Waffle Bytes

If you need to share a photo with your email recipient(s), you can attach it within your email message.  Here are the steps to do this. Begin composing your email message.  When you are ready to attach the photo, click on the Image icon at the bottom of the compose window You can add the photo any of the following ways: from your Photos folder (part of your Google Apps account) from an Album you have created with your photos uploading the photo from your computer/device using the Web URL to access it Additionally, you can select to have the photo appear inline where the cursor is, or as an attachment at the end of your email message After selecting the photo, click Insert:  - and the image will be added to your email: If you selected to have it inline within your message, if you click on it you have some options under it: you can decide to size it between 1 of 3 ways (small, best fit, or original size) you can remove the image from ...

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...

A new feature showed up in my Drive this week - the ability to comment on non-GDrive files!  This is a great new feature in making additional files collaborative in nature.  It will work with MS Office files, PDFs and images.  The document must be in preview mode for the feature to be available.  This is the previous view of options when in preview mode -  This is the new view for a files that has NOT been added to your Drive yet - And here is the new view for the files that HAVE been added to your Drive - When viewing the document, clicking on the comment icon, highlight the part or sentence you wish to comment on, then add your comment - Additionally there is a new setting option of Manage comment notifications - You can choose the conditions for which you would like to be notified of comments on this particular file -

Recently there was an update making it easier to add Images in Google Docs, Slides and Drawings.  Here are some screenshots of the new drop-down menu and what each option results in. Upload from computer When you select this: You get the standard pop-up window where you can select the image from a location on your computer. Search the web When you select this: A sidebar opens on the right side of the window, with a search bar at the top for you to find an image without leaving your document/drawing/slideshow.  Drive When you select this: You again get a sidebar in the right side of the window with direct connection to your Google Drive, so you can easily find and use the image.  Photos When you select this: You again get a sidebar in the right side of the window with direct connection to your Google Photos, so you can easily find and use the image. By URL When you select this: You get a pop-up window where you can paste in th...

Great find of images, primary sources, and a variety of other resources for school use! From the site: "DPLA connects people to the riches held within America’s libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions. All of the materials found through DPLA —photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents, and so much more— are free and immediately available in digital format . The cultural institutions participating in DPLA represent the richness and diversity of America itself, from the smallest local history museum to our nation’s largest cultural institutions. Our core work includes bringing new collections and partners into DPLA, building our technology, and managing projects that further our mission through curation, education, and community building."

Are you an educator looking to use images that are not copyrighted?  Two big announcements from Creative Commons worth your attention: New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art releases 375,000 digital works for remix and re-use online "Today, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York announces that all public domain images in its collection will be shared under CC0, expanding their digital collection by over 375,000 images as well as providing data on over 420,000 museum objects spanning more than 5,000 years. CC0 allows anyone to use, re-use, and remix a work without restriction. From Creative Commons CEO Ryan Merkley, 'the largest museum in the United States has eliminated the barriers that would otherwise prohibit access to its content, and invited the world to use, remix, and share their public domain collections widely and without restriction.' ”  CC Image Search  Additionally,  CC has a new Image Search engine available in Beta - search the Met...

Yesterday I got asked if one could use graphics for the multiple choice options in Google Forms.  The answer is yes, you can, ever since they added the ability to add images to not just the question, but the choice options as well. Here is an example using smileys that one local school likes to use with younger children. First, begin creating your form with a title and the first question.  (You can put on a theme or color scheme if you want now also.) Click on the image icon to add an image for the question choice: You will be able to upload the image, take a snapshot, grab it from your Google Drive or search: You may notice that this does keep the name of each as Option 1, Option 2, etc. Delete out these and replace with something like a period - trying to delete out all text will not work, something has to be in the box. Here is what is seen in the browser when filling out the form: Clicking on the image will even select their option.  If the pi...

In honor of World Space Week, I encourage you to check out NASA Education.  NASA has developed quite a useful site for educators!  From the site : "As the United States begins the second century of flight, the Nation must maintain its commitment to excellence in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education to ensure that the next generation of Americans can accept the full measure of their roles and responsibilities in shaping the future.... NASA will continue to pursue three major education goals: -- Strengthening NASA and the Nation's future workforce -- Attracting and retaining students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, disciplines -- Engaging Americans in NASA's mission" Some of the items you will find on this site: Subscription to a weekly email with education opportunities Lesson plans & teaching materials searchable by keyword, subject and grade level Links to other useful materials, including NAS...