G Suite Training (Extension)

Interactive training & walkthroughs, right within G Suite

New to G Suite (formally known as GAFE, Google Apps for Education)? G Suite Training is a Chrome extension that offers simple and interactive training lessons to get you up and running fast with G Suite. 

Features include: 

Rich, interactive training - Whether you’re in Gmail, Calendar, Sheets, Slides, or Docs, you can learn and take actions, all at the same time.
In-App experience - Training is accessible directly within G Suite, so you don’t need to leave the application to learn how to use it.
Available to all - Whether it’s to master Google Classroom, or the G Suite Admin Console, G Suite Training is free for your entire organization.
Learn more at support.google.com or go directly to the G Suite Training videos at portal.synergyse.com

NOTE: After adding to Chrome, refresh your Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Sites, Forms, Google+, and Classroom tabs to access the training menu.

For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway,
visit https://goo.gl/sUpBKk.

AdBlock Plus (Extension)

AdBlock Plus

By installing the Adblock Plus extension you get an ads filter that lives in your browser. AdBlock Plus will block advertisements from webpages and YouTube videos without you having to do anything. This is a good extension for teachers and students to have installed to remove distracting ads from webpages and videos. Watch the 1 min. video to learn more.

For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway, visit https://goo.gl/sUpBKk.

Read & Write for Google Chrome (Extension)

Read & Write for Google Chrome

By clicking on the Read & Write extension, students can have Google Docs, Slides, and web pages read to them using the text-to-speech translator. The premium features of Read & Write will be accessible to students for the first 30 days after installing the extension, but when the trial is over they will just have access to the text-to-speech translator. The premium features are available to teachers for free. 

Click here for some getting started directions.

Applications for Education

Read & Write for Google Chrome's text-to-speech translator can be helpful to young students, for reading a website that is above a students reading level, or for students with special needs. 

For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway, visit https://goo.gl/sUpBKk.

Draftback (Extension)

Play Back Your Google Docs
Draftback renders a play back recording of the revision history in any Google Doc you can edit. It's like going back in time to look over your own shoulder as you write. Once the Draftback extension has been added to your Google Docs, the Draftback tab will appear. Once the tab is clicked rendering will begin.

Notes: 
Draftback lets you see the history revision in a new way. 
You can also extract any part of a doc's playback and embed it on the web. 


Educational Application: 
This is a useful tool for students to learn about ones' own writing process. 
They have the ability to see the document's history on a keystroke basis and 
it allows students to become more self aware of their writing style.

For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway,
visit https://goo.gl/sUpBKk.

Alice Keeler Classroom Side-by-Side Split (Extension)

This split screen extension allows you to right click on any link and open the destination URL on the right side of the screen.

This split screen extension allows you to right click on any link and choose "Open Side by Side" to open the destination URL on the right side of the screen. The current window will be resized to occupy the left side of the screen. This Chrome extension is useful to anyone needing side by side windows. The right click functionality makes it quick to view a website without leaving the current page.

Educational Application:

This extension is useful for teachers to view student work side by side with the web based gradebook. Google Classroom users can use the extension by right clicking on student work attached. Student work is displayed to the right of the grading screen in Google Classroom, making it easy to leave students a score and a feedback comment. Students can use the extension to view their work side by side with the assignment directions. Students right click on their Google Documents attached in Google Classroom to open their work to the right of the Google Classroom instructions.  By Alice Keeler visit http://alicekeeler.com

For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway, visit https://goo.gl/sUpBKk.

Destiny Discover (Extension)

It’s easier than ever to locate your Destiny library resources! You can now use Google to search for resources from your Destiny library catalog.

The new Destiny Discover extension allows you to retrieve resources such as books, eBooks, Lightbox titles, and more through a quick Google search – offerings from your library management system will be displayed at the top of standard Google search result pages.

Simply install the new Destiny Discover extension, visit gofollett.com and find the name of the school you want to search. Your extension will be automatically configured. The Destiny Discovery viewing ribbon can be turned off or on with one click of the Show/Hide button. 

Educational Application:
Since Google has become a routine part of search strategies and while it has many great features, we never want our patrons to forget about the resources we have in our libraries. The new Destiny Chrome Extension is great because it helps students make the connection between our libraries and Google.The Chrome extension helps remind our patrons that in addition to Google results, our libraries have a variety of excellent resources available to them. ~ Suzy Ferrell

For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway, visit https://goo.gl/sUpBKk.

Simple Audio Recorder (Extension)

Simple Audio Recorder

The Simple Audio Recorder extension lets you create a WAVE audio file with a single click using either the internal microphone on your device or an external microphone you've plugged in to your device. Simple click on the extension and it begins recording. Click the extension again to stop the recording and it will open a "save" window. 

Applications for Education

Have students easily record their thinking and save it directly to their device or their Google Drive. The audio file can then be shared from the Google Drive or imported to another application.  

For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway, visit https://goo.gl/sUpBKk.

Office Editing for Docs, Sheets & Slides (Extension)

One of the biggest challenges with using Google Drive and Chromebooks as your primary way to author and edit documents is that there will be times where you receive a document in the more traditional Word, Excel and PowerPoint file types. Whether it's sent to you as an email or it's one that you downloaded from the internet, if you're accustomed to using Drive, there are many hoops to jump through to get it opened. Today's Chrome extension breaks down that barrier by making Office files editable in Drive without having to change the format. This means that you can continue to use Drive and Chrome regardless of the files that are being sent your way.

To get started, add the Office Edition for Docs, Sheets & Slides extension to Chrome.  In your extensions toolbar (beside the url bar) you'll see the extension show up grayed out. 

When you have an office document to open, it will open the document in an interface that has a little more limited editing functions. The basics will be there and, as you edit the document it will still be saved in your Google Drive account, it just won't change it's format to a Google Document. When you're done editing, you can share that file making it easier for others (who may not have Google accounts) to not have to try to figure out how to get it open. 

For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway, visit https://goo.gl/sUpBKk.

Google Hangouts (App & Extension)

Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts (similar to Skype) is a web based application you can use to chat one-on-one or in a group using text, voice or video. Use the Google Hangouts app or extension to access your chats with a single click. Watch the short 1 min. video below to see how Hangouts work. 

For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway, visit https://goo.gl/sUpBKk.

Extensity (Ext)

Quickly enable/disable Google Chrome extensions

Tired of having too many extensions in your toolbar? Try Extensity, the ultimate tool for  enabling and disabling all your extensions for Google Chrome. Just enable the extension when you want to use it, and disable when you want to get rid of it for a little while. You can also launch Chrome Apps right from the list.

* Keep your browser fast - disable extensions that you won't use right away.
* Keep your toolbar clean
* Ideal companion for extensions collectors.
* Turn all extensions off (and back on) with a single click.
* Quick switch between several extension groups.

Application for Education:

When teachers assign various apps and extension to students they are going to need a way to organize those tools. This productivity tool allows students to manage Chrome extensions with just a few clicks.

For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway, visit https://goo.gl/sUpBKk.

Send from Gmail (Extension)

Send from Gmail (by Google)

Want to send a link to a website via email? While on the website you want to share, click on the Send from Gmail extension to open a Gmail compose window with the name of the site already in the subject line and a link to the site already in the message area. Save time when sharing resources with colleagues and students. 

For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway, visit https://goo.gl/sUpBKk.

Save to Google Drive (Extension)

Today's extension gives you and your students the ability to save any webpage to your Google Drive as a PDF. This can be super helpful because of the changing nature of the web. Everyday the web changes in a variety of ways. If you visit CNN.com right now, it will be different in three hours because the news always changes. You may be able to find that story again, but sometimes it would be beneficial to have that page saved as it is at that moment in time. The Save to Google Drive extension can help you with that.

After installing the Save to Google Drive extension, the Google Drive icon will appear in your toolbar. When you're on a webpage that you want to save, simply click on the icon and it will scan the page and save it to your Drive as a PDF. It's important to know that the webpage is no longer active and the links will not work, but you will have a record of that page at that moment in time.

Additionally, with the extension installed, another option will be available when you right click on a piece of content on a webpage (image, link, etc.). For instance, right clicking on a picture will prompt you to "Save image in Google Drive" as one of your menu choices.

This gives you great flexibility to keep and hold content for future lessons, even though the web will change. Here are a few ways to use this in a classroom:

1. Current events: If there was a big event that happened over the weekend that got a lot of coverage, this allows you to save that for class next week to discuss or highlight.
2. Media literacy: What images or headlines might have been used and what story did they tell about a particular topic. This can bring up a great discussion of bias in media.
3. Web layout and development: Analyze the trends of websites over time.
4. Annotation: Take the webpage, print the PDF and annotate it.

There are many different possibilities created by having a record of an individual webpage on a given day.

Check out this video to see how it works.

For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway, visit https://goo.gl/sUpBKk.

goo.gl URL Shortener (Extension)

goo.gl URL Shortener

The goo.gl URL Shortener is an extension that lets you create a short URL with a single click. Simply click on the extension to create the short URL. Then click copy to be able to paste it somewhere else. You can also easily create a QR Code for the site. Just click on "QR Code" and then right click on the image and choose copy.

Applications for Education

Turn long URLs into short URLs that are easy for students to type. Or create QR codes that students can scan with their phone or tablet to access a site or file. Check out this Edutopia article for engaging ways to integrate QR codes into your classroom.

For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway, visit https://goo.gl/sUpBKk.

Add to Classroom (Extension)

Add to Classroom

The Add to Classroom extension allows you to add whatever website you are on to your Google Classroom with just a few clicks.

Applications for Education

Save time in your planning by utilizing this extension to quickly share a site with your students as an announcement, assignment or question without ever having to go to your Google Classroom. See how it works below.

For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway, visit https://goo.gl/sUpBKk.

Google Keep (App/Extension)

Google Keep is possibly one of my favorite Google Apps/Extensions and it can be an important component to organizing your digital life. It is like Post-It notes, but better. With Google Keep you can create notes and checklists. You can also insert photos and audio clips into Keep, https://keep.google.com/. 

Picture of Google Keep web interface.

Once you've started creating your Google Keep notes and lists the fun really begins. You can also color code your notes, share them with other Google users, and set scheduled reminders for your really important items. 

Keep Apps are available for Android and iOS

In addition to the web interface for Google Keep, you also have mobile apps on Android and iOS. The Google Keep Chrome extension lets you create and save notes directly from your Chrome browser, https://goo.gl/JdUsSy. 

Make sure you take the time to check out Google Keep.

Another good resource, how to send information from Gmail to Keep (Quora).


For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway, visit https://goo.gl/sUpBKk.

Google Dictionary (Extension)

The Google Dictionary extension gives quick and easy access to definitions, parts of speech, and pronunciations without having to leave your current page to look it up. Powered by the online Google Dictionary, this extension works in two different ways. 

First, once the extension is installed, all you have to do is highlight the word (1) on the webpage and click on the Google Dictionary icon on your extension toolbar (2). A popup will show up in the upper corner with the definition including a speaker icon (3) that will pronounce the word for you.

The second way is to simply double click on the word that you want to define. This will highlight the word and display a popup box over the word with a definition as well as the pronunciation speaker.

This tool provides quick and easy access to difficult words as well as their pronunciations. The biggest benefit in the classroom is that students will then be able to get this information without ever leaving the page they are on. This can obviously help as they are reading text on webpages, but of equal importance is to help with focus. When students have to leave their current page to go out and define an unknown word, this changes their focus from their current task and can potentially cause for distraction. Stamina for reading digital texts is a struggle for many students, this helps with one of those barriers. 

Here's a video walking through the extension as well as the options that are available to customize the experience.

For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway, visithttps://goo.gl/sUpBKk.

Turn Off the Lights (Extension)

Turn Off the Lights

Turn Off the Lights is a browser extension that allows you to shade out all the distractions around a video on a website. Turn Off the Lights is super easy to use but very customizable. Simply by clicking on the extension icon in the top right of your browser window, you can focus attention on the video and let all the peripheral distractions fade to black. Turn Off the Lights is FREE. It also works with multiple browser types and video sites, so you are not limited to Chrome or YouTube.

Getting Geeky

Turn Off the Lights is very versatile and customizable. It worked well on YouTube, Vimeo and news sites like CNN or KSDK. The extension did struggle when transitioning from a video advertisement to the main video. You can change the opacity of the shading, create custom colors, add fade in and fade out effects, and really make it your own experience. Personally, I increased the shading, added a blurring effect and bubbles to my videos. 

For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway, visit https://goo.gl/sUpBKk.

Screencastify (Extension)

Screencastify is a simple video screen capture extension for Chrome.

It is able to record all screen activity inside a tab, including audio. Just press record and the content of your tab is recorded. So you can easily create a screencast for video tutorials, record presentations etc. It also supports desktop capturing, allowing you to record anything on your screen (not just tabs). Videos up to 10 minutes can be saved locally, uploaded to Youtube, or Google Drive with a single click.

Applications for Education
In ScreenCastify educators can use it to create short video lessons for the flipped classroom. Students can use ScreenCastify to create help videos for classmates, parents, and teachers. Having students create these types of videos provides practice in speaking skills and giving clear directions.

For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway, visit https://goo.gl/sUpBKk.

Getting Googley in Parkway With Apps and Extensions

I'm excited to let everyone know about a new project that we have going on between now and Thanksgiving. As we get more Chromebooks in the district, we've had many requests for how to get more functionality out of Chrome and suggestions for ways to do some of the things we've traditionally done on a laptop. As you probably know, on a Chromebook, if it's not on the web, you can't do it. However, there are tons of ways that we can do similar (if not identical) tasks using the Chrome browser.

So, for the next few weeks, every day you will find a new Chrome app or extension highlighted on this site. Take what makes sense for you or that you need and leave the rest. You will always be able to go back and find other things when you're ready.

All that being said, what, you might ask, is an Chrome app or extension and where do I get them. Here's a brief explanation.

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Apps - Chrome Apps are essentially bookmarks to websites that live online. When you're using the Chrome browser or a Chromebook, these are all stored much like apps would be on a smartphone. They will take you to a website and, if it's a Google tool, you and your students will already be logged into the site and you're ready to get started.

Chrome Apps can be accessed in two ways.

On a laptop:

1. Open the Chrome browser and look for the "Apps" button in the upper left hand corner.
   
   
   
2. When you click on it, you will see a list of all Apps that you have installed on your account listed there.
   
   
   

   
3. If you don't see the "Apps" button, click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select "Bookmarks" and then "Show bookmarks bar". The apps button should show up as long as you are logged in with your "parkwayschools.net" Google account.
   
   
   

On a Chromebook:

1. Click in the lower left corner or hit the "Search" key.
   
   
   

   
   
2. Your list of Apps you have installed will show up on the pop up.
   
   

   

   
   

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Extensions - Extensions are a little different. Extensions are little programs that run and add additional functionality in to your browser. There are many possibilities and we'll explore these over the next few weeks. Depending on what the extension does, most of the time, you will find them right beside your search box at the top of the screen on the right.

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All Apps and Extensions can be installed from the Chrome Webstore which you will find on your list of installed apps. 

We hope that you will find the information shared here over the next few weeks to be helpful and enlightening. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to contact any of those listed below. Thanks and enjoy the next few weeks of Apps and Extensions. 

Bill Bass

Jason Rooks

Amy Johnson

Kim Lindskog

For a list of all Apps and Extensions that have been whitelisted in Parkway, visit https://goo.gl/sUpBKk.