent Consent Form (http://static.Flipgrid.com/docs/Flipgrid_consent_form.pdf) for tips on how to obtain proper consent from parents.

7. INFORMATION SECURITY

We use security technologies and procedures to help protect your personal information from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. Our security procedures and practices are consistent with industry standards applicable to our collection and use of personal information. In the event of an unauthorized release, disclosure, or acquisition of User information, Flipgrid will notify affected individuals (either directly or through Discussion Owners), as required by applicable law. While we use reasonable efforts to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

8. Data Retention

We store the information we collect for as long as you have an Account, or for up to 30 days in our archives when you ask for data to be deleted (as set forth in Section 6, above). Additionally, we retain User information to resolve disputes, enforce our policies, and to comply with the law.

9. How to View, Correct, or Update Personal Information

Discussion Owners can update their information by logging into their accounts and visiting the Account Settings tab on the User profile. Discussion Owners and Students may also update their information through my.flipgrid.com. Parents and Students can correct, edit, or update Student information by submitting a request to the Discussion Owner. If that is not effective, the Student can contact us directly at support@Flipgrid.com.

Residents of the European Economic Area may have additional rights as set forth in Section 11, below.

10. Deleting Account or Content

A Discussion Owner may delete his or her own account or content, as well as any content submitted to Flipgrid under that(including videos submitted by Students), by emailing your requests to support@Flipgrid.com. Discussion Owners and Students may also delete their own account or content through my.flipgrid.com. Deleted accounts or account content may be retained by us for up to 30 days to provide customer support and prevent accidental deletion.

11. Personal Information Transferred from the European Economic Area or Switzerland to the United States

The Service is hosted and operated in the United States and is subject to United States law. User personal information is hosted on United States servers. Flipgrid is subject to the investigatory and enforcement powers of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Flipgrid adheres to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of personal information transferred from the European Union and Switzerland to the United States (for more information, see the list of Microsoft U.S. entities or subsidiaries adhering to the Privacy Shield Principles). Microsoft Corporation has certified to the Department of Commerce that Flipgrid is a U.S. subsidiary controlled by Microsoft that adheres to the Privacy Shield Principles. If third-party agents process personal data on our behalf in a manner inconsistent with the principles of either Privacy Shield framework, we remain liable unless we prove we are not responsible for the event giving rise to the damage.

If there is any conflict between the terms in this privacy policy and the Privacy Shield Principles, the Privacy Shield Principles shall govern. To learn more about the Privacy Shield program, and to view our certification, visit the Privacy Shield website.

If you have a question or complaint related to participation by Flipgrid in the EU-U.S. or Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield, we encourage you to contact us at support@Flipgrid.com. For any complaints related to the Privacy Shield frameworks that Microsoft cannot resolve directly, we have chosen to cooperate with the relevant EU Data Protection Authority, or a panel established by the European data protection authorities, for resolving disputes with EU individuals, and with the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) for resolving disputes with Swiss individuals. Please contact us if you would like us to direct you to your data protection authority contacts. As further explained in the Privacy Shield Principles, binding arbitration is available to address residual complaints not resolved by other means.

12. RIGHTS OF CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS

12.1 California Consumer Privacy Act

If you are a California resident, we process your personal data in accordance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). This CCPA section of our Privacy Policy contains information required by the CCPA and supplements our Privacy Policy.

Sale. We do not sell your personal information. So, we do not offer an opt-out to the sale of personal information.

Rights. You have the right to request that we (i) disclose what personal information we collect, use, disclose, and sell and (ii) delete your personal information. You may make these requests yourself or through an authorized agent. If you use an authorized agent, we may request information from you or the agent demonstrating that the agent is acting on your behalf.

If you are a Discussion Owner or Student, you must exercise your rights through my.flipgrid.com. If you have an additional request or questions after contacting us through my.flipgrid.com, or if you are not a Discussion Owner or Student, you may exercise their rights by contacting Flipgrid by email at support@Flipgrid.com. We may ask for additional information to validate your request before honoring the request.

You have a right not to receive discriminatory treatment if you exercise your CCPA rights. We will not discriminate against you if you exercise your CCPA rights.

Personal Information Processing. In the bulleted list below, we outline the categories of personal information we collect, the sources of the personal information, our purposes of processing, and the categories of third-party recipients with whom we share the personal information. For a description of the data included in each category, please see the Flipgrid Collects section.

Categories of Personal Information

- Sources of personal information: Submission by Discussion Owner and third party account providers such as Microsoft or Google

- Purposes of Processing (Collection and Sharing with Third Parties): Provide, improve and develop the Service; provide customer service; communicate with Discussion Owners including as related to events, opportunities, news and technical or administrative messages; comply with applicable laws; and for other purposes with Discussion Owner permission

- Recipients: Service providers and Discussion Owner-directed individuals and entities including other Users and external sites

- Sources of personal information: Submission by Discussion Owner, Students and third party account providers such as Microsoft or Google

- Purposes of Processing (Collection and Sharing with Third Parties): Provide, improve and develop the Service, provide customer service, communicate with Students including as related to technical or administrative messages; comply with applicable laws

- Recipients: Service providers and Discussion Owner-directed individuals and entities including other Users and external sites

- Sources of personal information: Interactions with Users, including Discussion Owners and Students

- Purposes of Processing (Collection and Sharing with Third Parties): Provide, improve and develop the Service; provide customer service; comply with applicable laws; and for other purposes with User permission

- Recipients: Service providers and User-directed entities

- Sources of personal information: Interactions with Users, including Discussion Owners and Students

- Purposes of Processing (Collection and Sharing with Third Parties): Provide, improve and develop the Service; provide customer service; communicate with Users including as related to events, opportunities and news; comply with applicable laws; and for other purposes with User permission

- Recipients: Service providers and User-directed entities

While the bulleted list above contains the primary sources and purposes of processing for each category of personal information, we may collect personal information from any of the sources listed in the Information Flipgrid Collects section above. Similarly, we may process any category of personal information for any of the purposes described in the Use of Personal Information above. Disclosures of personal information for business or commercial purposes. As indicated in the Information We Share section, we may share personal information with third parties for various business and commercial purposes. The primary business and commercial purposes for which we share personal information are the purposes of processing listed in this section. However, we may share any category of personal information for any of the business and commercial purposes in the Information We Share section of this policy above.

12.2 Other Rights

Flipgrid complies with California's "Shine the Light" law, as applicable. Flipgrid does not share Students' personal information with third party marketers (notably, Flipgrid does not share the personal information of ANY User with third party marketers). If you are a California resident you can request a list of personal information about you we have disclosed to third parties in the preceding calendar year, as well as the names and addresses of those third parties. You may make such a request only once per year, and you don't have to pay for it. To make a request, send an email to support@Flipgrid.com or send a written request to Flipgrid, 251 First Avenue North, Suite 500, Minneapolis, MN 55401.

Flipgrid also complies with California's Digital Protection of Minors Act, as applicable.

12.3 How We Respond to Do Not Track Signals

We do not currently respond to "do not track" signals or other mechanisms that might enable consumers to opt out of tracking on our website.

13. Changes to this Policy

We may make changes to this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make changes to this Privacy Policy that we believe will materially affect your rights, we will notify you by email about these changes and post a notice to the Service and change the "Last Updated" date above. If you continue to use our service after we provide such notice, you are agreeing to accept these changes. Otherwise, for non-material changes, the Privacy Policy will be updated on the Service. You should consult this Policy regularly for any changes.

14. Contact Information

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to contact us, please contact support@Flipgrid.com You can reach Flipgrid by mail at:

Flipgrid

251 First Avenue North

Suite 500

Minneapolis, MN 55401, U.S.A.

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Your privacy and that of your students is important to us: We do not use personal information to market or advertise to you or students, nor do we permit third parties to do so. Our Flipgrid website and apps do not show advertising. We do not sell user personal information.

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Privacy & Security Center

Google is committed to building products that help protect student and teacher privacy and provide best-in-class security for your institution. You can trust that Google for Education products and services continuously protect users, devices, and data from increasingly complex threats.

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Privacy & Security Center | Google for Education

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Privacy & Security Center Google is committed to building products that help protect student and teacher privacy and provide best-in-class security for your institution. You can trust that Google for Education products and services continuously protect users, devices, and data from increasingly complex threats.

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Making Printed Materials into a Google Doc

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Using the Drive App to Create a Google Doc from printed materials

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Coronavirus Resources for Physical Education and Health

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SHAPE America Coronavirus resources help physical education and health education teachers across the country as many schools and school districts are moving to distance learning due to COVID-19.

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Scan Documents Using Notes App - Apple 360

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The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) was enacted by Congress in 2000 to address concerns about children's access to obscene or harmful content over the Internet. CIPA imposes certain requirements on schools or libraries that receive discounts for Internet access or internal connections through the E-rate program - a program that makes certain communications services and products more affordable for eligible schools and libraries. In early 2001, the FCC issued rules implementing CIPA and provided updates to those rules in 2011.

What CIPA requires

Schools and libraries subject to CIPA may not receive the discounts offered by the E-rate program unless they certify that they have an Internet safety policy that includes technology protection measures. The protection measures must block or filter Internet access to pictures that are: (a) obscene; (b) child pornography; or (c) harmful to minors (for computers that are accessed by minors). Before adopting this Internet safety policy, schools and libraries must provide reasonable notice and hold at least one public hearing or meeting to address the proposal.

Schools subject to CIPA have two additional certification requirements: 1) their Internet safety policies must include monitoring the online activities of minors; and 2) as required by the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act, they must provide for educating minors about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms, and cyberbullying awareness and response.

Schools and libraries subject to CIPA are required to adopt and implement an Internet safety policy addressing:

Access by minors to inappropriate matter on the Internet;

The safety and security of minors when using electronic mail, chat rooms and other forms of direct electronic communications;

Unauthorized access, including so-called "hacking," and other unlawful activities by minors online;

Unauthorized disclosure, use, and dissemination of personal information regarding minors; and

Measures restricting minors' access to materials harmful to them.

Schools and libraries must certify they are in compliance with CIPA before they can receive E-rate funding.

CIPA does not apply to schools and libraries receiving discounts only for telecommunications service only;

An authorized person may disable the blocking or filtering measure during use by an adult to enable access for bona fide research or other lawful purposes.

CIPA does not require the tracking of Internet use by minors or adults.

You can find out more about CIPA or apply for E-rate funding by contacting the Universal Service Administrative Company's (USAC) Schools and Libraries Division (SLD). SLD also operates a client service bureau to answer questions at 1-888-203-8100 or via email through the SLD website.

Printable Version

Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) (pdf)

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Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA)

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The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) was enacted by Congress in 2000 to address concerns about children's access to obscene or harmful content over the Internet.

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John Newman & Amy Ritchie, Bureau of Competition

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Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (“COPPA”)

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COPPA imposes certain requirements on operators of websites or online services directed to children under 13 years of age, and on operators of other websites or online services that have actual knowledge that they are collecting personal information online from a child under 13 years of age.

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Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

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The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.

FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children's education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level. Students to whom the rights have transferred are "eligible students."

Parents or eligible students have the right to inspect and review the student's education records maintained by the school. Schools are not required to provide copies of records unless, for reasons such as great distance, it is impossible for parents or eligible students to review the records. Schools may charge a fee for copies.

Parents or eligible students have the right to request that a school correct records which they believe to be inaccurate or misleading. If the school decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student then has the right to a formal hearing. After the hearing, if the school still decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student has the right to place a statement with the record setting forth his or her view about the contested information.

Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR § 99.31):

School officials with legitimate educational interest;

Other schools to which a student is transferring;

Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes;

Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student;

Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school;

Accrediting organizations;

To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena;

Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies; and

State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law.

Schools may disclose, without consent, "directory" information such as a student's name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance. However, schools must tell parents and eligible students about directory information and allow parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them. Schools must notify parents and eligible students annually of their rights under FERPA. The actual means of notification (special letter, inclusion in a PTA bulletin, student handbook, or newspaper article) is left to the discretion of each school.

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policy; privacy; academic records; technical assistance; parent rights; student rights; ferpa

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Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

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Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Home Page.

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Info about our Acceptable Use Policy, FERPA, COPPA, and CIPA

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IUSD AUP Never heard of it! what? Created by Yvonne Keaton - Imperial High School for Cal State Fullerton EDEL523/Professor Green

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How to Use Google Classroom - Tutorial for Beginners

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A 1-hour certification course covering the basics of Screencastify and popular ways to use video with students, colleagues, and parents.

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Screencastify University | Certifications, Training, and Tips

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Learn everything you need to create, edit, and share amazing instructional videos.

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Teaching Students to Distinguish Fact from Fiction Online

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Teachers, parents, (and parent-teachers) need strategies to help children effectively work independently online in order to ensure continued student learning during shelter-in-place orders. Join our UC Berkeley colleagues Devin, Phyllis, and Jason for two webinars focused on providing that support.

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Google Classroom is a powerful tool that allows teachers and students to create assignments, turn in work, grade assignments, share resources, have class discussions, and much more.

Classroom is constantly improving with new features. To help schools make the most out of Classroom, I have put together a series of videos on how to use this tool.

My goal for these videos is to keep them as short as possible, and have each one cover just a single topic. This way users can find just the information they need and can watch it quickly. Also, since Google Classroom gets frequent updates, it will be easier for me to replace a small video when it becomes outdated with a new version.

I plan to continue adding more videos to this series, so please let me know what Google Classroom topics or questions you would like me to address in a future video. See below for the current list of my Classroom help videos.

Google Classroom Help Videos

You can use the links below to open each video on YouTube, or scroll further down to watch any of the videos embedded in this blog post.

How to Create a Classroom (3 minutes) - YouTube link

How to Add Students (3 minutes) - YouTube link

How to Post to the Stream (4 minutes) - YouTube link

How to Add Materials to the Classwork Page (4 minutes) - YouTube link

How to Create an Assignment on the Classwork Page (7 minutes) - YouTube link

How Students Complete Assignments (5 minutes) - YouTube link

How to Grade Assignments (5 minutes) - YouTube link

How to Create Self-Grading Quizzes in Google Classroom (8 minutes) - YouTube link

Google Meet Integration with Google Classroom (6 minutes) - YouTube link

How to use Rubrics in Classroom (7 minutes) - YouTube link

How to use Originality Reports in Classroom (8 minutes) - YouTube link

How to Create a Classroom (3 minutes)
How to Add Students (3 minutes)

How to Post to the Stream (4 minutes)

How to Add Materials to the Classwork Page (4 minutes)

How to Create an Assignment on the Classwork Page (7 minutes)

How Students Complete Assignments (5 minutes)

How to Grade Assignments (5 minutes)

How to Create Self-Grading Quizzes (8 minutes)

Google Meet Integration with Google Classroom (6 minutes)

How to use Rubrics in Google Classroom (7 minutes)

How to use Originality Reports in Classroom (8 minutes)

Post by Eric Curts. Connect with me on Twitter at twitter.com/ericcurts

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Video Series: How to Use Google Classroom

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Google Classroom is a powerful tool that allows teachers and students to create assignments, turn in work, grade assignments, share resources, have class discussions, and much more. Classroom is constantly improving with new features. To help schools make the most out of Classroom, I have put together a series of videos on how to use this tool.

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Get instantly created flashcards and questions from your notes, or browse from thousands of notes from students around the world.

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Over the last week I've spent a lot of time helping some of my colleagues get up and running with Google Classroom. One of the things that they've asked about is what a student sees when he or she receives an assignment in Google Classroom. A few readers have emailed me with similar questions about that. I have a demo Google Classroom that I use to show colleagues what a student sees in Google Classroom. But for everyone else I made the following short video. I hope this helps some of you gain a little better understanding of what students see when they receive an assignment and when an assignment is returned to them in Google Classroom.

In the video above I mentioned using rubrics in Google Classroom. Here's the video that I made last fall to demonstrate how rubrics work in Google Classroom.

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An Overview of How Students View and Return Assignments in Google Classroom

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Over the last week I've spent a lot of time helping some of my colleagues get up and running with Google Classroom. One of the things that they've asked about is what a student sees when he or she receives an assignment in Google Classroom.

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Tomorrow at 11am ET I'm partnering with my friend Greg Kulowiec from EdTechTeacher.org to host a free webinar titled Making Multimedia Social Studies Lessons: Audio, Video, and More. Greg taught middle school social studies for many years and is now a leading expert on the use augmented reality and virtual reality in education. I taught high school social studies for years before taking over a high school computer science program this year.

In tomorrow's free webinar we'll be sharing some of our favorite methods for developing multimedia social studies lessons. If you're looking for some new ideas to make your social studies lessons a little more interesting for your students, join us tomorrow for this free webinar.

Registration is available on the EdTechTeacher.org homepage. On that page you'll also find some other free webinars that EdTechTeacher.org is hosting.

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Free Webinar - Making Multimedia Social Studies Lessons

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Tomorrow at 11am ET I'm partnering with my friend Greg Kulowiec from EdTechTeacher.org to host a free webinar titled Making Multimedia Social Studies Lessons: Audio, Video, and More. Greg taught middle school social studies for many years and is now a leading expert on the use augmented reality and virtual reality in education.

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CommonLit has made a tremendously positive impact on my teaching practice. I'm very proud to teach CommonLit!

Jennifer Lane ELA Teacher

"

CommonLit definitely keeps me organized. It's easy for me to grade and it's easy for me to see students' reading growth increase throughout the year.

"

The CommonLit assessment questions are aligned to our ELA standards, which is extremely helpful when prepping for the state exam.

Teachers trust CommonLit to foster students' reading comprehension

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CommonLit | Free Online Reading Passages and Literacy Resources

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CommonLit is a comprehensive literacy program with thousands of reading lessons, full-year ELA curriculum, benchmark assessments, and standards-based data for teachers.

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Recognizing the impact on communities and schools, ExploreLearning is here to support you during the coronavirus outbreak.

Discover online distance learning tips and tricks, along with on-demand videos for all ExploreLearning products.

ExploreLearning® is a Charlottesville, VA based company that develops online solutions to improve student learning in math and science.

Gizmos are online simulations that excite curiosity and invite interaction. We've got over 400 Gizmos in our library covering topics and concepts in math and science for grades 3-12. Gizmos help students dig deeper into subjects and really understand challenging concepts.

Gizmos support the latest educational standards and assessments.

Gizmos run on PCs, Macs, Chromebooks, iPads, and Android devices.

From blended learning to whole group to 1:1, Gizmos work.

© 2019 ExploreLearning. All rights reserved. Gizmo, Gizmos, Reflex, and Science4Us are registered trademarks of ExploreLearning.

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ExploreLearning was founded in 1999 by educators looking for new ways to inspire students and help them succeed. We make innovative math and science online solutions that are fun to use and really work. Gizmos®️, Reflex®️, and Science4Us®️ are used in classrooms in every state and over 50 countries worldwide.

Adaptive online games that students love

Enable students to develop instant recall of math facts

Uses research-proven methods to help improve test scores

Adaptive and individualized, Reflex is the most effective system for mastering basic math facts in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Full of games that students love, Reflex takes students at every level and helps them quickly gain math fact fluency and confidence. And educators and parents love the powerful reporting that allows them to monitor progress and celebrate success.

K-2 educators give their students a head start in STEM

Interactive activities and exercises, introducing kids to science vocabulary, sight words, and much more

Flexible delivery methods with hundreds of short lessons for use with whole group, small group, or 1:1

Science4Us covers Inquiry, Physical Science, Life Science and Earth & Space Science with lessons specifically designed for K-2 students. The sessions have 1000's of online and offline activities that can be completed in as little as ten minutes, and teach students using videos, interaction, poems, songs, and digital notebooks.

© ExploreLearning. All rights reserved. Gizmo, Gizmos, Reflex, and Science4Us are registered trademarks of ExploreLearning.
Get your 60-day free trial Get your 60-day free trial Get your free 30-day trial Discover how ExploreLearning is supporting schools during coronavirus outbreak

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ExploreLearning remote learning STEM resources

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Recognizing the impact on communities and schools, ExploreLearning is here to support you during the coronavirus outbreak. Discover online distance learning tips and tricks, along with on-demand videos for all ExploreLearning products. ExploreLearning® is a Charlottesville, VA based company that develops online solutions to improve student learning in math and science.

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In high school Language Arts, students learn to analyze texts and world literature, summarize central ideas and themes, evaluate arguments and claims, and present information with strategic use of digital media. Flipgrid provides a fun, social way to engage your students on any of your Language Arts lessons! Here are a few ways that Flipgrid can be integrated to ignite engagement and capture your students' learning process:

⭐️Analyze and discuss various texts to determine theme, distinguish the impact of point of view, and explain inferences.
⭐️ Evaluate and share how author's choices contribute to the structure and meaning of a text.
⭐️ Demonstrate the understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuance.
⭐️ Share arguments to support claims and convey complex ideas from informative text.
⭐️ Explain the evidence drawn from text to support analysis, reflection, and research.
⭐️ Use digital media in presentations to enhance understanding, reasoning, and findings.
⭐️ Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives and justify points of view.

Once you're ready to create your first discussion Topic, you can dive right in from your Educator Admin or head to the Disco Library for inspiration. Here is a sampling of High School Language Arts Topics currently available in the Disco Library, all created by your peers and ready to be used with your learners!

🚀 Disco Library: World Reading and Literature

Book Speed Dating by Brooksie Kramer: A Topic for book reflections and recommendations

Adversity in Literature by Laura Ebersole: A Topic for analyzing literature in the coming of age genre

Shakespearean Insults by Nicole LaFave: A Topic for having fun with Shakespeare and language

I am Malala - Chapter Reflections by Ceci Gomez-Galvez: A Topic for focusing on metacognitive readings strategies

3 Emojis Booktalk by Jennifer Sherbak: A Topic for sharing reading reflections with textual evidence

🚀 Disco Library: Reading Informational Text

Brain Dump by Christine Godard: A Topic for helping students reflect on learning with verbal-visual coding and developing retrieval skills

5 W & H Strategy Informational Text by Sheila Chabera: A Topic for exploring text features

🚀 Disco Library: Writing and Research

Social Justice by Monifa Nealy: A Topic for reflecting on social justice movements

Perspective: Right or Wrong by Claudio Zavala: A Topic for sharing ideas and reasoning

Pitch Perfect Practice by Michael Lamb: A Topic for practicing persuasion techniques

Warriors Don't Cry Fliphunt by Laela Bunn: A Topic for demonstrating comprehension and defending an opinion statement

Debate - It's OK to Disagree by Jornea Ewrin: A Topic for debate and research pros and cons.

🚀 Disco Library: Speaking and Listening

Rhetoric by Brandi Waruch: A Topic for exploring rhetoric and persuasive communication

Pathos, Ethos, Logos: Parents by David Theriault: A Topic for questioning strategies

Socratic Smackdown by Lisa Scumpieru: A Topic for developing listening and speaking skills

TKAM Quote Analysis by Kayla Anderson: A Topic for analyzing quotes by determining meaning, context, and significance.

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Integration Doc: Flipgrid in High School Language Arts (Ages 14-18) 📖📝 - Flipgrid

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What is Flipgrid? 💭 Flipgrid is the leading video discussion platform for millions of PreK to PhD educators, students, and families around the world. Flipgrid promotes fun and social learning by giving every student an equal and amplified voice on the Topics you define!

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Editor's note: Shaun Langevin contributed to the most recent update of this article. Use these links to jump to any section below:
Google's most popular tools-Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs-are staples for getting organized and getting work done. These collaboration-friendly tools have revolutionized the way we communicate, work together, and store information online. For teachers and students, the education-friendly platform Google Classroom brings the benefits of paperless sharing, assessment, and digital collaboration to classrooms. Tens of millions of teachers and students use Google Classroom in thousands of schools worldwide, making it one of the most popular edtech tools around.

Read on to find answers to teachers' most commonly asked questions about the platform, with all kinds of information on how you can use Google Classroom with your students. Also, be sure to check out our guide for parents and caregivers, and our detailed review of Google Classroom's learning potential.

Google describes Google Classroom as "mission control for your classroom," which might be the easiest way to think about it. Simply put, it's a platform that ties together Google's Workspace tools (formerly known as G Suite) for teachers and students. It also acts as a digital organizer where teachers can keep class materials and share them with students-all paperless-ly. From there, you can pick and choose the features you want to incorporate. This flexibility and seamless integration with Google's popular tools have made Google Classroom one of the most widely used edtech tools today.

Technically, no. Google Classroom is not a stand-alone learning management system (LMS), course management system (CMS), or student information system (SIS). That said, Google regularly adds new functions to Google Classroom. As of August 2023, Google Classroom can sync data with Skyward 2.0, Skyward Qmlativ, Follett Aspen, and Infinite Campus student information systems. As Google continues to add features, it may start to look, and function, more like an LMS. But for now it's best to think of the tool as a one-stop shop for class organization.

Streamline how they manage classes. The platform integrates with Google's other tools like Docs, Drive, Forms, Meet, and Calendar, so there are many built-in "shortcuts" for classroom-management tasks. For example, if you post an assignment with a due date, it's automatically added to your students' class calendar for them to see.

Digitally organize, distribute, and collect assignments, course materials (think: videos, websites, PDFs, and more), and student work. Teachers also can post an assignment to multiple classes or modify and reuse assignments from year to year. If your students have regular access to devices, Google Classroom can help you avoid some trips to the photocopier and cut down on some of the paper shuffling that comes with teaching and learning.

Communicate with students about their classwork. You can use the platform to post announcements and reminders about assignments, and it's easy to see who has or hasn't completed their work. You can also check in with individual students privately, answer their questions, and offer support.

Give students timely feedback on their assignments and assessments. Within Google Classroom, it's possible to use Google Forms to create and share quizzes that are automatically graded as students turn them in. Not only will you spend less time grading, but your students will also get instant feedback on their work. Teachers can view individual and class data within Forms or an automatically generated Google Sheet.

Anyone! Google Classroom is included as a free service for anyone with a personal Google account. It's also free for organizations using Google Workspace for Education or Google Workspace for nonprofits. In most cases, teachers and students can access Google Classroom using a Google account provided by their school. While teachers and students in schools are the primary users of Google Classroom, some features can be used by administrators, families, clubs, after-school programs, and homeschoolers.

Because it's a fairly flexible platform, educators use its features in a lot of different ways. With Google Classroom, teachers can:

Formative: You can quickly create, distribute, and collect digital exit tickets or auto-graded assessments. And you can pose discussion questions for quick insights into what students are thinking.

Summative: Tests can include traditional question types like multiple choice, short or paragraph answer, checkbox, and more. There also are options for students to upload files (like movies or photos) when responding to a question or prompt, allowing students to share their knowledge in a variety of ways.

Grading and rubrics: Teachers can simply assign points to different assignments, or give different weights to different types of assignments (essays, classwork, homework, etc.). You can create rubrics right in Google Classroom, and students can view these as they work. Turned-in work can be graded using the rubric, and the score will be automatically calculated. Take note, however, that it isn't possible to use standards-based grades (at least not yet).

Plagiarism check: Another feature called "originality reports" is essentially a plagiarism-checking tool that compares a student's Google Document with webpages and books readily available on the internet. If the feature is turned on, students can run reports before submitting assignments-and teachers can run them after. Teachers may want to use the originality reports feature as an opportunity to teach the importance of citing sources.

Can teachers use Google Classroom for assessments and grading?

Yes. Google Classroom can help teachers streamline summative and formative assessments through its own features and third-party integrated tools.

Do teachers use Google Classroom to teach live, like with Zoom?

Some teachers use Google Meet as a video conferencing solution (instead of Zoom or a similar tool). Google Classroom integrates with Google Meet, and teachers can set up video meetings from within Google Classroom for live, or "synchronous," instruction. By default, students can't begin a meeting before the teacher, or rejoin the meeting if the teacher is the last person to leave. Google Meet videos created from within Google Classroom are only accessible from school-managed Google Workspace for Education accounts.

In addition to live-video capabilities, the recording feature in Google Meet gives teachers an easy tool for creating prerecorded video lessons for asynchronous learning, which students can watch on their own time. The Google for Education Teacher Center has helpful video tutorials about Google Meet to help teachers get started.

How do I set up Google Classroom?

The basic setup process for Google Classroom is pretty intuitive, even for first-time users. The Google for Education Teacher Center offers several tutorials for getting started-this is your best bet if you're looking for the most up-to-date videos and information. There are also plenty of do-it-yourself tutorials on YouTube posted by teachers and tech-integration specialists. Many of these teacher-created videos include practical tips and tricks they've learned from using the platform in their classrooms.

How can Google Classroom support differentiation in the classroom?

Read Along: This tool pairs young readers with a digital reading assistant named Diya, letting teachers assign activities based on grade or Lexile level while also tracking reading metrics like speed and fluency.

Reading Mode: Students and teachers can now customize how they view digital texts by adjusting typeface, font size, and colors, in addition to reducing potentially distracting elements like images and video.

Google Classroom makes it easy to customize assignments for individual students or small groups. Teachers can give modified or differing assignments to specific students or groups in a class. You also have the option to check in with a student privately to see whether they have questions or need extra help. An online differentiation strategy like this can make your efforts less conspicuous to the class, so students won't feel singled out in the way that they might with other types of in-person differentiation.

In addition, Google Classroom has unveiled new accessibility tools to allow for students of all learning abilities to engage with classroom content:

With or without a tool like Google Classroom, differentiation is always going to be a matter of creative problem-solving, and there's no one or "right" way to do it. Luckily, lots of teachers share their tips, tricks, and creative solutions online. Here's an example of how one teacher uses Google Classroom to meet students at their levels.

How can administrators and curriculum coaches use Google Classroom?

Google Classroom isn't just for teachers. Superintendents, principals, and curriculum coaches can benefit from using Google Classroom to organize staff notes, announcements, dates, documents, and other resources for teachers and other school staff. When using Google Classroom in this way, administrators can intentionally model many of the technological skills and proficiencies they'd like teachers to use.

Curriculum coaches can create anonymous questionnaires (using Google Forms) to receive feedback on recent professional development. Coaches can even go a step further and upload videos of model lessons for teachers in their district to view-a great way to bring teachers who are new to a school or district up to speed.

How can families and parents stay in the loop with Google Classroom?

Google Classroom has options for teachers to send out updates about students' classwork, but it doesn't offer the level of communication you'll find in tools like Seesaw, ClassDojo, or Remind. Google refers to parents and families as "guardians" who can opt in to receive email summaries about missing work, upcoming work, and other class activity. However, it doesn't include direct-messaging features for families or allow families to comment on their children's work.

What's new in Google Classroom?

The platform has been updated quite a bit since its launch, and Google continues to introduce new features regularly, often based on feedback from teachers.

*Please note that there are different membership tiers with Google Education tools, which may impact which new features you and your school district have access to in Google Classroom.

Mix up the types of resources you share with students in Google Classroom. In addition to Google Workspace tools like Docs and Slides, teachers and students can share other types of media, including images, links to websites, YouTube videos, and screencasts.

Provide students with a variety of options for submitting work. For example, you might offer students the choice to respond to a reading assignment with a comment, video clip, or drawing that shows their thinking (see our section on differentiation above).

Use Google Classroom's stream page to create an interactive hub. Within Google Classroom, the Stream is a feed where everyone in the class can find daily agendas, announcements, and upcoming assignments, and it's the first thing students see when they log in. You can also set up class discussion boards on Stream, where students can interact online by asking questions or commenting on each other's posts. These discussion boards can help increase class participation and offer students more equity in having their voices heard (or read) by the class.

Integrate digital citizenship lessons. You can use the Stream as a closed social network of sorts, and it can be a great way to help kids practice using all kinds of different digital citizenship skills like engaging in civil discourse or deescalating digital drama in a "walled garden" setting.

How can I make Google Classroom more engaging and interactive for my students?

Check out the following tips to make the Google Classroom experience as engaging as it can be:

What other apps and websites integrate with Google Classroom?

There are now hundreds of external apps and websites that integrate with Google Classroom, and the App Hub is a great place to explore your options. Some of these apps may partner with Google, while others create and publish their own third-party add-ons as Chrome extensions. If you're using Google Classroom extensively, integrating other edtech tools can be a way to streamline your instruction.

For example, say you want your students to study some vocabulary words using Quizlet; you can use the Google Classroom integration to directly share and assign a particular flash card set to your class. Or if you're looking for other learning content online, there are integrations with publishers like Newsela, Khan Academy, and BrainPop, among others-you'll find all kinds of articles, videos, and other educational content to share with your students.

What is Google doing with my students' data? Should I be worried about privacy?

As an educator, protecting your students' privacy and data should definitely be a consideration whenever you're choosing a digital tool for your classroom. Anytime a tool might collect data from students, it's essential to ask questions about how the companies involved are securing, using, or storing student data. For more information, be sure to read our full privacy review of Google Classroom.

Google says that data privacy and security are high priorities for all Google Workspace for Education products. However, educators should keep in mind that parents and families have a right to opt out if they don't want their children to use Google products in school. Before launching Google Classroom, school administrators and teachers might want to have an alternative plan in place for students who may opt out.

In the past, some educators, families, and advocates have expressed doubts about Google's ability to deliver on promises about privacy and data protection. What's more, the prominence of Google branding and products in schools has raised questions about the trade-offs of allowing Google to build its brand in schools. Whether you use Google Classroom or not, it's important to get students thinking critically about data privacy and the commercialization we see in different aspects of our lives-including our classrooms.

Where can I find more ideas about using Google Classroom?

If you're looking for official information about Google Classroom, check out Google for Education's X (formerly Twitter) feed for product updates, ideas for teachers, videos, and even a newsletter about Google Workspace for Education products. Many Google Classroom fans are also posting and even podcasting about all the ways they're using the platform with students. With millions of teachers and edtech specialists field-testing, experimenting, and innovating with Google Classroom, it's easy to find tips and inspiration from fellow educators online.
Image courtesy of Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for American Education: Images of Teachers and Students in Action.
As you're using Google Classroom, don't be afraid to get creative with your own strategies, hacks, and innovative uses for the platform. Like most edtech tools, Google Classroom is what you make of it, and how it works will probably look very different from classroom to classroom. What's most important is to find the strategies and tools within Google Classroom that work best for you and your students. Feel free to share the ways you're using Google Classroom with your students by adding a Community Rating to our review!

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Teachers' Essential Guide to Google Classroom | Common Sense Education

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What is Google Classroom? And how are teachers using it? Learn more about this popular platform and how to use it with your students.

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Listen to this post as a podcast:
You've reached the end of a unit or year, and you want students to demonstrate their learning in a way that requires them to synthesize information, apply it in new ways, and reflect on how they have grown. To achieve any of these goals, an end-of-unit exam doesn't quite cut it. You could have students do presentations...that's always an option. But here's one more: Have students create their own PDF e-books, packaging up some aspect of their learning into a finished digital product they can enjoy and share for years.

What Kind of E-Book Are We Talking About?

When you hear the term "e-book," you might be thinking about the kind of thing you can read on a Kindle or Nook, and yes, those are e-books. But a broader definition includes PDF files, which don't require any kind of special device to read. They also don't require any high-tech software to create; I'll show you how that works in a minute.

To get these templates, see the link at the end of this post.

Because this kind of e-book is ridiculously easy to create, having students make them is an excellent option for all kinds of final projects. And because lots of businesses now use e-books like these in their own work, assigning them to students gives them an extra skill they can take into their adult lives.

The Power of Visual Packaging

For some students, having an opportunity to put their words together with images and arrange it all into one tidy package creates a different kind of work ethic than you'd find if you just assigned a paper. Because the finished looks and feels a lot more like a "real" product of some kind, and has the potential to be a visually appealing one at that, you may find that students put a bit more effort into it.

Paintings in these images were created by Gwenn Seemel. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.

So Many Possibilities

Once your students have learned how to create e-books (and there's a video below that shows them how), you can use this medium to have them create a massive array of projects. E-books could be assigned to a whole class or as a way to offer additional challenge to advanced students. Here's just a beginning list of ideas for student-created e-books:

Mini-Textbooks that teach a single concept or group of ideas from your course material.

Book Reports or analyses that take the reader through the most significant moments of a book, compare several books to one another, introduce a selection of works from one author, or look at a central theme (e.g., "Images of Fatherhood") as it is depicted in a collection of books.

Portfolios of a student's art, photography, writing, or poetry.

To get these templates, see the link at the end of this post.

Year-in-Review Books that explore concepts from the school year like lessons learned, best moments, special people, turning points, or important challenges throughout the year.

Children's Books that explore a concept learned in class or simply tell a good story.

Guidebooks offering advice and instructions for next year's students.

How-To Books that teach the reader something about which a student has some level of expertise (think informational writing!)

Collections where students curate their favorite books, movies, quotes, video games, apps, memories, or even photos of meaningful places, objects, or people.

Reflective Journals students keep and build throughout the year to document their growth or thinking on a particular topic.

Memoir-Style Books that document a student's journey through a Genius Hour or 20% Time project.

Club or Activity Books that chronicle the accomplishments of members of a sports team or club.

Professional Portfolios that could eventually be used as part of a job search. Teachers could also build their own professional portfolios in this same way.

How to Make an E-Book

If you have PowerPoint, which many, many people do, you already have all the tools you need to create an e-book. This video shows you how it works:

Get the Templates

The designs used to create the e-books in this post are available as individual PowerPoint templates or all together in a bundle. Each template also includes a link to the same template set up in Google Slides!! Click the image below to learn more:

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Student-Made E-Books: A Beautiful Way to Demonstrate Learning

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Need a fresh idea for the end of a unit? Instead of writing a paper or doing presentations, have students create PDF e-books they can enjoy and share for years.

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Providing UDL & Access to all Students when implementing  Distance Learning

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Providing UDL & Access to all Students when implementing  Distance Learning

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Tools and Resources for creating accessible learning for all

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All Ditch Summit Videos | Ditch That Textbook Digital Summit

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Watch any of the 80+ video presentations below, ranging in topics from technology to pedagogy to Google to inquiry to student relationships. When you're done, generate your certificate of completion, download the presentation notes, and check out the #DitchSummit hashtag on Twitter for discussion. Content stays open until January 6, when the summit closes.

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Listen to this post as a podcast:
You've reached the end of a unit or year, and you want students to demonstrate their learning in a way that requires them to synthesize information, apply it in new ways, and reflect on how they have grown. To achieve any of these goals, an end-of-unit exam doesn't quite cut it. You could have students do presentations...that's always an option. But here's one more: Have students create their own PDF e-books, packaging up some aspect of their learning into a finished digital product they can enjoy and share for years.

What Kind of E-Book Are We Talking About?

When you hear the term "e-book," you might be thinking about the kind of thing you can read on a Kindle or Nook, and yes, those are e-books. But a broader definition includes PDF files, which don't require any kind of special device to read. They also don't require any high-tech software to create; I'll show you how that works in a minute.

To get these templates, see the link at the end of this post.

Because this kind of e-book is ridiculously easy to create, having students make them is an excellent option for all kinds of final projects. And because lots of businesses now use e-books like these in their own work, assigning them to students gives them an extra skill they can take into their adult lives.

The Power of Visual Packaging

For some students, having an opportunity to put their words together with images and arrange it all into one tidy package creates a different kind of work ethic than you'd find if you just assigned a paper. Because the finished looks and feels a lot more like a "real" product of some kind, and has the potential to be a visually appealing one at that, you may find that students put a bit more effort into it.

Paintings in these images were created by Gwenn Seemel. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.

So Many Possibilities

Once your students have learned how to create e-books (and there's a video below that shows them how), you can use this medium to have them create a massive array of projects. E-books could be assigned to a whole class or as a way to offer additional challenge to advanced students. Here's just a beginning list of ideas for student-created e-books:

Mini-Textbooks that teach a single concept or group of ideas from your course material.

Book Reports or analyses that take the reader through the most significant moments of a book, compare several books to one another, introduce a selection of works from one author, or look at a central theme (e.g., "Images of Fatherhood") as it is depicted in a collection of books.

Portfolios of a student's art, photography, writing, or poetry.

To get these templates, see the link at the end of this post.

Year-in-Review Books that explore concepts from the school year like lessons learned, best moments, special people, turning points, or important challenges throughout the year.

Children's Books that explore a concept learned in class or simply tell a good story.

Guidebooks offering advice and instructions for next year's students.

How-To Books that teach the reader something about which a student has some level of expertise (think informational writing!)

Collections where students curate their favorite books, movies, quotes, video games, apps, memories, or even photos of meaningful places, objects, or people.

Reflective Journals students keep and build throughout the year to document their growth or thinking on a particular topic.

Memoir-Style Books that document a student's journey through a Genius Hour or 20% Time project.

Club or Activity Books that chronicle the accomplishments of members of a sports team or club.

Professional Portfolios that could eventually be used as part of a job search. Teachers could also build their own professional portfolios in this same way.

How to Make an E-Book

If you have PowerPoint, which many, many people do, you already have all the tools you need to create an e-book. This video shows you how it works:

Get the Templates

The designs used to create the e-books in this post are available as individual PowerPoint templates or all together in a bundle. Each template also includes a link to the same template set up in Google Slides!! Click the image below to learn more:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Student-Made E-Books: A Beautiful Way to Demonstrate Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Need a fresh idea for the end of a unit? Instead of writing a paper or doing presentations, have students create PDF e-books they can enjoy and share for years.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In high school Language Arts, students learn to analyze texts and world literature, summarize central ideas and themes, evaluate arguments and claims, and present information with strategic use of digital media. Flipgrid provides a fun, social way to engage your students on any of your Language Arts lessons! Here are a few ways that Flipgrid can be integrated to ignite engagement and capture your students' learning process:

⭐️Analyze and discuss various texts to determine theme, distinguish the impact of point of view, and explain inferences.
⭐️ Evaluate and share how author's choices contribute to the structure and meaning of a text.
⭐️ Demonstrate the understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuance.
⭐️ Share arguments to support claims and convey complex ideas from informative text.
⭐️ Explain the evidence drawn from text to support analysis, reflection, and research.
⭐️ Use digital media in presentations to enhance understanding, reasoning, and findings.
⭐️ Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives and justify points of view.

Once you're ready to create your first discussion Topic, you can dive right in from your Educator Admin or head to the Discovery Library for inspiration. Here is a sampling of High School Language Arts Topics currently available in the Disco Library, all created by your peers and ready to be used with your learners!

🚀 Discovery Library: World Reading and Literature

Book Speed Dating by Brooksie Kramer: A Topic for book reflections and recommendations

Adversity in Literature by Laura Ebersole: A Topic for analyzing literature in the coming of age genre

Shakespearean Insults by Nicole LaFave: A Topic for having fun with Shakespeare and language

I am Malala - Chapter Reflections by Ceci Gomez-Galvez: A Topic for focusing on metacognitive readings strategies

3 Emojis Booktalk by Jennifer Sherbak: A Topic for sharing reading reflections with textual evidence

🚀 Discovery Library: Reading Informational Text

Brain Dump by Christine Godard: A Topic for helping students reflect on learning with verbal-visual coding and developing retrieval skills

5 W & H Strategy Informational Text by Sheila Chabera: A Topic for exploring text features

🚀 Discovery Library: Writing and Research

Social Justice by Monifa Nealy: A Topic for reflecting on social justice movements

Perspective: Right or Wrong by Claudio Zavala: A Topic for sharing ideas and reasoning

Pitch Perfect Practice by Michael Lamb: A Topic for practicing persuasion techniques

Warriors Don't Cry Fliphunt by Laela Bunn: A Topic for demonstrating comprehension and defending an opinion statement

Debate - It's OK to Disagree by Jornea Ewrin: A Topic for debate and research pros and cons.

🚀 Discovery Library: Speaking and Listening

Rhetoric by Brandi Waruch: A Topic for exploring rhetoric and persuasive communication

Pathos, Ethos, Logos: Parents by David Theriault: A Topic for questioning strategies

Socratic Smackdown by Lisa Scumpieru: A Topic for developing listening and speaking skills

TKAM Quote Analysis by Kayla Anderson: A Topic for analyzing quotes by determining meaning, context, and significance.

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Integration Doc: Flipgrid in High School Language Arts (Ages 14-18) 📖📝 - Flipgrid

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What is Flipgrid? 💭 Flipgrid is a free video discussion platform from Microsoft that helps educators see and hear from every student in class and foster fun and supportive social learning. In Flipgrid, educators post discussion prompts and students respond with short videos, whether they are l

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Schools all over the world are closing their doors due to health concerns. So many of them are turning to eLearning, distance learning, remote learning.Trying to make sense of it? Trying to just keep your head above water?We've got you covered. In our eLearning, remote learning and distance learning page, we have lots of resources.Get ...

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Using Google Classroom on a Gaming Console

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Using Google Classroom on a Gaming Console

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https://youtu.be/B2gjD3OGWP4

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Live AND ONLINE discussions. FREE until May!

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An American whose classroom in Beijing is now online shares what she and her team have learned since the coronavirus hit, just as U.S. teachers make the same shift.

Since February 17, I've been teaching 11th-grade humanities writing to students who are self-quarantined in China. Our teachers were in the same position several weeks ago that U.S. teachers are in now-we were expecting to teach in classrooms in Beijing. Now we're teaching virtual classes remotely from our homes in China and countries around the world. We had about half a week to prepare for online school, including setting up a digital platform that none of us had ever used before.

For the first few weeks, we needed to be very flexible and patient. Everything we would have done in person took longer virtually as we learned to navigate online learning. But we've worked out many kinks and are now engaging our students in high-quality learning experiences online.

Since our students have stopped physically attending school, their Chinese classes happen in real time following the regular schedule, using a Chinese app. Our international team teaches using Moodle, an open-source learning platform that has the ability to do live video conferencing with digital whiteboards and break-out rooms. We also use it to give students feedback, do partner and group work, and publish class materials-things that can be done through Google Classroom as well.

Here is some of what we've learned so far about teaching students who must stay home. Start by continuing to use lessons that are clear and simple, and don't introduce new programs for teachers and students to learn if you can help it.

Asynchronous Teaching

Our international teachers are on four continents across eight time zones, so most of our classes are asynchronous, meaning our teachers post assignments and recorded lessons and students complete work at different times. Teachers respond using a rubric, comments, and sometimes recorded video or audio feedback through our online learning platform.

Most of our teachers have at least three live classes each week in addition to the asynchronous classes. This helps build community in the class, engages students, and makes the learning more interactive. Some teachers have found it more effective to teach live classes daily.

It's Not All About Screens

It's easy for students to spend a lot of time in front of screens for their online school. As much as possible, we're assigning students tasks that get them up and moving and away from their devices. We've also been working out ways to have students continue to create art without screens.

Videos: A first-grade class recently had a homework assignment where students needed to describe a pet. One boy's mother video recorded him while he used descriptive language to introduce the audience to his two cats. Students can also write and perform plays, or create and cook recipes and conduct interviews, and submit these assignments through video.

Workbooks and drawing: Many of our classes at school intentionally used workbooks and paper-based tasks instead of laptops to reduce students' screen time. We're continuing this by having students complete some assignments on paper, taking a picture of their completed work, and uploading the photo to submit the task. Similarly, our art classes are continuing to have students work on drawing, and they are taking pictures of their work to submit it to their teacher and share with the class.

Teacher Office Hours

In addition to asynchronous and live classes, our teachers all have daily three-hour office hour shifts. They log into Moodle for the duration and are visible as "online" for any student visiting the page. This enables students to contact a teacher for help as they're doing their schoolwork, and it helps our teachers maintain regular schedules.

This resource is comforting to both students and parents as a way to maintain instant communication with the school and teachers in real time. It's also a way for everyone to feel a little less isolated.

Office hours are not for tech support. Early on, we clearly communicated to families how to reach our IT support staff for technical help. We remind families and students regularly-at first we did this daily-who to go to for what types of support. We also have our teachers' office hours schedules and IT contact information clearly posted on our online learning site.

Tech Support

Tech support is vital to your remote learning being successful. Decide as soon as possible who will be responsible for what types of IT support, and how they will be reachable by students, families, and staff. Make sure all of your stakeholders know how to reach out for support.

Give teachers, students, and families video and written instructions on how to use your platform so they can answer some of their own questions before reaching out for help.

Many students don't have laptops at home, but in the U.S., most families have access to at least one smartphone that has internet. Fortunately, Google for Education and other online learning platforms typically have good user experiences for smartphones and tablets, in addition to computers.

Involve Families

Between having to find childcare and supervise squirmy young learners, remote learning can be a very stressful experience for parents. Proactively and regularly communicate with them in mediums and languages that you know they'll actively check and understand. Give them clear directions and resources. Solicit, listen to, and act on their feedback.

And, as you would with regular school, make sure to reach out to parents with news of great work their children did. Specific work-related praise goes a long way to strengthening relationships with both families and students.

Teacher Support

At school, our team has weekly professional development sessions. We've continued this using our online platform every week with consistent start and end times. Agendas are developed with our instructional leadership team and distributed to teachers in advance. We split our time between continuing to work on our year-long focus of developing our unit plans, modeling how to use our online platform, and answering questions teachers have in real time.

In addition to professional development and regular communication, we teachers are working on maintaining our sense of community. We celebrate birthdays and share photos and videos of where we are in the world. There's even talk of doing virtual yoga classes together.

Apps We've Found Helpful

When building digital lessons, it's helpful to reduce the number of external links on your online learning platform. For example, if you want students to read an article, it's safer to upload a PDF, rather than a link to an external site that may or may not work. This helps ensure that students are always able to access their digital learning resources.

Collaborating: All of our planning materials are shared on Microsoft OneDrive. Like Google Drive, this platform lets us share documents among staff and send students links to documents and folders.

Video: We download YouTube and other videos locally to our computer using the free app 4K Video Downloader, and then upload them to OneDrive (you can do this with Google Drive as well). Make sure to download captions.

Readings: When assigning students articles from sites like Newsela and CommonLit, we download the articles onto our computer as a PDF and then upload them to OneDrive. This allows us to label files by reading level and have all the resources for a lesson in the same place.

Videoconferencing: Moodle has its own video conferencing platform, but Zoom is a very convenient way to have live classes with students-and it is now free for schools. The platform also lets you share your desktop, which is helpful for PowerPoint presentations, reviewing student work with a class, and modeling how to do online research.

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What Teachers in China Have Learned in the Past Month

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An American whose classroom in Beijing is now online shares what she and her team have learned since the coronavirus hit, just as U.S. teachers make the same shift. Since February 17, I've been teaching 11th-grade humanities writing to students who are self-quarantined in China.