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Try Google Squared

Google Squared is a new, recently released, way to search the Internet. Google describes Google Squared as an experimental search tool that collects facts from the web and presents them in an organized collection similar to a spreadsheet.
You can add more columns and rearrange columns to get more information about each result.

Watch this YouTube video to learn more about Google Squared.

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Sync all your Computers and Files with Dropbox

http://www.getdropbox.com/

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New Student Excuse

Have you experienced the frustration of not being able to open a file or attachment because it is corrupt? Most of us have. Students are using this to gain time to complete an assignment. Sites offer to sell corrupt files (of varying size in accord with the assignment) for students to submit to instructors. This gives the student a few extra days to complete the work and submit it after the instructor discovers the problem and contacts the student. Read the full article.

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Power Toys for Windows XP

Check out Microsoft Power Toys. These are small programs that integrate into Windows XP. Microsoft engineers created them for fun, and then Microsoft decided to offer them to the public.
There are currently 14 Power Toys available for download.

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Extra Credit in ANGEL Assessments

To add extra credit questions to an assessment in ANGEL:

1. Create a separate question set for your extra credit questions.
2. Enter the questions.
3. Set their value to "0".

The assessment will use not use the extra credit questions in the calculation. Manually enter points for the questions in the extra credit question set.

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Save MS Office Files as PDFs

Microsoft has released an add-on that allows you to save Office 2007 files as PDFs. PDF add-on for MS Office. is a quick download (select Run to install) and will give you the option to save as PDF when you save an MS Office file.

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ANGEL Agent to Automatically Enter Grade for Contract

Many instructors give points for submittiing the contract but must contact the department to find out who has submitted. You can create an agent to automatically post the points for submission of the contract - or any assignment. You might use the same type of agent to post points for a survey, etc.

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Add your Comments, Please

I discovered yesterday that I had the blog set-up so that you had to be logged in to Google in order to post a comment. I changed this so anyone can now post. I hope that will make it easier for you to add to the blog. Please do!

Although you are not required to login I think it would be great if you signed your comments.

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Microsoft Word Tips

No one can know all of the features and shortcuts available in Word but this site lists 10 that instructors should find useful. There is also a video that explains tables in detail.

10 Microsoft Word Tricks Every Teacher Should Know

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Check out Glogster

Glogster allows you and your students to create interactive online posters. Check out this sample Glogster poster. There is even a site dedicated to Glogsters in Education. You might want to refer to this Glogster tutorial as you begin. Be sure to share ideas for use in your course as comments to this post.

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ANGEL Uploads

Several students and instructors have reported problems with uploading files to ANGEL. Butler technicians believe they have resolved the problem. Be sure to let us know if you have any further issues with this.

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Open Multiple Sites with 1 Click

Many of you need to check multiple sites daily. To make this task simple set Internet Explorer to open all of the sites with one click. Check out this Internet Explorer tutorial to see how (click the Full Size icon at the top of the page to enlarge).

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Summer EDventures - 2 days of Learning

The Instructional Tech Department is wrapping up the summer with two days of workshops presenting the hottest tools and techniques to enhance the rich learning experiences you offer students. Take a look at the Schedule/Descriptions of the sessions being offered (double-click the page to enlarge).

Contact Rachelle Wertenberger, rwertenberger@butlercc.edu, to register by July 31st.

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Free 2-day Conference in Overland Park, KS

Colleague to Colleague (C2C) annually sponsors the free 2-day Summer Institute of Distance Learning and Instructional Technology (SIDLIT). The Institute enables faculty and staff involved in instructional technology to share expertise on a "colleague to colleague" basis.
The 10th Annual SIDLIT will be held on Thursday and Friday, July 30 - 31, 2008 at JCCC in Overland Park, KS.

Conference Registration ends on July 17, 2009.
Please visit the list of Sessions being offered.

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Batch Update to Enter Zeroes in Gradebook

When ANGEL calculates grades for students, only the assignments/assessments that have been graded are included in the average. This means that you need to fill in zeroes for any assignments/assessments that students did not turn in.

To easily enter the zeroes, after an assignment or assessment closes, go to the Gradebook, go to Enter Grades by Assignment, choose the assignment/assessment, and use Batch Update to enter a zero – only the students with no grade entered will be affected by the batch update, therefore it will give zeroes only to those who don’t already have a grade.

This tip from Jonathan Bacon, JCCC

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MapSpotting

Try this MapSpotting activity from the Games for Content Mastery workshop - then create your own!

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Literature, Poetry, American History Resource

"Schmoop", http://www.shmoop.com, is a free site that offers course materials in Literature, Poetry and American History.
For instance, The Civil War section includes these categories: in-depth, timeline, people, did you know, best of the web, citations, test review, opinions.
Registration is free and the site has a lot to offer so check it out!

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