2FA with Google Apps

2nd Factor Authorisation (2FA) with Google 

Also known as 2-step verification, means making your account more secure by requiring a second device—usually your mobile phone—to authorise your access to your account. If you use online banking you've probably being doing this for years, but the second factor was a dongle, not the most convenient of devices to have on hand, whereas most of us usually have a mobile phone within reach. To learn more about this process from Google, click here.

1. Initiate Setup - SMS

You may not wish to use your personal number for this, that's okay, you can just use it to initiate the process, and then choose another method afterwards.

To start the setup process, click here. It's relatively straightforward, but you will (obviously) need access to your mobile phone to complete the set-up.

Once you've complete this step there is no need to continue unless you'd like to add/change your preferred 2FA method, which I would encourage.

Google App

2. Alternative/Additional Access

If find tapping in random codes tedious, or/and you don't always use the same mobile number, then you will want to opt for the ADD GOOGLE PROMPT option, using the Google App, or the GMail App.  You'll need to install the app on your phone and sign into your college account. Then you'll be able to add this option, so instead of typing in a code that's been texted to you, you can just tap YES to a prompt from the app.

3. Google Authenticator App

Google Authenticator App

As a third option, (or as an alternative to using the Google App) you can use the Google Authenticator App this will generate the codes you need.

Once you've installed the Authenticator app on your smartphone, when you log into your college google account providing your user name and password to the site, then you can run the Authenticator app. The app displays a six-digit one-time password.

Shared Accounts

For role-based and departmental accounts the person primarily responsible for checking or using the account should set-up the verification process.  All of the above methods are available, as you can add multiple mobile numbers to one account as back-up options to receive the code. So each person who needs access to that shared account, can add their mobile number to the same account.

If you are using the Authenticator App, then you can have multiple accounts linked to the App on one phone. So again, each person with access can link their Authenticator App to the shared account.

Receiving a voice call to a fixed line or even printing out a set of codes are other possibilities. It is best to set-up at least two of the options to provide alternatives.

Finally, you can generate and save a set of back-ups codes from the alternative second step options. Obviously, do not leave these codes next to a computer!

[Adapted from an original document by Ben Morgan]

Rubric design to support assessment in Middle School

The challenge with assessment is giving targeted and goal directed feedback quickly to students so they can improve and move forward with the learning. Our Online Learning Platform (Teamie) can help streamline this process for both teachers and students so you can spend less time worrying about finding student work and copying and pasting feedback and work more efficiently.

This blog post outlines how to;

1. Take a rubric containing reportables and our new scale and add this to Teamie
2. Create an assignment to collect in a Google Doc
3. Associate the rubric with created assignment
4. Give targeted feedback based on your reportables

If you want to video version of this guide jump here.

Why are rubrics an important assessment tool?

This is an example of a rubric that we are creating to help give feedback to students. The example shown here illustrates the connection between our five point scale and what is possible for each learning outcome or "I Can Statement."

For instance it is hard for students to demonstrate an exemplary ability in some of the communication skills goals such as writing a claim, so the box is greyed out.

For the rubric to be an effective assessment tool the task itself needs to be designed and written in such as way that it aligns with the learning outcomes we have chosen, thus giving students scope to reach the top levels. The alignment of assessment method such as a selected response, written or performance task to the learning outcome is always crucial in giving students clear opportunities to succeed.

Getting started with Rubrics in Teamie:

You can take the same text as shown above and add this into Teamie to create your own rubric which can be attached to an assignment. Assignments allow you to collect in one or more documents from each student and track attempts, deadlines and send notifications.

There is no magic button where you can import any random rubric in a Google Doc into Teamie as the formatting is always different but the online editor is easy to use.

Firstly, you need to first make an assignment from which you can attach a rubric to as shown below.



You now have the option to either search the rubric bank for ones that colleagues have made. (search by name) or to create your own one from a blank template. Click to create from top right corner.

You will always be able to go back and reuse your rubrics when you next make an assignment.



The following screenshot shows the rubric editor. You begin with one criteria and four levels which you can all adjust. All of the text boxes are editable but when you actually mark the work online you can see the criteria title but need to hover to see the detailed criteria.



To take the original rubric I began by copying the learning goals into the heading and some of the other detail into the descriptor. I then copied the scale descriptors into the boxes as shown below. Once complete there is a clever duplicate button which saves time when adding the next criteria.



Then duplicating allows you to add subsequent criteria but keep the same scales. Some departments might choose to give more specific guidance for each scale specific to assessed learning goals or "I Can Statements" but you can equally keep this the same and simpler for students to use.

Using your rubric to provide feedback on student work:

Once you have made the rubric you can step to open a submission and give feedback. You can open the rubric from the right hand sidebar and you can drag it around the page. Once you click on the level it will automatically save your selection.



You can also leave more precise feedback on each learning outcome by clicking on the add comment option at the end of each learning outcome title. This will save you comment in either text or audio to the sidebar comment stream so students can see. You can hide these comments from students.

Publishing and viewing assessment data from your Markbook

For students to see you final feedback you will need to go back to the assignment submission page and select all and then publish grades for them to be notified of the feedback. A clever trick is to publish these all at once in class and ask students to reflect and add their own learning goals into the comment stream for you to refer back to.

The collated data across multiple assignments that you mark within Teamie is available in your markbook and you can select on one student to see an overview of the year. Eventually you will be able to see a mastery overview of how students are progressing against all of your learning goals for multiple assessments but you might have to wait until next year for this !

The video overview

Google Photos - Digital Tips and Tricks

Google Photos is the newest and slightly hidden gem of the Google Suite which allows you to, backup manage and share photos easily. It is perfect for when you are on a field trip and want to share some photos with your class or with parents and want to avoid the confusion of shared folders. I have used the app on the bus back to school and have shared everything before I needed to rush back to class.

How do I get started?

You need to first install the app on your smartphone and the visit the website https://photos.google.com/ to see your albums and backed up photos.

What does it do?

The app and online version continues to update now allowing you the ability to

• create and share albums with anyone
• create a collaborative album for others to contribute images
• create animated gifs with a series of photos
• make and download a collage with selected photos
• within the phone app make a movie with selected pics

Have an explore with the quick guide below either using your work account for school photos of personal account. You have the option to automatically sync your photos in the background to your online account or alternatively you can manually select which photos you wish to backup. When you delete a photo from your camera roll a copy can be left online.

Guide to explore

Blended Screencasts - Record & Flip

Record & Flip

Record it, then flip it, simple!

Screen recording, or Screencasts are one of most most effective teaching tools in the arsenal of a teacher who is fortunate to be work in a 'technology enhanced learning environment' but, if the devices you have to hand are laptops, not tablets, than expecting your students to create a screencast can be more of a hassle than it's worth. 

That is unless you know how to record and flip. 

I've used demonstrated this technique before in a context of asking students to model a skill with apparatus, such as how they can measure an angle with a protractor, but with a little imagination it's not difficult to see how this could be used in other ways:

• Mapping skills in Humanities
• Rationale for a design proposal in Design & Technology
• Description of the significance of imagery in the Visual Arts
• Mind Mapping relationships and connections
• Reflection on ideas and opportunities for development in a flash draft in English
• Reflection/critique of a passage/excerpt in a printed book/magazine
• Annotation of musical notation to indicate understanding of the structure
• Annotation of diagrams, graphs, and charts
• Explaining a strategy or process in solving a Mathematics problem
• and many more...

All the students need is a whiteboard or a sheet of paper, and to position it as shown above. They can tap the spacebar to start and stop the recording. 

Once the recording is finished the student can flip the video horizontally and vertically, then review and trim* the video is necessary before sharing it with the teacher. 

An Example from Mathematics

Here's one I did earlier...**

*If the student has done a great deal of  'umming and ahhing' they can delete the segments of the video that are unimportant, but most of the time this is probably unnecessary as you're not looking for a highly polished artefact here, and hesitation (when and why) may well be useful information in and of itself.

Student Example

** Disclaimer, the hesitation you see in this video was intentional in order to create a sense of authenticity, honest, it's true! 

Quizlet Diagrams - revise knowledge with clever visuals

Quizlet remains as one of those Swiss Army knife style apps that you end up repurposing and going back to time and time again. Last year it got a significant revamp with the Quizlet Live game feature and now there is a clever addition called Quizlet Diagrams.

In essence using Quizlet is a perfect approach to get students to revise new terms or develop and broaden their vocabulary. In Economics I want student to use the appropriate terms and words to explain the nuances of complicated concepts and models. For instance we want our students to confidently use the term 'appreciation' rather than trying to just say that a currency has gone 'up' In my experience Quizlet is a pretty good tool to help develop this basic knowledge.

The new diagrams tool goes further adding a really clever visual layer. You can pin a term to a specific part of the diagram and then the students use the match or learn tools to revise which term matches which part.

How do I use?

• You need to sign up for a free Teacher account with your GApps account
• Search the diagrams examples for your subject
• Duplicate an existing set of flashcards or create to start a fresh
• Drag a screenshot or image into Quizlet
• Use the pin icon to add terms.

Are there examples I can look at?

There are lots of really clever examples already created and available online. You can share any of these with your students by posting the link into our Online Learning Platform (Teamie)

Have a go and test yourself first !

1. Biology Cell Structure Diagram
2. Soil Layers Diagram - Science and Geography
3. Match the European Country
4. Spanish Vocab - el desayuno (what's for breakfast I think :)

How do students access?

You can copy the link directly from Quizlet and send this to your students with the Online Learning Platform (Teamie) The two best modes from students to practice diagrams are Learn Mode or Match Mode.

Learn mode is very clever and randomly gives students either match or multiple choice questions based on the set of flashcards you have created and it helps students track which ones they find easy and those which are harder. Match mode is probably the best supported to diagram and give the students a random challenge based on the flash cards you have added to a diagram. See below

via GIPHY

Passwords - @re y0urs awes0me or awfu1?

The longer the password, the harder it is to 'guess.' But the easier it is to type incorrectly...

Many systems require passwords to be at least 8 characters and include at least one capital letter and at least one number.

Of course nobody would write their password down on paper, or in their organiser... Would they? DON'T write it down, but it is a good idea to type all of your account passwords et cetera somewhere safe, and easy to access, maybe a draft email? A private Google Doc? A note on your PIN protected phone?

Use a Master Password

A master password is short simple word that contains a capital letter and at least one number, you use this in ALL your passwords, just adding on an extra word (or even 2?) that relate to the different accounts you use.

For example let's say my master password is Koala, turn the o and the l into numbers - K0a1a. Now when you create a new account, let's say to use here at UWC, my new password would be K0a1aUWC. Easy. 

Now apply that to other accounts you use, eg:

K0a1ahotmailhome

K0a1ayahoo
K0a1agmailwork

K0a1afacebook

K0a1atumblr

This way you avoid using the same password for everything, but in a way, it also is one password for everything. Nice.

Obviously keep your master password top secret—a note on your (PIN protected) phone? And just in case someone does get a peek at your list of passwords over your shoulder, don't type out all the characters, just create an an obvious clue to you, but not to anyone else, example:

Skype username: thingummywhatsit

Password: Master/Dad's dead dog: K****P****3!

As you use your Mac password to unlock your Mac probably 20 times a day, (or, you should be) it might make sense to use the master password on its own, to make things easier. You will be using it a lot, so you will be able to touch type it in no time.


View the Prezi below for the ultimate guide, and use this with a class to guide students through the process of creating their own secure passwords, note that is plural!

Passwords; are yours awe50me or awfu1? on Prezi


When you use the change password feature in Google (at school or at home) this also updates the school password.

Here's the link: https://webapps.uwcsea.edu.sg/chgpwd/Login.aspx

Top Tips

Use a master password, and combine that with other words for different accounts.

If you speak a language other than English (LOTE) that is perfect for words to make a password that will be harder to hack, if the language doesn't use the roman alphabet, you can use phonetics to adapt it, eg namaste, kimchee, shalom, you get the idea.  

Brainstorm a 'collection' of passwords you can cycle, use, reuse.

• Maybe places you love, 
• OLD phone numbers? 
• The first line of an address of a member of your family, eg Grandad? 87Sn0dberrylane
• A deceased pet? 
• A member of your family’s middle name? Grandparents first name? 
• An obscure town village you know well, eg How about ba11yki55ange1?

Then combine two of these to make a much tougher password, ideally words that are NOT in the dictionary, but definitely words that are not related, eg mine+craft!

Create an online (eg, in Google Drive/Dropbox/Draft eMail) private document to record these, type these with asterisks and one character clue, eg *****3t***3* to indicate character count, and a clue as a prompt, eg, My Dad's dead dog and cat.

That way if anyone does read your document, it's still no use to them, but still very useful to you.

Substitute numbers for letters that look similar. The letter ‘o’ becomes the number ’0′, l = 1, 5 = S, eg p455w0rd!

Substitute random character like: ! = i, $ = S, @ = a, and of course ? at the end.

Use something that will not change, because it is in the past, eg NOT your 'best friend'.