Highlights: a great way to view your students' screen, to allow you to open sites on their device and close down sites they're on. My only complaint (and it's a big one...), you can't use this feature on an IOS device - aka ipads. We chose ipads instead of chrome books as they are more flexible - allowing a student to easily take photos and videos. They're less like a typing/viewing device. But as they don't allow chrome extensions, these features can't be used on ipads, meaning Highlights can't be used effectively.
However, never despair: introducing Dashboard. This allows a teacher to see what their students are doing in Google. They can see what files have recently been updated and even click on the file to open it. Think about this scenario: you've set a task and you wish to give feedback. You pop into Dashboard and click on individual student documents. This opens the document. You can then comment, add a link for additional help and set a Resolve button so the student hits Resolve when they have responded to the feedback. Easy and efficient!
Other cool features include:
- You have access to All Docs in the Google drive, allowing you to find lost documents.
- You can search both documents and phrases within documents.
- Set up a blank document using SmartShare.
- Send documents using SmartShare to different groups. Let's say that you'd like to send an a particular document to ESOL students or to Gifted students or to a particular project group, it's easy doing this in SmartShare using Groups.
Next I'm learning about Workspace.
This tool is definitely getting to ensure accountability and making using Google so much easier and more efficiently. It helps to promote learner agency and makes the work the students are doing in Google more visible.
