Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Getting Students Started with Google Apps

We finally have Google Accounts set up for students.  I am really looking forward to having students use this tool.  8th Graders signed in on the Chromebooks last week.  Everything went well, the hardest part of the whole process was probably the captcha.  Most students did this just fine, but it was a challenge for some.  (I know I can have a hard time with them sometimes.  "Is that a k or an r?...")  

Students loved taking their pictures on the Chromebooks.  Of course, it turns out that picture does not attach to their Google Account, it is just local to that particular Chromebook.  So the teacher asked if their was a way to get the picture onto their Google Account.  I knew this was simple enough on desktop, but I had to think about it a little bit on a Chromebook.  My first thought that maybe it would be an option to add a picture straight from the webcam in gmail.  No luck.  I had to find a web app that could save the picture from the Chromebook web cam to the Chromebook hard disk.  Just as I was going to do a web search, as student had a solution.  Web Cam Toy.  Awesome - it worked, it was fun and easy, and they even have an app in the Chrome Web Store, so I can automatically install it on the Chromebooks.  This is why it is so fun to work with students.  

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