For this challenge I had to find and install chrome apps and extensions to increase the functionality of the Chrome browser. I chose to download "Clearly" as my extension and "LucidPress" as my app.
I have used Clearly for a while now and find it really effective. It's purpose is to remove ads and distractions from online articles and text. It also increases the font size and makes articles more readable. It was really simple to find and install, and it works really well. It also has a feature to add the text to Evernote, but this is not something I use. There really wasn't much that made this challenging to use or install. I enjoy how it easily makes online text more readable. I have used this for my own professional reading, as well as to create printable articles for students when needed. I plan to have students try using this for when they read online text. I would recommend this to anyone tired of busy web pages.
My app was LucidPress. I have never used it before, but I plan to incorporate it later this year. It provides the ability to do simple desktop publishing within the chrome browser. It was easy to find and install. It looks like other desktop publishing software. I chose it because it allows students to make brochures and other projects, and I had tried to do this within Google docs with mixed results. I would have my students make brochures for a place they read about. I anticipate a big learning curve with the interface for my students, but once they understand it, they will have a lot of success. I haven't decided yet if I would recommend this until I use it with students.
Showing posts with label Chrome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chrome. Show all posts
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Challenge: Chromebook Apps and Extensions
For this challenge I had to find and install chrome apps and extensions to increase the functionality of the Chrome browser. I chose to download "Clearly" as my extension and "LucidPress" as my app.
I have used Clearly for a while now and find it really effective. It's purpose is to remove ads and distractions from online articles and text. It also increases the font size and makes articles more readable. It was really simple to find and install, and it works really well. It also has a feature to add the text to Evernote, but this is not something I use. There really wasn't much that made this challenging to use or install. I enjoy how it easily makes online text more readable. I have used this for my own professional reading, as well as to create printable articles for students when needed. I plan to have students try using this for when they read online text. I would recommend this to anyone tired of busy web pages.
My app was LucidPress. I have never used it before, but I plan to incorporate it later this year. It provides the ability to do simple desktop publishing within the chrome browser. It was easy to find and install. It looks like other desktop publishing software. I chose it because it allows students to make brochures and other projects, and I had tried to do this within Google docs with mixed results. I would have my students make brochures for a place they read about. I anticipate a big learning curve with the interface for my students, but once they understand it, they will have a lot of success. I haven't decided yet if I would recommend this until I use it with students.
I have used Clearly for a while now and find it really effective. It's purpose is to remove ads and distractions from online articles and text. It also increases the font size and makes articles more readable. It was really simple to find and install, and it works really well. It also has a feature to add the text to Evernote, but this is not something I use. There really wasn't much that made this challenging to use or install. I enjoy how it easily makes online text more readable. I have used this for my own professional reading, as well as to create printable articles for students when needed. I plan to have students try using this for when they read online text. I would recommend this to anyone tired of busy web pages.
My app was LucidPress. I have never used it before, but I plan to incorporate it later this year. It provides the ability to do simple desktop publishing within the chrome browser. It was easy to find and install. It looks like other desktop publishing software. I chose it because it allows students to make brochures and other projects, and I had tried to do this within Google docs with mixed results. I would have my students make brochures for a place they read about. I anticipate a big learning curve with the interface for my students, but once they understand it, they will have a lot of success. I haven't decided yet if I would recommend this until I use it with students.
Friday, April 1, 2016
Challenge: Chromebook Apps and Extensions
So, today I decided to work on this challenge. For me, I have already integrated quite a few of these into my computer usage, as I primarily use Chrome as a browser and like poking around and seeing what I can come up with that are helpful. There are quite a few add-ons for the different tools in Google Drive that are awesome, on top of the extensions and applications. I always find these to be fairly helpful and useful as I go through life, since it provides a central hub for everything. It could be concerning to some since everything is centrally located, but I do like it.
Application: Kindle Cloud Reader
Rating: 3/5
I have a Kindle Paperwhite, so that has facilitated my use of Amazon products predominately for my digital book needs. I really enjoy a lot of the features Amazon offers, but I do feel like the Cloud Reader has some limitations. I'm going to touch on those first.
Amazon allows you to create collections, which are really handy for me, seeing that I can group books into as many of those as I would like. It helps for organization, as I have a large number of ebooks with Amazon (No, I don't plan on disclosing just how many I have). Unfortunately, Cloud Reader doesn't allow use of these collections. It is somewhat frustrating to have to utilize another device or platform to sort my read books.
On the positive side, I do like that I can use both the title list and the cover means of looking through my books. Being visual, it helps to find the book I want. Also, I like the features associated with the Amazon platform for the ebooks, including the ability to share or loan out books. This is something I plan on having available to students in the future. They can, with parent permission, create an Amazon account and receive books to read digitally. This is in part why I have so many books, as I have been collecting ebooks to share with my students.
The features that support learning, such as highlighting, definition look ups, and taking notes. These can be exported to their own documents. There isn't as much of the language support as is available through other Amazon platforms, but there are supports present within Kindle Cloud Reader.
Side note: I utilize BookBub as my means for collecting ebooks through Amazon. This website sends you an email every day of your desired genres of books that are free and reduced on your chosen platform. Amazon seems to provide the largest number of free and reduced books, but there are other supported platforms.
Extension: OneTab
Rating: 4.5/5
This extension is awesome. I love it. It condenses all of your tabs you have open (and let's be honest, we have all done this at one time or another) into one page where you can store them or reaccess them at a later date. The page it provides after shrinking your tabs allows for you to look at previous saved sets, as well as rearrange listed links to different groupings. There is also the ability to add tabs one at a time to the main page, which is helpful when you have some windows you prefer to leave open all the time.
This would be a great tool for research, as students doing online research can maintain their list of digital sources until the end of their projects. They can then return as needed, rather than losing their sources.
Additionally, students in the one to one program are presented with computers that may not have adequate processing power for a large amount of tabs running at any given time. This extension would allow them to condense their tabs to a reasonable number and return to the tabs at a later time.
Application: Kindle Cloud Reader
Rating: 3/5
I have a Kindle Paperwhite, so that has facilitated my use of Amazon products predominately for my digital book needs. I really enjoy a lot of the features Amazon offers, but I do feel like the Cloud Reader has some limitations. I'm going to touch on those first.
Amazon allows you to create collections, which are really handy for me, seeing that I can group books into as many of those as I would like. It helps for organization, as I have a large number of ebooks with Amazon (No, I don't plan on disclosing just how many I have). Unfortunately, Cloud Reader doesn't allow use of these collections. It is somewhat frustrating to have to utilize another device or platform to sort my read books.
On the positive side, I do like that I can use both the title list and the cover means of looking through my books. Being visual, it helps to find the book I want. Also, I like the features associated with the Amazon platform for the ebooks, including the ability to share or loan out books. This is something I plan on having available to students in the future. They can, with parent permission, create an Amazon account and receive books to read digitally. This is in part why I have so many books, as I have been collecting ebooks to share with my students.
The features that support learning, such as highlighting, definition look ups, and taking notes. These can be exported to their own documents. There isn't as much of the language support as is available through other Amazon platforms, but there are supports present within Kindle Cloud Reader.
Side note: I utilize BookBub as my means for collecting ebooks through Amazon. This website sends you an email every day of your desired genres of books that are free and reduced on your chosen platform. Amazon seems to provide the largest number of free and reduced books, but there are other supported platforms.
Extension: OneTab
Rating: 4.5/5
This extension is awesome. I love it. It condenses all of your tabs you have open (and let's be honest, we have all done this at one time or another) into one page where you can store them or reaccess them at a later date. The page it provides after shrinking your tabs allows for you to look at previous saved sets, as well as rearrange listed links to different groupings. There is also the ability to add tabs one at a time to the main page, which is helpful when you have some windows you prefer to leave open all the time.
This would be a great tool for research, as students doing online research can maintain their list of digital sources until the end of their projects. They can then return as needed, rather than losing their sources.
Additionally, students in the one to one program are presented with computers that may not have adequate processing power for a large amount of tabs running at any given time. This extension would allow them to condense their tabs to a reasonable number and return to the tabs at a later time.
Challenge: Chromebook Apps and Extensions
So, today I decided to work on this challenge. For me, I have already integrated quite a few of these into my computer usage, as I primarily use Chrome as a browser and like poking around and seeing what I can come up with that are helpful. There are quite a few add-ons for the different tools in Google Drive that are awesome, on top of the extensions and applications. I always find these to be fairly helpful and useful as I go through life, since it provides a central hub for everything. It could be concerning to some since everything is centrally located, but I do like it.
Application: Kindle Cloud Reader
Rating: 3/5
I have a Kindle Paperwhite, so that has facilitated my use of Amazon products predominately for my digital book needs. I really enjoy a lot of the features Amazon offers, but I do feel like the Cloud Reader has some limitations. I'm going to touch on those first.
Amazon allows you to create collections, which are really handy for me, seeing that I can group books into as many of those as I would like. It helps for organization, as I have a large number of ebooks with Amazon (No, I don't plan on disclosing just how many I have). Unfortunately, Cloud Reader doesn't allow use of these collections. It is somewhat frustrating to have to utilize another device or platform to sort my read books.
On the positive side, I do like that I can use both the title list and the cover means of looking through my books. Being visual, it helps to find the book I want. Also, I like the features associated with the Amazon platform for the ebooks, including the ability to share or loan out books. This is something I plan on having available to students in the future. They can, with parent permission, create an Amazon account and receive books to read digitally. This is in part why I have so many books, as I have been collecting ebooks to share with my students.
The features that support learning, such as highlighting, definition look ups, and taking notes. These can be exported to their own documents. There isn't as much of the language support as is available through other Amazon platforms, but there are supports present within Kindle Cloud Reader.
Side note: I utilize BookBub as my means for collecting ebooks through Amazon. This website sends you an email every day of your desired genres of books that are free and reduced on your chosen platform. Amazon seems to provide the largest number of free and reduced books, but there are other supported platforms.
Extension: OneTab
Rating: 4.5/5
This extension is awesome. I love it. It condenses all of your tabs you have open (and let's be honest, we have all done this at one time or another) into one page where you can store them or reaccess them at a later date. The page it provides after shrinking your tabs allows for you to look at previous saved sets, as well as rearrange listed links to different groupings. There is also the ability to add tabs one at a time to the main page, which is helpful when you have some windows you prefer to leave open all the time.
This would be a great tool for research, as students doing online research can maintain their list of digital sources until the end of their projects. They can then return as needed, rather than losing their sources.
Additionally, students in the one to one program are presented with computers that may not have adequate processing power for a large amount of tabs running at any given time. This extension would allow them to condense their tabs to a reasonable number and return to the tabs at a later time.
Application: Kindle Cloud Reader
Rating: 3/5
I have a Kindle Paperwhite, so that has facilitated my use of Amazon products predominately for my digital book needs. I really enjoy a lot of the features Amazon offers, but I do feel like the Cloud Reader has some limitations. I'm going to touch on those first.
Amazon allows you to create collections, which are really handy for me, seeing that I can group books into as many of those as I would like. It helps for organization, as I have a large number of ebooks with Amazon (No, I don't plan on disclosing just how many I have). Unfortunately, Cloud Reader doesn't allow use of these collections. It is somewhat frustrating to have to utilize another device or platform to sort my read books.
On the positive side, I do like that I can use both the title list and the cover means of looking through my books. Being visual, it helps to find the book I want. Also, I like the features associated with the Amazon platform for the ebooks, including the ability to share or loan out books. This is something I plan on having available to students in the future. They can, with parent permission, create an Amazon account and receive books to read digitally. This is in part why I have so many books, as I have been collecting ebooks to share with my students.
The features that support learning, such as highlighting, definition look ups, and taking notes. These can be exported to their own documents. There isn't as much of the language support as is available through other Amazon platforms, but there are supports present within Kindle Cloud Reader.
Side note: I utilize BookBub as my means for collecting ebooks through Amazon. This website sends you an email every day of your desired genres of books that are free and reduced on your chosen platform. Amazon seems to provide the largest number of free and reduced books, but there are other supported platforms.
Extension: OneTab
Rating: 4.5/5
This extension is awesome. I love it. It condenses all of your tabs you have open (and let's be honest, we have all done this at one time or another) into one page where you can store them or reaccess them at a later date. The page it provides after shrinking your tabs allows for you to look at previous saved sets, as well as rearrange listed links to different groupings. There is also the ability to add tabs one at a time to the main page, which is helpful when you have some windows you prefer to leave open all the time.
This would be a great tool for research, as students doing online research can maintain their list of digital sources until the end of their projects. They can then return as needed, rather than losing their sources.
Additionally, students in the one to one program are presented with computers that may not have adequate processing power for a large amount of tabs running at any given time. This extension would allow them to condense their tabs to a reasonable number and return to the tabs at a later time.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Chromebook Basics
I took a quiz on the Chromebook Basics. I am trying to be paperless in our second year of having one to one Chromebooks. There are often frustrating situations involving the Chromebooks. I thought it would be helpful to have some more information about them so I would be able to help the students. I will hopefully be able to assist a bit more with their computers now.
The articles to read online where helpful. I thought it would have been nice to be able to do this with a Chromebook in front of me. I tend to learn by doing and think it helps when I can see the materials in front of me. Maybe if there were some videos of the steps we could see it happening on a Chromebook would be a good addition.
I was thinking it would be nice to find a good way to share this information with the students. Maybe a handout or a poster. That way they can troubleshoot these things before having to ask me.
The articles to read online where helpful. I thought it would have been nice to be able to do this with a Chromebook in front of me. I tend to learn by doing and think it helps when I can see the materials in front of me. Maybe if there were some videos of the steps we could see it happening on a Chromebook would be a good addition.
I was thinking it would be nice to find a good way to share this information with the students. Maybe a handout or a poster. That way they can troubleshoot these things before having to ask me.
Chromebook Basics
I took a quiz on the Chromebook Basics. I am trying to be paperless in our second year of having one to one Chromebooks. There are often frustrating situations involving the Chromebooks. I thought it would be helpful to have some more information about them so I would be able to help the students. I will hopefully be able to assist a bit more with their computers now.
The articles to read online where helpful. I thought it would have been nice to be able to do this with a Chromebook in front of me. I tend to learn by doing and think it helps when I can see the materials in front of me. Maybe if there were some videos of the steps we could see it happening on a Chromebook would be a good addition.
I was thinking it would be nice to find a good way to share this information with the students. Maybe a handout or a poster. That way they can troubleshoot these things before having to ask me.
The articles to read online where helpful. I thought it would have been nice to be able to do this with a Chromebook in front of me. I tend to learn by doing and think it helps when I can see the materials in front of me. Maybe if there were some videos of the steps we could see it happening on a Chromebook would be a good addition.
I was thinking it would be nice to find a good way to share this information with the students. Maybe a handout or a poster. That way they can troubleshoot these things before having to ask me.
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Challenge: Chromebook Basics
So, I am starting out with (what I thought would be) the easiest, simplest option here, since it is just a straight forward activity. You take a quiz, blog about it, badabing, badaboom, credit hour. Well, even though I currently am working as a middle school librarian with the "Chromebook Lady" sitting at the next desk over, this was fairly challenging and I learned some cool tricks that I know some of the students I work will will appreciate.
So, I didn't create any new content, simply because this is just the basics. It was pretty straightforward, which was nice. It made it easy to read through the pages and make sure I understood the hints. What was challenging was that a lot of the minutiae doesn't make sense with the basic PC logic. I can read the pictures and use them, but the logic behind using Alt + Search to trigger caps really threw me for a loop.
I feel like this would be a great first stop for everyone, speaking from the substitute side of things, to successfully complete before they even walk into a tech training session. I've seen the trainings that we offer (for substitutes) turn stagnant because a majority of people don't know how even log into a Chromebook. That doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to offer high level trainings, but it makes sense that we have a tiered system, potentially even using these PD challenges, for people to move through the ranks of skilled teachers.
So, I didn't create any new content, simply because this is just the basics. It was pretty straightforward, which was nice. It made it easy to read through the pages and make sure I understood the hints. What was challenging was that a lot of the minutiae doesn't make sense with the basic PC logic. I can read the pictures and use them, but the logic behind using Alt + Search to trigger caps really threw me for a loop.
I feel like this would be a great first stop for everyone, speaking from the substitute side of things, to successfully complete before they even walk into a tech training session. I've seen the trainings that we offer (for substitutes) turn stagnant because a majority of people don't know how even log into a Chromebook. That doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to offer high level trainings, but it makes sense that we have a tiered system, potentially even using these PD challenges, for people to move through the ranks of skilled teachers.
Challenge: Chromebook Basics
So, I am starting out with (what I thought would be) the easiest, simplest option here, since it is just a straight forward activity. You take a quiz, blog about it, badabing, badaboom, credit hour. Well, even though I currently am working as a middle school librarian with the "Chromebook Lady" sitting at the next desk over, this was fairly challenging and I learned some cool tricks that I know some of the students I work will will appreciate.
So, I didn't create any new content, simply because this is just the basics. It was pretty straightforward, which was nice. It made it easy to read through the pages and make sure I understood the hints. What was challenging was that a lot of the minutiae doesn't make sense with the basic PC logic. I can read the pictures and use them, but the logic behind using Alt + Search to trigger caps really threw me for a loop.
I feel like this would be a great first stop for everyone, speaking from the substitute side of things, to successfully complete before they even walk into a tech training session. I've seen the trainings that we offer (for substitutes) turn stagnant because a majority of people don't know how even log into a Chromebook. That doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to offer high level trainings, but it makes sense that we have a tiered system, potentially even using these PD challenges, for people to move through the ranks of skilled teachers.
So, I didn't create any new content, simply because this is just the basics. It was pretty straightforward, which was nice. It made it easy to read through the pages and make sure I understood the hints. What was challenging was that a lot of the minutiae doesn't make sense with the basic PC logic. I can read the pictures and use them, but the logic behind using Alt + Search to trigger caps really threw me for a loop.
I feel like this would be a great first stop for everyone, speaking from the substitute side of things, to successfully complete before they even walk into a tech training session. I've seen the trainings that we offer (for substitutes) turn stagnant because a majority of people don't know how even log into a Chromebook. That doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to offer high level trainings, but it makes sense that we have a tiered system, potentially even using these PD challenges, for people to move through the ranks of skilled teachers.
Monday, June 8, 2015
Welcome! Directions for Blog Entry
Welcome!
This blog is the shared space for staff taking part in the Instructional Technology Online PD. Through a series of creative and fun challenges you will build your own knowledge and skill using technology. The learning from each challenge can be used in your classroom with students, with your grade level/department or with your staff. Each challenge asks you to share your thinking on this group blog as a brief reflection.
The reflection should capture your experience and your thinking about the challenge and the tool you explored. Please use ALL of these questions to help you as you write your blog posts and provide ample evidence in each of your answers to support the work you did:
- What did you create, and why?
- What went well for you?
- What was challenging?
- What did you enjoy?
- What ideas do you have for using this tool with your students, grade level, staff or to communicate with families?
Please use these questions as a starting point and add any other thoughts and ideas.
Refer to the chart below for help with selecting the correct label to tag your blog post.
Refer to the chart below for help with selecting the correct label to tag your blog post.
Label for Blog | Challenge |
Google | Google Classroom |
| Google Drive | |
| Google Sites | |
| Google Forms | |
| Google Sheets | |
| Google Slides | |
| Google Draw | |
| Google Maps | |
| Google Calendar | |
| Google Earth | |
| Google Keep | |
Chrome | Chromebook Basics |
| Chrome Apps & Extensions | |
| Website | Classroom Website |
| Database | Elementary and Secondary District Databases |
| Arts & Crafts | Arts and Crafts |
| Digitial Citizens | Digital Citizenship |
| Assessment | Formative Assessment |
| Infograph | Infographics |
Videos | Interactive Video |
| PowToons | |
| WeVideo | |
| Blog | Blog |
| SmartNotebook | SmartNotebook |
| Flipped Lesson | Flipped Lesson |
| Photo | Photo Management |
| Online Reading | Online Reading |
| SAMR | Lessons Redefined |
| Interactive Presentation | Interactive Presentation |
| Research | Research Skills |
Welcome! Directions for Blog Entry
Welcome!
This blog is the shared space for staff taking part in the Instructional Technology Online PD. Through a series of creative and fun challenges you will build your own knowledge and skill using technology. The learning from each challenge can be used in your classroom with students, with your grade level/department or with your staff. Each challenge asks you to share your thinking on this group blog as a brief reflection.
The reflection should capture your experience and your thinking about the challenge and the tool you explored. Please use ALL of these questions to help you as you write your blog posts and provide ample evidence in each of your answers to support the work you did:
- What did you create, and why?
- What went well for you?
- What was challenging?
- What did you enjoy?
- What ideas do you have for using this tool with your students, grade level, staff or to communicate with families?
Please use these questions as a starting point and add any other thoughts and ideas.
Refer to the chart below for help with selecting the correct label to tag your blog post.
Refer to the chart below for help with selecting the correct label to tag your blog post.
Label for Blog | Challenge |
Google
| Google Classroom |
| Google Drive | |
| Google Sites | |
| Google Forms | |
| Google Sheets | |
| Google Slides | |
| Google Draw | |
| Google Maps | |
| Google Calendar | |
| Google Earth | |
| Google Keep | |
Chrome
| Chromebook Basics |
| Chrome Apps & Extensions | |
| Website | Classroom Website |
| Database | Elementary and Secondary District Databases |
| Arts & Crafts | Arts and Crafts |
| Digitial Citizens | Digital Citizenship |
| Assessment | Formative Assessment |
| Infograph | Infographics |
Videos
| Interactive Video |
| PowToons | |
| WeVideo | |
| Blog | Blog |
| SmartNotebook | SmartNotebook |
| Flipped Lesson | Flipped Lesson |
| Photo | Photo Management |
| Online Reading | Online Reading |
| SAMR | Lessons Redefined |
| Interactive Presentation | Interactive Presentation |
| Research | Research Skills |
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