The internet can be a distracting place...

Recently, a teacher approached Laura Cahill looking for a way to help her students stay focused when working through digital assignments.

Laura had just been granted early access to Google’s new Locked Quiz feature for Google Forms and she decided to see if this feature could be repurposed for a lesson.

Episode Resources: 

• Locked quiz mode: http://tinyurl.com/yb67f7fu
• John's Google Forms course: http://chrm.tech/forms
• Locked lesson example: http://tinyurl.com/y2n25edm
• Laura's blog post on locked lessons: http://tinyurl.com/y5ulrdd4

Is a Chromebook tablet a good idea? That’s the question that we will attempt to answer on this episode of the Chromebook Classroom podcast!

My guest is Marcus Mead, director of instructional technology for Glen Lake Schools in northern Michigan. Marcus oversee the Chromebook program in Glen Lake which recently added Acer Chrome Tablets to its existing collection of Chromebooks.

For show notes and links, visit chrmbook.com/podcast

Google Forms might be my favorite member of the Google family.

• As a teacher I use forms for quizzes, group projects and school fundraisers.
• As a principal I use forms for staff surveys, course selections, and quarterly grade reports.
• As a small business owner I use forms to set follow up reminders, send out invoices, PD certificates, and organize events.

In this episode I am sharing five ways that you can design better Google Forms!

1. Use validation to collect better data
2. Make your forms look pretty
3. Automate with Add-ons
4. Filter, Sort, and Pivot your data
5. Auto-grade and lock your quizzes

Are you ready to become a Form Fanatic?

Each spring I teach a 5 week Google Forms masterclass through Google Classroom. This course is for anyone who is familiar with forms and is ready to become a form master! 

Last spring I offered this course for the first time and the feedback was outstanding:

"I was a casual user of Forms, but I was not using the data that I had collected to it's full potential. Now I am writing better Forms so my data is of higher quality and I am better able to analyze the results so I'm making decisions based on data...not just giving surveys." - Laura Foreback, middle school teacher

This course is perfect for classroom teachers, tech coaches, and school administrators!

Head over to chrm.tech/forms for details!

Audio projects aren’t as common as image or video projects, but that doesn’t mean that audio isn’t a great option! Because they lack a visual element, audio projects are easier to create and require more attention to the core content of the assignment.

Engaging audio requires creative writing and planning, making audio projects a great option for writing focused classrooms.

This episode features classroom ideas and tools for recording, editing, and publishing audio projects in your classroom. 

Featured Tools: 

• AudioRecorder (Chrome App)
• Padlet 
• Twisted Wave
• Booktrack Classroom
• Soundtrap
• Anchor.fm
• Headliner.app

For more tips and lesson ideas for Chromebook Classrooms visit chrmbook.com. 

Over the past 50 years, Bob Gregory has been a school teacher, a church pastor, a school principal and an education resource supplier in Australia and around the South Pacific region. He officially retired in 2015 and in 2016 became the education manager for Transform Cambodia, an NGO dedicated to helping the children of Cambodia escape poverty.

In this episode you'll hear how Chromebooks are being used to give hope to more than 3,000 Children in Cambodia. 

For show notes and links, visit chrmbook.com/podcast