Google Slides Updates

With WAPL and other presentations coming up, I've been using Google Slides quite a bit and wanted to share a few updates with you. Last year, I wrote about the Unsplash add-on for adding photos to your slides. I use this add-on all the time.

If you use videos in your Google Slides, you can set start and end times in the video formatting tools. This is a great option for when you need to show a segment of a longer video. You can also set the video to audoplay when you advance to that slide.

Want to add audio? You can now do that in Google Slides - if you have the audio file in your Google Drive account. You can add audio by using the "Insert" menu. Similar to video, you can also set the timing of the playback and more. I haven't tried this option yet and will let you know how it goes.

And, lastly, you can now customize the color palettes in the themes in Google Slides. You've long been able to do this in PowerPoint and I'm so glad that it's finally available in Slides. I'll be testing this out in the next presentation that I create.

All three of these tips came from Richard Byrne, author of Free Technology for Teachers, one of my favorite technology experts (outside those in the SCLS offices, of course!)