An Alternative to Google Docs

Microsoft Office Web Apps

We have all come to depend on Outlook Web Access to check our email from any computer outside of the district, but I have recently learned that in addition to One Note, Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are now available as web apps as well. Though not quite as robust as the desktop versions, the web apps give you free access to Office 2010 programs on any computer. All you need is a Windows Live account to access Microsoft Skydrive…the same website you use to access your One Note Notebooks and Photo Albums. Sign up is quick, easy and free. MS Web Apps are similar to Google Docs that many of you already use. Existing documents can be uploaded and shared, or new documents can be created online in the MS programs with familiar ribbon type tool bars. Documents can be downloaded to a computer or edited within Skydrive. The latest version even allows for sharing, collaboration, and editing in real time by multiple users. Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations can be embedded in websites and blogs and there is a mobile app available as well. One very obvious difference is that Google Docs only gives you 2 Gb of storage for free while everyone with a Skydrive account automatically has 25 Gb of free space. That's a lot of storage accessible from just about anywhere.

Additional information on the web apps can be found at the following sites:

Google Docs vs. MS Office Web Apps – Which One is a Better Online Office Suite?

Microsoft Office Web Apps - templates and tutorials

I'm not giving up my Google Docs, but the 25 Gb of storage with drag and drop uploading of documents into a familiar folder based interface are reason enough for me to start using it to get organized in the cloud. Check it out.

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Website of the Week




Teachers can sign up for a free online subscription to the E-Edition of the Dallas Morning News with access to current and archived lesson plans by grade level, cartoons for education, daily science webcasts, vocabulary practice, and much more. Take a look at this sample edition. How can you use the newspaper in your curriculum?

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Tip of the Week

Add containers that can "contain anything" to flip chart pages and move them off the page when they aren't being used. Anything added to the container will remain inside when the container is moved around the page. This is a great way to keep a flip chart page uncluttered when adding objects such as drag a copy coins or other manipulatives, labels, brainstorming ideas, vocabulary words, images, and more. Just move the container off the page and out of the way until needed.

This is the easiest of all the containers to create:

• add a shape or object to the flip chart page and click to select it
• in the properties browser, drop down to the container section and choose 'anything' next to can contain.
  
• add objects, words, etc. to the container or leave it empty for students to add to during the lesson.

A Note About OneNote

Get Organized with OneNote

Are you planning an event, working on a new curriculum unit, gathering ideas and resources for a project, or just trying to get your life in order? Microsoft OneNote could be your answer. You may have seen it listed in your printer list or within the Microsoft Office folder in the Start menu.

Described as a digital planner and note taking program, OneNote is much more than that. Think of it as a digital version of  the one notebook or a collection of notebooks that  you just couldn't live without.  OneNote can contain photos, videos, audio files, meeting notes, random thoughts, documents, highlights from websites (complete with a source link and the date/time of access), and so much more all neatly organized into tabbed sections.  Each section can contain as many pages as you need to organize your work and/or personal life. Any part of a notebook can be shared with others or password protected from being viewed by others. It is one of the best research and collaboration tools available for students as well. All that is needed to get started is Office 2007 or 2010 and a Windows Live Account for accessing your notebook/s online.

Get to Know OneNote:

• 5-Minute Demo Video
• Getting Started with OneNote (from Microsoft)
• OneNote Tutorial
• Top 10 Reasons to Use OneNote
• 8 Essential Microsoft OneNote Tips
• Using OneNote for Web Research

Website of the Week

Johnnie's Math Page is one of the largest collections of online interactive math tools for K-8 found on the internet.

Tips of the Week

#1  Do you need to get a handle on your email?  Outlook 2010 can help you get started cleaning up your inbox or any other folder.  On the Home tab, click the drop down arrow next to "Clean Up" and choose "Clean Up Folder".  Outlook will remove any redundant messages, leaving only those that contain new information.  The removed messages will be sent to the Deleted Items folder. Don't worry....Outlook will not delete messages that contain attachments.

#2  For those of you who have subscribed to this blog and receive weekly email updates, don't forget that you can visit the blog anytime at http://dragonits.blogspot.com to check out previous posts and our growing list of technology websites. Add it to your favorites, today!

Ten Outlook 2010 Tips

Take a look at ten tips you can implement today with Outlook 2010. All CISD employees have access to Office 2010 on their teacher workstation and/or Promethean laptop. Be sure to activate Outlook by going to Start and open Outlook, then click a series of three "next" keys and then "finish" to activate Outlook on your computer.

Outlook 2010 tips

View more presentations from Kristie Johnson

Website of the Week:
Click here to see the archived post from the CISD Instructional Technology blog about Microsoft Office 2010. This post includes:

• Free tutorials
• Custom Guide Reference Sheets for all of Office 2010
• Printed Guides
• Cheat Sheets

Tip of the Week:

In Office 2010, if you highlight a typed word(s) a popup editing box will appear and you can edit (bold, italic, color, font, font size, etc.) the word from there instead of going to the editing tools in the ribbon. 

FYI: the popup edit box does NOT appear in the Office 2010 Mac version!

It's Here! Microsoft Office 2010

Coming to a Computer Near You

The Microsoft Office 10 Suite which includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Publisher, and Outlook is replacing Office 2003. If you have only used Office 2003, then you will definitely want to become familiar with the new version! All Office 10 products have an entirely new interface and are quite different from the 2003 version. The main feature includes replacing the “menu” with a tabbed tool bar called “the Ribbon.” Once you have become familiar with it, you will see that it is easier to organize and offers a lot more features such as screen capturing and the ability to convert PowerPoint presentations to movies.

Free Tutorial Sites to Help You Transition

Make Use Of

MakeUseOf.com is a daily blog that publishes daily updates on new websites and programs and provides links to a wealth of free downloads and printable cheat sheets!  Go to the site, scroll all the way to the bottom to sign up or “like” them on Facebook to get access to all the free items. Check this one out: Microsoft Office 2010 Tips and Tricks!

Custom Guide Reference Sheets

Custom Guide.com offers  printable quick references that are yours to use, distribute, and share. Be sure to sign up for a  30-day free trial if you like it.

Quick reference sheets

Excel 2010    Office 2010    Outlook 2010    PowerPoint 2010    Word 2010

Microsoft Office Tutorials

Office.microsoft.com offers just about every type of free tutorial, from printed guides, “cheat sheets” , videos, and even self assessment tests!  No matter how you learn, this site will have what you are looking for!  Check these out:

Menu to Ribbon Guide      Online Training Courses      Interactive guides and printables 

Cool Website:Easy Award Certificates

The year is coming to a close so it's time to recognize your students with an award certificate. Create and print your certificates with minimal effort on Certificate Street!