Connect Anywhere Everywhere

     Google has tried to change how consumers purchase non-subsidized cellular devices with their Nexus program, and they're now moving towards the next logical step: providing a mobile connection for those devices. Project Fi is an attempt to bring connectivity everywhere and anywhere as your device bounces between the strongest signal. Watch this video for some more information on how Project Fi works:

     According to Google, Project Fi could cost about $20 a month for talk, text, and other services. This has the potential to be huge for educators, especially if Google expands this plan to their Nexus line of tablets and/or Chromebooks. Students without internet access at home could take advantage of this service to stay connected and learn at any time of day, at any place. This, much like other projects such as Glass are innovative and experimental and it will be exciting to see what it leads to in the future.

     Want to get an early invite and see what the fuss is about? You'll need a Gmail account as well as a Nexus 6. If you have both, click HERE to sign up.

Collaborate in Classroom

     Google Classroom announced a slew of updates that should make collaboration and management much easier and streamlined for teachers. One feature that was sorely missing in Classroom was the ability to assign multiple teachers to a class. Today's update now allows teachers to assign other "admin" teachers to their classes, meaning they have all editing rights except for the ability to delete the class. To invite another collaborator to your class follow these steps:

     Classroom also picked up a trick from Gmail as it will now automatically save drafts of announcements and assignments if you close out of the program. You can prep materials for your students without publishing it by using the new "draft" feature. 

     By combining both new features multiple teachers in a class can collaborate to prep assignments and announcements before assigning it to their students.

Project Anywhere

     As educators working with technology, we always emphasize student learning above the digital tool regardless of hardware or software. What is it that we want our students to learn and how will certain digital tools help students accomplish the learning task? That said, it's been an exciting time to see some of the hardware that has been coming out and finding ways to incorporate them into the classroom. One exciting device is the AT&T exclusive ZTE Spro 2 Smart Projector.
     We've seen smart TVs, but we're now seeing smart projectors that can run apps directly from the Google Play Store. That means students can display and collaborate on Docs, Slides, and any other tool from their Drive accounts without having to hook up their devices. The ZTE Spro also acts as a mobile hotspot so you won't need internet connectivity to fire up presentations or share online resources. Since the projector is small enough to carry around, students and teachers can use it to move around to different parts of the classroom to best fit their needs.
   

Take a Virtual Field Trip

     As California goes through a drought, it is important to teach students about water. This vital resource makes up 71% of the earth's surface. Unfortunately for us, 97% of it is ocean water, which means that we do not have an infinite supply of h2o. We need our students to understand the importance and impact water has in our lives as well as the environment.

     On April 9th, students can take a virtual field trip with Kari Vigerstol, a senior hydrologist on The Nature Conservancy's Global Water team as she visits two wildly unique biomes and shares with students the huge impact water has in our present world and the future.

     This virtual field trip is also aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards and the National Geography Standards.

     Click HERE to register and share this experience with your students. 

     If you miss the registration, you can still stream it live via YouTube HERE.