How to Modify & Share Canva Templates

On Sunday I published a blog post about the winter bird survey we're doing at my house. In that blog post I included a link to the observation journal template that I created by modifying a design I found in Canva. That blog post prompted one reader to ask me how I shared the template. As with many things, the easiest way to answer was with a screencast video. Here it is. 

In this short video I explain and demonstrate how I created a template in Canva and shared it so that others can copy it and modify it without changing my original copy. 

Applications for Education
One of the many things that I love about Canva is the huge gallery of design templates that they provide for a wide variety of purposes including creating infographics, presentations, videos, and even basic worksheet-type activities. All of the templates are much better than anything that I'd create from scratch. If you find yourself, like me, looking for a way to create better-looking materials for your lessons, Canva's templates are a great place to start looking.

An Easy Way to Quickly Add Voice Notes to Google Docs

Yesterday morning I published The Easiest Way to Add Narration to Google Slides. In that blog post I featured a Chrome extension called Mote. Mote, as I've mentioned in the past, can be used for adding audio to a bunch of Google Workspace tools including the comments on Google Documents. 

In this short video I demonstrate how to use Mote to add voice comments to Google Documents. The video also shows how students can access those voice comments even if they don't have the Mote extension installed on their computers. 

Applications for Education
For some students, listening to recorded feedback is a better option than reading your feedback on their documents. Hearing your voice and inflection can carry more meaning for a student than just reading a comment. And for students who have difficulty comprehending written feedback, audio feedback is a better way to receive constructive criticism.

Add Comments to Word Docs to Spark Discussion

Last Monday I shared directions for using Google Drive to add comments to PDF and directions for using Formative to add questions into primary source documents. The idea in both cases is to use those tools to spark dicussion and inquiry when reading primary source documents with students. This can also be done by adding comments to a shared Word document. 

In this short video I demonstrate how to use the comments feature in a shared Word document to add discussion questions to a copy of a primary source document. 

Applications for Education
In the video above I used the commenting feature to add a question to a copy of a primary source document (a letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams). I did that as a means to spark discussion and research by students. Of course, you could also just use the commenting feature to give feedback on a document that students share with you.

The Easiest Way to Add Narration to Google Slides

When Google finally added native support for audio in Google Slides people were excited until they found out how clunky the process is. You have to first record the audio outside of Google Slides, then upload it your Google Drive, and then insert it into your slides. Fortunately, the Mote Chrome extension streamlines that whole process for you. 

With Mote installed in Chrome you can simply click the Mote icon while editing your Google Slides to record and insert narration into your slides with just one click. Watch this demo to see how quick and easy it is to add audio to Google Slides through the use of Mote. 

Thanks to Ellen, a loyal reader of my blog, over the weekend I learned that Mote is making some changes to their pricing model in 2022. The free version of Mote will be limited to twenty recordings per month beginning in January. That should still be plenty of recording time for students to use to add narration to Google Slides. Here's more information about the change to Mote's free and paid plans.

On a related note, here are five things you should know about using audio in Google Slides. 

Use Google Drive to Add Questions and Comments to PDFs

In my previous post I shared directions for using Formative to add questions to PDFs. Another option is to use Google Drive to add questions and comments to PDFs. 

Adding comments to PDFs in Google Drive is one of those little features that is quite handy but is often overlooked. To add a comment to a PDF in Google Drive simply open the PDF in Drive (after you've uploaded it) and the click on the comment icon in the upper-right corner of the screen. Anyone that you share the file with will be able to see your comments and respond to them (provided you allow commenting). Watch this short video to see how you can use Google Drive to add questions and comments to PDFs. 

Applications for Education
In the video above I used the commenting feature to add a question to a PDF copy of a primary source document (a letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams). I did that as a means to spark discussion and research by students. Of course, you could also just use the commenting feature to give feedback on a PDF that students share with you.