How to Deploy G Suite Add-ons Across a Domain

From time to time a reader will ask me if there is a way to install a Google Docs or Google Sheets add-on for his or her students. This is possible if you are a G Suite domain administrator. Otherwise, ask your G Suite domain administrator to do it for you. In the following video I demonstrate how to deploy a G Suite add-on for all users or a subset of users within a domain.


Applications for Education
Deploying an add-on across a domain is not only a time-saver for teachers and students, it's also a way for domain administrators to make sure that the add-on meets all of the requirements of your school's data policies.

Classright - A Google Sheets Add-on for Bulk Management of Google Classroom

Classright is a new Google Sheets add-on for managing multiple Google Classroom classes in one place. I gave it a try this morning and found it to have great potential as a time-saver at the beginning and end of a semester or school year.

There are eight things that you can do with Classright in Google Sheets. Those eight things are:

1. Create courses. 
2. Archive courses.
3. View lists of courses. 
4. Invite students to courses.
5. Add students to courses in bulk (G Suite admins only).
6. Delete students from courses. 
7. List all students. 
8. List students by course. 

Who should try this add-on?

The set-up of the add-on after the installation does require a fair bit of effort. So if you're an elementary school teacher who only has one Google Classroom course to manage, Classright probably isn't worth investing your time into learning. If you're a G Suite administrator who wants to set-up classes on behalf of all teachers in an elementary school, then Classright is definitely going to be a time-saver for you. Likewise, high school teachers who have multiple sections of courses to manage can benefit from using Classright to create and manage Google Classroom classes. 

What I'd like to see from this add-on. 

My dream is that an option to post announcements and assignments from a Google Sheet is added to Classright. 

The developer of Classright has a thorough set of tutorials available on his website. Take a look at his tutorial videos to get started getting the most out of Classright's potential uses. 

The Geometry of Castles - A Math Lesson in Google Earth

In the web browser version of Google Earth there is a section called Voyager. Within the Voyager section you'll find lots of pre-made tours, quizzes, and activities. One of those activities is called The Geometry of Castles.

The Geometry of Castles is a Google Earth Voyage that you can use to teach short lessons on angles and calculating line of sight distance. The voyage takes viewers to five castles around the world to illustrate these concepts. For teachers there is a handy guide available from Media4Math.

Media4Math has two other Voyages featured in Google Earth. Those are The Geometry of Sustainable Architecture and Triangular Structures. Media4Math offers helpful guides for teachers for both of those Voyages in Google Earth.


Applications for Education
For more than a decade I've encouraged teachers to look at Google Earth as being a tool that can be used for more than just social studies lessons. Sites like Google Lit Trips and Real World Math are dedicated to using Google Earth for language arts and math lessons. The obstacle to adoption of those ideas for many teachers was the requirement to install Google Earth on students' computers. Now that Google Earth can be used in Chrome, math lessons using Google Earth are accessible to more teachers and students than ever before.

We'll talking about Google Earth, VR Tour Builder, and other virtual tour activities in the Practical Ed Tech Virtual Summer Camp. Register here. 

Two Free Webinars Later This Week

Later this week you'll have the opportunity to join me in two free webinars. On Thursday at 3pm ET I'm hosting an encore of A Framework for Using Educational Technology. In that webinar I'll explain the simple framework that I use for deciding what tools to use in my classroom and recommend to others. Register here.

On Friday at 1pm ET I'll be joining Rushton Hurley from Next Vista for Learning for the eighth episode of Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions and Share Cool Stuff. You can register for that webinar and watch previous episodes right here on the Next Vista webinars page.


What makes it possible to offer these webinars for free? Funding for Free Technology for Teachers and Practical Ed Tech comes from advertisers and from great folks like you who pay to attend my professional development events like the Practical Ed Tech Virtual Summer Camp. 

How to Add Background Music to Screencastify Videos

Last week I published an article about how to extract the audio from your videos. A related question that I got from a reader was about how to add background music to Screencastify videos. There are a few ways that you can add audio to videos that you make with Screencastify including uploading your video to WeVideo or iMovie then adding a background track. Those methods are fine, but there is an easier way.

To add background music to a video that you created with Screencastify all that you need to do is upload the video to YouTube then use YouTube's built-in editor and library of free music. In the following short video I demonstrate how to add background music to your Screencastify videos.


Applications for Education
Adding some background music to a video can help reduce some of the echo or tinny sounds that sometimes occur in screencasts that are recorded without an external microphone. Adding background music can also have the effect of covering up some of the "ums" and "uhs" that we sometimes make when recording a video. Both of those audio improvements can lead to students viewing instructional videos for a bit longer or at least make paying attention a little bit easier.