Waffle Bytes

Cross-post on tool to remove image backgrounds by Paul Murray, Portage Public Schools.  You can check out Paul's blog at  PPS Tech Integration and Training Dress Up Presentations by Removing Image Backgrounds How many ugly looking presentations are you going to have to look at again at the end of this project? I mean, just look at this example at the right. His picture (although ruggedly handsome) is sitting right on top of the Eiffel Tower and it has all this horrible background clutter distracting from the tower itself. Not to mention the  I “heart” Paris  image with that unappealing square, white background. Ugh. So, how can we fix it? How can the student keep the images he has so carefully selected, but get rid of that white background and the image clutter? Enter... EditPhotosForFree.com  has an EASY TO USE  background removal tool  that makes this quick and painless for teachers and students. Every time a student visits the...

Back in December I blogged about the new Template Gallery in Google Docs, Sheets & Slides .  (By the way, it also works with Google Forms now!) You may be in an organization that moderates the templates submitted to the gallery - this can be especially helpful in a larger organization where it would get overwhelming quickly if everyone tried to add personal templates (what I consider templates that only the creator would use, not everyone in the organization or even departments within the organization). If this is the case, when you submit a template you will get the following message: This will trigger an email to your Google administrators that have access to applications.  Once they approve or deny your request, you will get one of the following emails as confirmation:  For a decline:  For an approved request: If the request was approved, then the template will be available to everyone in your organization going forward.  If you are an ...

One of the new features to be released last week for Google Slides is pretty slick for now having an interactive presentation!  It is the new Audience Q&A feature.  Basically you can have a backchannel for any of your Google Slides presentations.  Here's how it works: First create your presentation.  Once it is created you you are ready to present click on the little arrow immediately to the right to the Present icon - this will give you the option of Presenter view.  Select Presenter view: You will get a window where you can now either see your speaker notes OR now view audience questions in a new Audience Tools tab!  To use the Audience Q&A, you'll first click on the Start Now button: Once enabled, you will have a link for the presentation, and a toggle to turn the feature on/off:  One note about the link - if you close the window on your presentation, and then reopen it you get a NEW url.  So, for insta...

  Cricket Media and Global Learning Network have launched the Second Annual Global Folklorist Challenge , produced in partnership with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage . About the challenge: Who : open to youth aged 8 to 18 worldwide, Task: participants explore a local or regional tradition through the eyes of a community tradition bearer Product: participants create a video or slideshow to share the story Deadline : November 30, 2015 More Information: Challenge Website From the site: "Cultural traditions that students might explore include dance, games, handicrafts, cooking, storytelling, customs, distinctive jobs, and more. Comprehensive supporting materials reinforce real-world folklorist skills by defining terms; providing examples, tips, and organizational tools; and walking students through professional interview and story-shaping processes. In addition, students can have their questions answered by Smithsonian experts. Ac...

Since Google Moderator disappeared this summer, I've been looking for an alternative that provides a way for my training participants to both provide questions, AND mark them up so we can see biggest needs.  I think I have finally found it in sli.do Sli.do allows the presenter to do polls (think Poll.Everywhere), but it has some additional features that make it so much more versatile!  The biggest features I was looking for was the ability to back channel in questions (think Today'sMeet) and then have participants "thumbs up" the questions they also have.  Sli.do does this. And they make it very easy for people to join what they call an "event" and do polling and the Q&A in the same place.  In my limited use, it is very flexible for a presenter and a participant.