Not Your Same Old Boring Google Slides

Are you bored with the choices you have for the Google Slides themes?  They just released some new ones (9/2/15), which is really exciting.  But sometimes you want something a little different.  Did you know you can create your own?  You can add your logo so it automatically appears on each slide, change the default font, size, and color, or even add your own background images.  So when you choose "new slide", it will already have all the right fonts, colors, images, etc. 

The directions below show how to edit your master which allows you to customize your slides layouts.

If you are not feeling too creative yourself, you can find some free to use slides templates that are not your same old boring Google Slides themes on Slides Carnival.  Slides Carnival has about 30 different themes to choose from, and they are frequently adding more.  They are free to use and include instructions on how to provide attribution to the creator.

Copyright and Fair Use

When assigning a project, have you ever had students use images in their PowerPoints with a big copyright watermark across the front?  I'm still surprised how many high school students think that any image they find online is free for them to use.  Or that they can add their favorite song as a soundtrack to the videos they make for class.

Any work created, regardless of where it is posted or shared, is copyrighted.  As a teacher, you and your students, do have some rights to use some copyrighted materials, but there are limitations to what constitutes fair use.  For example, if you want to photocopy a chapter of a textbook you are using for each of your students, you are only allowed to copy 1,000 words.  Or, if you use a song as a soundtrack to a video you have created, you can only use a maximum of 30 seconds.

Below is a summary of copyright and fair use with some great resources on fair use in education, where to find Creative Commons images, songs, and materials, and how to give proper attribution to the copyright owner.  

The links in the embedded image below aren't working.  

Please click here to view the Google Drawing where the links are live.