Free Web-Based Paging System with Google Apps Script and Hangouts Chat

Matt

September 19, 2018

Free Web-Based Paging System with Google Apps Script and Hangouts Chat

What?

In essence, it’s a doorbell. But one that can reach you wherever you are. If a picture’s worth a thousand words, hopefully this GIF makes up for the lack of a proper written introduction.

Why?

I wanted to build a simple push button for our student helpdesk so that if we ever had to step away students could page us. I decided on Google Hangouts for the message delivery platform since I use it every day and the app is already installed on all of my devices.

How?

All you need to get started is:

A G Suite account with Hangouts Chat enabled.
A device that’s kiosk mode capable to act as the push button.
- I opted for an Android tablet stuffed inside a retired Chromebook running Fully Kiosk Browser & App Lockdown.
The Hangouts Chat app installed on all of your devices.

That’s it! If you’ve got those things, and a few minutes to spare, click through to get this setup!

Enabling WiFi at the macOS Login Screen

Matt

July 20, 2018

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Enabling WiFi at the macOS Login Screen

The Problem

If the things listed below more or less describe your present situation, then this article is for you:

You’re primarily a Windows shop and your users login to their workstations using their Active Directory domain accounts.
You’ve got a wireless network that utilizes WPA/WPA2 Enterprise encryption.
You’ve got one (or thirty) brand new MacBooks staring back at you that need to be configured for classroom use.
You’ve successfully connected to a wireless network and joined the MacBook/s to your domain using a local admin account on the MacBook.
After doing the things listed above and logging out of the local account you are presented with the soul-crushing message shown below and are unable to login to your MacBook using an Active Directory account.

Plagiarism Scanner: Add-on for Google Docs

Matt

September 15, 2017

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Plagiarism Scanner: Add-on for Google Docs

If your school uses G Suite for Education, there’s a good chance that you’ve graded (or will grade) your fair share of papers that have been written and submitted to you via Google Docs. In all of your grading, chances are you’ve come across a sentence, paragraph, or an entire paper that sounds…unoriginal. When you suspect a student has plagiarized somebody else’s work, where do you turn for help? Until now, some of your only options were to copy and paste the suspected text into your favorite search engine or perhaps an online plagiarism checker like the one offered by PrePost SEO. Well, with a free add-on for Google Docs, you can check for plagiarism with just a few clicks, right inside the Doc!

Back to School with Google Classroom

Matt

August 1, 2017

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Back to School with Google Classroom

Just in time for the beginning of the school year, Google has announced 10 new features for students and teachers to explore in Google Classroom and Google Forms! Here’s a list of the features which you can read more about in their blog post:

Copy Your School Google Drive Over to a Personal Google Account

Matt

May 31, 2017

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Copy Your School Google Drive Over to a Personal Google Account

Whether you’re graduating or moving to a new school, if you’re a G Suite for Education user, odds are at some point in time you’ll want to save a copy of your schoolwork for use outside those four walls. Thankfully, Google has recently made the process of copying the contents of your Google Drive from your school account over to your personal account much more straightforward. To get started, head over to https://takeout.google.com/transfer.

WordPress Class Blogs on the Cheap

Matt

April 21, 2017

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WordPress Class Blogs on the Cheap

If you’ve been looking for a simple, affordable, and organized way to provide your students with their very own WordPress blog, look no further. While there’s certainly no shortage of free website platforms out there today, none of them tout as many features as the ever popular WordPress. If you’ve looked into using WordPress in the past, you’ve probably run up against the prohibitive costs and technical hurdles associated with finding a suitable web host.

In less than an hour and for right around $30, you can host your students’ WordPress on your very own VPS (Virtual Private Server.) This guide will walk you through the steps associated with:

Purchasing a domain name.
Purchasing and configuring a VPS.
Configuring DNS on your domain. (don’t worry, it’s not as scary as it sounds.)
Creating a new WordPress site for each of your students using ServerPilot.

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Gmail – Undo Send

Matt

March 2, 2017

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Gmail – Undo Send

Have you ever noticed a typo in the email you’re sending, but just a split second too late? Perhaps you’ve accidentally sent your shopping list to your boss instead of your significant other. Whatever the case may be, we’ve all been there.

Thankfully, Gmail has a creative way to help save you from yourself and it’s known as “Undo Send.” Enabling this setting for your Gmail account will allow you to set a 5-30 second delay between the time you click the send button and the moment when your message actually gets sent off.

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Google Slides – Insert Video from Google Drive

Matt

February 9, 2017

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Google Slides – Insert Video from Google Drive

What’s the big deal?

Up until yesterday, if you wanted to include a video in your Google Slides presentation, YouTube was your only option. Now, in addition to searching for/pasting in the URL to your favorite YouTube videos, you can insert any video you have stored in your Google Drive! Now you can include that clip of your students’ chemistry experiment in your presentations without the added step of uploading it to YouTube. Keep reading to learn how.

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Insert Citations Easily with Google Docs

Matt

February 7, 2017

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Insert Citations Easily with Google Docs

Google launched their new Explore feature back in September. This is a great tool that works in Docs, Slides, and Sheets to bring the power of Google search into whatever you (or your students) happen to be working on.

One of the lesser known Explore features is the ability to quickly insert a footnote citation into a Google Doc. MLA, APA, and Chicago style citations are supported. Keep reading below the fancy moving picture to learn how!