Day 2: Exciting New Templates in Google Slides - The 12 Tech Tips of Christmas 2024

Welcome to day two of The 12 Tech Tips of Christmas from Evolve EdTech! 🎄 I’m Tristan, and I’m thrilled to share another exciting tip to enhance your EdTech toolkit. Yesterday, we explored how to add new fonts to Google Workspace—if you missed it, head over to the Evolve EdTech YouTube channel to catch up.

Today, we’re diving into something truly exciting in Google Slides: brand-new templates and customisation options that will elevate your presentations and make them more engaging, purposeful, and professional. Let’s dive in!

Say Goodbye to Boring Themes

For years, we’ve made do with Google Slides’ default themes—functional but far from inspiring. That’s all changing now! Google has introduced a suite of new templates to help you create dynamic presentations, whether for your students, colleagues, or school community.

How to Access the New Templates

1. Open a New Google Slides Deck

   • Head to slides.google.com, use the Slides.new shortcut, or open a new deck from your Google Drive.

2. Explore the Templates Panel

   • At the top menu bar, click the Templates icon (to the right of the main menus).

3. Browse and Select

   • On the right-hand side, you’ll see a beautiful range of templates designed for various purposes, from leadership workshops to creative classrooms.

4. Insert Templates

   • You can insert all the slides in a template by clicking the Insert All Slides button or add individual slides to customize your deck.

Customizing Your Template

The new templates are a fantastic starting point, but what if you want to make them your own? Here’s how:

1. Use the Theme Builder

• Go to View > Theme Builder to edit and customize your chosen theme.

• Change background colours, adjust fonts, and tweak design elements to suit your purpose.

2. Edit Layouts

• Need a different slide layout?

  • Click Layout (between Background and Theme in the menu).

  • Choose from various options to replace existing content on your slide seamlessly.

3. Elevate Your Presentation

• Experiment with colors and fonts to align your slides with your lesson or project goals.

• Keep accessibility in mind, ensuring your design is clear and engaging for all students.

Bonus Tip: Layouts Have Moved

A small but notable change in Google Slides is the repositioning of the Layouts menu. Previously available via the “+” button, layouts are now accessible directly under the Layout menu. This simplifies your workflow and ensures you can quickly find the perfect slide layout for your needs.

Why This Matters

The new templates and customization options are a game changer. They bridge the gap between simple functionality and powerful design, offering you tools to create:

• Engaging class presentations that keep students focused.

• Professional development slides for colleagues.

• Informative reports for your school community.

These updates make Google Slides a true Swiss Army knife for educators, combining creativity, accessibility, and simplicity.

Wrapping Up Day Two

That’s a wrap for day two of The 12 Tech Tips of Christmas! We’ve explored the fantastic new templates in Google Slides and how you can customize them to create stunning, professional-quality presentations.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more tips and tricks, and join us tomorrow for day three, where we’ll unveil another amazing EdTech tool to add to your toolkit.

Thank you for joining us, and until tomorrow, stay safe and keep tech-ing!

To view Day 2 of The 12 Tech-Tips of Christmas click on the video below: