One of the most common questions teachers ask me is how they can draw directly on Google Slides to make their Google Slides lessons more engaging. Here’s how to do it!
Install the Annotate Google Chrome Extension
First you’ll need to go to the Google Chrome Web Store to download the Annotate extension. After you install the extension, be sure to pin it to your Chrome browser for easy access.
Create an Annotate.Net Account
In order to use the extension, you’ll need to create an account first. To do that click on the extension on your browser and select ‘Free Registration’.
Here you’ll see that you can create an education account if you can show that you are affiliated with a school, and you’ll also have an option to create a non-educator account. Both account types will give you access to a large majority of the features for free. All the features I’ll show in this post are for the completely free version.
Once you’ve set up your account, you can immediately hop over to a Google Slides presentation to see how it works.
First you’ll need to click on the extension and choose ‘turn annotations on’. Then you’ll see an annotations menu show up on the top right-hand side of the screen.
Annotate Google Slides
The first Annotate tool is a laser tool, which you can use to point out specific places on your Slides without leaving a mark.
Next is the pen tool. When you select it, you’ll notice different color pen choices show up. Pick a color you want, and you can use it to draw directly on your slides.
Then, if you wanted to get rid of what you drew, select the eraser tool. Lots of annotation tools require you to manually erase what you drew, which can be a pain, but with this one all you need to do is strike through the annotation, and it will erase all of it at once.
Next to the pen you’ll find the highlighter tool. Choose from one of the highlighter colors to choose and then highlight your Slides.
Lastly, the text box tool allows you to add text anywhere you want on top of a slide while you’re teaching. You might want to use the text box tool to do things like add follow-up questions directly on your Slides. You can also backfill text box with color to make it stand out and use the pen to to annotate what you just typed as well.
Sticky Annotations
What makes Annotate stand out from other extensions that allow you to draw on the screen is the fact that your annotations stick to the Slides rather than the screen.
After you’ve annotated the first Slide, click on the next one, and you’ll notice that the mark-ups are no longer on the screen, and you can add entirely new annotations to the other Slide.
Then, when you go back to the previous slide, you’ll see that the annotations you previously created are still there!
Save Annotations to Reuse Again
You can also save your annotations to use later. To do that, go up to the disk icon, give your annotations and name and a description, and click ‘save’.
Now that you’ve saved the annotations, you’ll be able to pull them back up even after you’ve left the Slides presentation.
Just click on the presentation again from the Google Slides homepage, click on the annotations toolbar, select the expand tool, and click load previous annotations. There you’ll see all your saved annotations, and when you click on the one you just saved, you’ll see that those annotations show up again on your Slides!
Conclusion & Resources
Annotate is an easy-to-use Google Chrome extension that adds a much-needed feature to Google Slides: the ability to draw directly on top of them while also sticking your annotations to each Slide!
To learn more about lesson planning with Google Slides, check out this post.
For my take on how to take a strategic approach to remote teaching, click here.
For a comprehensive look at how to use technology to personalize learning, increase engagement, foster creativity, and more, click here.
To read more about why I believe technology must be a central part of public education today, click here.
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