HP Launches Four New Chromebooks for Education:  11 x360 G3 EE, 11 G8 EE, 11A G8 EE & 14 G6

HP Launches Four New Chromebooks for Education: 11 x360 G3 EE, 11 G8 EE, 11A G8 EE & 14 G6

HP is updating its line of Chromebooks designed for classroom use with four new models featuring Intel Gemini Lake or Gemini Lake Refresh processors.

HP Chromebook 11 x360 G3 EE

This convertible notebook features an 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel touchscreen display and a 360-degree hinge that allows you to use the computer in notebook, tablet, tent, or stand modes.  The laptop should be available this this month and comes with up to an Intel Celeron N4120 processor, up to 8GB of LPDDR4-2400 RAM, and up to 64GB of eMMC 5.0 support. There’s optional support for an active digitizer that lets you use a Wacom EMR pen with the tablet.

HP Chromebook 11 G8 EE

This model is a little thinner and lighter, at 11.6″ x 8.1″ x 0.74″ and 2.9 pounds, but it lacks the 360-degree hinge or active pen support. The touchscreen display is also optional — there are also non-touch models.  Otherwise, the specs are largely the same.

HP Chromebook 11A G8 EE

Take all of the above, but swap out the Intel processor for an AMD chip, with a choice of an AMD A4-9120C processor with Radeon R4 graphics or an AMD A6-9220C processor with Radeon R5 graphics.  The HP Chromebook 11A G8 EE should be available in February, and it will ship with up to 8GB of RAM, up to 32GB of eMMC storage, and it features an 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display.

HP Chromebook 14 G6

While HP is positioning this laptop as an option for teachers and students, the lack of the EE at the end of the name makes it clear that this isn’t an education-exclusive device. It’s just HP’s latest 14 inch Chromebook.  Available this month up to an Intel Celeron N4120 processor, up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, HP says its new 14 inch Chromebook will ship with a choice of HD or full HD displays.

Source: HP Launches Four New Chromebooks for the Education Market by Brad Linder, published by liliputing

 

AGParts Education supports 6,000+ US school districts with their 1:1 Chromebook initiatives. From Chromebook parts to technology buyback, contact us to see how we can help your district. 

4 Free & Easy Audio Recording Tools for Google Slides

4 Free & Easy Audio Recording Tools for Google Slides

We finally have the option to add audio directly to a Google slide! These are the best ways to add audio directly to your Google Slides for a more rich result. This feature is still rolling out to all Google accounts, so if you do not see it in your account yet, you should see it soon.

1. ChromeMP3 Recorder from HablaCloud

The first tool we are going to look at is by far the simplest of the bunch. It is the ChromeMP3 Recorder web app from HablaCloud. As this tool is a web app and not it a website, it only runs on Chromebooks. It will not run on PCs or MacBooks. If you are on a Chromebook though, this is a fantastically easy tool to use.

2. Online Voice Recorder

If you want another tool that is just about as simple, but runs on Chromebooks, PC’s, and Mac’s, then you can use Online Voice Recorder. If not on a Chromebook, this tool is the go-to tool for recording quick audio on the web.

3. Beautiful Audio Editor

The next tool for recording audio online is Beautiful Audio Editor. This tool is reasonably easy to use as well, but has a lot of extra editing features. If you’re looking to record simple audio, this might be more features than you need. But if you need to edit audio after recording, this is the tool for you.

4. Twisted Wave

For fancier editing tools and more features, use TwistedWave. The free version allows you to record up to five minutes of audio at a time.

Source: 4 Best Free and Easy Audio Recording Tools for Google Slides by Eric Curts and Luke Edwards, published in Tech & Learning

 

AGParts Education supports 6,000+ US school districts with their 1:1 Chromebook initiatives. From Chromebook parts to technology buyback, contact us to see how we can help your district. 

5 Ways to Prevent Cheating on Your Google Form Quiz

5 Ways to Prevent Cheating on Your Google Form Quiz

Google Forms is a tremendous tool for organizing and automating digital quizzes. Here are five tips for designing cheat-proof Google Forms.

1.  Shuffle Answer Choices to Block Screen Creepers

When asking a multiple choice question, click on the snowman menu to find the “shuffle option order” feature which will randomize the order of the answer choices in your question. Shuffling answer choices will make it more difficult for “screen creepers” to copy answers from a classmate.

2. Use Section Breaks to Block Assessment Preview

Add sections to your quiz to prevent students from previewing a form before class. This is a common problem if you post your quiz through Google Classroom to all of your sections early in the day. You can take this a step further by adding a “password” to your form to prevent students from moving ahead until you are ready.

3. Use Branches to Create Alternative Assessment Paths

Google Forms doesn’t have a question bank feature to create different assessments for each student. However, you can create a similar experience by creating a branched form. First, add an un-graded multiple choice question in your quiz: “pick a number,” “pick a color,” etc.

4. Ask Better Questions

Don’t limit yourself to multiple choice questions. Consider some of these other options: sequence questions, matching questions, reading passage, video question, image question, and free response/short answer.

5. Enable Locked Quiz Mode

Locked quiz mode is one of many tools you have to protect the integrity of your assessments. When used in combination with the tips above, you have done your part to protect the integrity of your classroom quizzes.  Locked mode prevents students from accessing external resources while taking a quiz. Their tabs, extensions, chrome apps, and screenshot functions will be disabled during the duration of the quiz. Note: locked quiz mode is only available for Chromebooks.

Source: 5 Ways to Prevent Cheating on Your Google Form Quiz by John Sowash, published by Tech & Learning

 

AGParts Education supports 6,000+ US school districts with their 1:1 Chromebook initiatives. From Chromebook parts to technology buyback, contact us to see how we can help your district. 

Asus Chromebook New Models: C204, C403 & Flip C214

Asus Chromebook New Models: C204, C403 & Flip C214

Asus has revealed a new range of “education-ready” Chromebooks and a Chrome OS tablet. The C204 and C403 will be traditional clamshell laptops, coming in 11.6-inch and 14-inch sizes respectively, while the C214 will be a 14-inch convertible.

The new series features durability, spill- and tamper-resistant keyboards and all-around rubber bumpers to withstand bashes and bumps Asus believes the kids of today will inflict on the devices.

The Chromebook C204

  • 11.6-inch display
  • 4GB RAM
  • 32GB Onboard storage

Coming with a dark grey finish rather than the bright and breezy white and blue of the predecessor, it will feature a thinner design (292 x 199 x 195mm, 1.2kg), but be able to withstand a drop of 1.2m when flat or 80cm when dropped on its sides.

The Chromebook C403

  • 14-inch HD non-touch display
  • 11 hour battery life

The C403 features the same design as the C204 but features a much larger 14-inch HD non-touch enabled display instead.  It too will be powered by an Intel Celeron processor, come with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage.

 

The Chromebook Flip C214

  • Can be used either as a laptop or tablet
  • 11.6-inch touch or non-touch display options

Offering you option of laptop or tablet, the C214 will come with virtually identical specs to C204 but with the option of flipping the screen around to treat it as a tablet when you need. That includes the Intel Celeron processor, 4GB of RAM and 32GB onboard storage.

Source: Asus Chromebook Range Refresh Adds Chrome OS Tablet Alongside New Models by Stuart Miles, published in Pocket-Lint

 

AGParts Education supports 6,000+ US school districts with their 1:1 Chromebook initiatives. From Chromebook parts to technology buyback, contact us to see how we can help your district. 

How to Collect Data with Google Forms

How to Collect Data with Google Forms

A Google Form is a great way to gather responses from people. From a one-question form to a long multi-section quiz, a Google Form eliminates the need to decipher and tally responses on sheets of paper. A form also serves as an elegant alternative to asking a group of people questions in email. Google Forms can compile all the standard survey fields—such as text, multiple choice questions, drop downs, linear scales, and grids—to serve all sorts of data collection needs. They can be used to collect contact information on a website, gather inventory data, collect votes, obtain feedback, evaluate a product or service, test knowledge with a quiz, or replace a basic customer intake form. Here are four steps to help you get started with Google Forms.

1. Create Your Questions

First, create your questions. For a short form, such as a web contact form that gathers an email address, name, and message, you can likely draft your questions directly in a Google Form. But for longer surveys or quizzes, I prefer to draft my questions in a Google Doc first. I find this helps me focus on the wording of each question.

2. Create Your Form

In a desktop browser, navigate to Google Forms and select the button the lower right to create a new form. Add a title and description for your form, then enter your questions. Add new questions with the plus button to the right of your form. Add text, images, videos, or section breaks as you wish. Change the question type by choosing an alternative from the dropdown list in the upper right of each question area.

3. Send Your Form

When you’re ready to accept responses, select the “Send” button in the upper right. Then choose from one of six ways to share your form: Email, a link, an embed code (for display on a web page), Google+, Facebook, or Twitter.

4. Receive and Review Responses

You can review responses at least three different ways. On the “Responses” tab in the form, you can view either a summary of responses or see each individual response. Or, select the Google Sheet icon to view data in rows and columns—with timestamps—in spreadsheet format. Source: How to Collect Data with Google Forms: 4 Steps by Andy Wolber, published by Tech Republic

 

AGParts Education supports 6,000+ US school districts with their 1:1 Chromebook initiatives. From Chromebook parts to technology buyback, contact us to see how we can help your district. 

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