🏂 Google Sheets notifications, detecting ai writing, and more – Of bits and bytes for December 9, 2024
Internet Travels
Of bits and bytes is my weekly round up of interesting links and ideas I discovered on the internet. It is published on Mondays for the previous week
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Apps
Teacher Reboot Camp has over 10 websites and apps to inspire and promote generosity for this holiday season. The collection of websites and apps are designed to promote the spirit of giving and also assist in integrating technology into your classroom.
I missed this back in June, but if your school has Google Workspace Education Plus you now have access to conditional notifications in Google Sheets. You can set up email alerts that are triggered by specific changes in your spreadsheet. To create your first rule, open your spreadsheet and head over to Tools ➡️ Conditional notifications, and add your rule.
Technology
Danny Nicholson asked on Bluesky what everyone calls the navigation icons we see on various web apps and sites. For instance, the iconic nine-dot grid is affectionately dubbed “waffle” by some, but is also called Bento.
For some reason, trying to get ChatGPT to work the name “David Mayer” would cause ChatGPT to give up. Turns out it was OpenAI trying to fix other issues and blocking access to certain names.
Tips
In the world of AI-generated text, teachers might be finding themselves a little overwhelmed when trying to figure out if something is AI generated or not. One idea to try is to train your eyes for certain telltale signs: overuse of common words like “the” or “it,” absence of typos, suspiciously clean grammar, fake sources, and school-essay-like conclusions. Even though there are many AI text detectors available, they are not very reliable causing false positives and struggling with consistently accurate results.
Apparently ChatGPT can create PowerPoint Presentations, that is, with a very loose definition what what a presentation is. ChatGPT will create a very bland slideshow with a lot of bullet points that you can download and improve upon. Basically, it’s a great way to get over writers block and have something to start with.
Pop Culture
The article discusses the concerning trend of Americans lacking essential knowledge in key areas such as economics, health care, relationships, and civics. The author reflects on the historical challenges with information authenticity and highlights a gap in education that leaves students ill-prepared for real-world complexities. Basic economic misunderstandings, high health care costs, rising social issues, and inadequate civics education are among the pressing topics.
Potpourri
Three high school students tackled a century-old math problem and proved that all knots can be found within a fractal known as the Menger sponge. This shape, first introduced by Karl Menger, has an infinite surface area and zero volume, making it the perfect playground for testing the limits of knot theory. The students cleverly mapped knots onto the sponge by using arc presentations, a special method to depict knots on a grid, ensuring the knots never left the boundaries of the sponge.
Thank you!
Major props if you’ve made it this far, you are a rockstar! Feel free to contact me with questions, ideas, concerns, or your thoughts on the next Marvel movie. In fact, I love to discuss about any topic and then wonder how it intersects with education, so fire away!
“Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery, but Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.” – Oogway, Kung Fu Panda
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