How to Use Kahoot's New Question Bank to Create a Game

Earlier this summer Kahoot gave a preview of some new features including a question bank for making quiz games. Today, Kahoot made that question bank available to all users. Along with making the new question bank available to all users Kahoot unveiled a slightly new user interface for making quiz games. I tried it out this afternoon and found it easy to use and much quicker than the old method of making quiz games in Kahoot.

In the following video I demonstrate how to use the new game builder and question bank in Kahoot.


Kahoot unveiled some other new features today, but all of those are paid features so I didn't include them in the video.

Two Important Changes Coming to Google Classroom

Google seems to always be working on changes to the products that teachers and students use most. One of those products is Google Classroom. Two important changes are happening to Classroom this fall. First, the old version of Google Classroom is going away. Second, a new rubrics feature is being added to some Google Classrooms.

Old Google Classroom Version Going Away on September 4th
Last fall Google rolled-out the Classwork page for new Google Classrooms. Older, existing Google Classrooms didn't see the Classwork page. It has been a year and now Google has decided that on September 4th all Classrooms that don't have the Classwork page will be migrated into the new format with a Classwork page. What's important to note about this is that existing content in the "class settings" page will not be automatically moved into a Classwork page. That content will be saved in your Google Drive and you can manually add it to a Classwork page. More details can be read here.

Rubrics in Google Classroom!
Earlier this summer Google opened applications for schools using G Suite for Education to participate in a beta test of a rubrics feature. The rubrics feature lets you create rubrics for each assignment that you give to student via Google Classroom and then use that rubric for scoring the assignments in your Classroom gradebook.

Schools that applied to participate in the beta program are now starting to see the rubrics feature appear in Google Classroom. You can check if your school has access to the rubrics feature by either sending your IT person a pesky email or by creating an assignment in any of your existing Google Classrooms. When you make the assignment you will see a "create rubric" link next to the date and topic field. If you don't see a "create rubric" link, your school doesn't have access to the rubrics feature, yet.

On a related note, in September I'm launching a new self-paced course featuring practical and engaging ways to use G Suite for Education in your classroom. Learn more here. 

Google Drive Priority Page Now Available for All G Suite Accounts

Earlier this year Google began rolling-out a "priority page" in Google Drive for some G Suite accounts that were on the "rapid release" program. Today, Google announced that all G Suite accounts are now eligible for and will begin to appear in all Google Drive accounts.

Priority Page in Google Drive is a feature that will display what Google's algorithm determines to be your most important files at any given moment. This is largely files that have recently been shared with you for commenting and editing or files you've recently shared for the same purpose. From the Priority Page you will be able to see new comments without having to open the file in a separate tab or window.

Google's announcement said that the Priority Page will appear now or in the next few days in all accounts. So far only one of my three Google accounts shows a Priority Page in Google Drive.

How to Digitally Sign Documents

Whether it's a form for your HR department, permission slips for athletics, or an acceptable use agreement for a school-issued laptop, back-to-school season often involves signing a lot of documents. In the old days those documents would be printed and you'd sign them then stick them in a mailbox and hope they didn't get lost in the shuffle. Today, most of the forms we need to sign can be sent, signed, and returned online. There are many tools available that make this quick and easy to do. HelloSign is the one that I use and recommend for digitally signing documents that have been sent to me.

In the following video I demonstrate how to use HelloSign to fill-out and sign documents online.


As you start to think about permission slips and other forms that parents might need to sign for you at the beginning of the school year, consider sending them the link to this video to show them how easy it is to sign and send documents to you.

How to Use QuickCite to Create MLA 8 Citations

QuickCite is a new tool that helps students create properly formatted MLA 8 citations. As I wrote earlier this week, QuickCite can also be used by students to create informal citations for use in things like blog posts, slideshows, and videos. One of the features of QuickCite that I particularly like is that it provides little help bubbles for students to consult if they aren't sure what to enter into the citation. I highlight that feature and other features of QuickCite in the following video.