10 Keyboard Shortcuts Every Chromebook Owner Should Know

This is a must read. I was really surprised what was hidden on the keyboard.  Follow this link HERE.

Why I Love Chromebooks

This is an article that identifies what makes Chromebooks Simple, Flexible, Accessible, and Innovative. Check the article out by clicking HERE.

Presentation Application

Check out this link. I love that Google has found an application that we can use with our phones for presentations.

 Follow this link HERE.

Protecting Your Chromebook

This morning I found this blog post from David Andrade's and shared on the Chromebook Edu Community. Security from theft is always on our minds, but follow his recommendations and you may be able to do something about it.

LINK

Chromebook Screen Issue

This is my personal thoughts about the Samsung Chromebook screen and its probably more because of my age and waning eyesight than a real assessment of screen quality. Maybe I've gotten use to crisp letters when reading on a Macbook, IMac, or iPad. These devices have great screens and my eyes don't get tired.

One of the drawbacks of a Chromebook is obviously limited offline capability, but recently I've discovered another. This is probably because I use this cool device all the time. I have discovered that the run time for my Samsung Chromebook is over ten, yes ten, hours. The extended period of time watching a screen has caused quite a strain on my 65+ year-old eyes.

Tilting the screen provides better resolution by changing the contrast.  Although, there may be a way, I can't find a way to change the screen settings. It's possible that other brands may have a better screen. Live and learn!

For the most part though, this shouldn't be an issue for younger eyes. As you become familiar with the chromebook features, I would like to hear your thoughts about anything that you find.

Chromebooks Are Here for Teacher Quality Students

Right before the door of the office opened I heard a loud crash outside. Our shipment of Chromebooks was to arrive this afternoon, so I was hoping that it didn't have to do anything with the them. Fortunately, it was another box and not one of the computer boxes.

TQ Chromebooks

I gave Magali my pocket knife and anxiously waited for signs that everything was alright. When we finally cleared the packing material the boxes were a wonderful sight. They finally arrived and now it's just a matter of getting them distributed to TQ grant participants.

In the next few weeks, we'll learn how to operate them in the name of science education. The Chromebook that I've been using has been a great tool for me since I use Google products for writing blogs, developing webpages, creating instructional materials, and communicating. If I knew a little more about instructional design, the results would be much more impressive. Of course, many people that have seen the work believe it already is, but we know what the potential for technology can be.

Twenty-four science teachers will soon get their hands on these devices and begin to discover ways to make their teaching meet the 21st Century. These devices have the potential to use technology in ways that are innovative and can effectively make teachers and their students highly productive critical thinkers. We can't wait to begin the distribution and training.

Using Chromebook at Workshop

Worksheets, notes, videos, and web browsing has been a snap. I must admit that this was a daring move to use my new Samsung Chromebook as my only computing device at a week-long biology workshop offered by WestEd (wested.org) and sponsored by the Texas Regional Collaborative. The workshop is taking place at the Norris Conference Center in Austin, Texas. I've come to workshops here before and used both iPad and Macbooks. 

Could the Chromebook perform well enough to lessen the paranoia we often have when using a new device. I took a chance that the Chromebook might falter, but instead some of the iPads weren't able to bring up videos. Even better than that is that by the end of the day, I still had 77% battery charge left. I know that it claims to have a 9 hour battery life, but the way it works makes a big difference. When not in use, all I do is close the screen and when needed again it powers right up. My Macbook takes about a minute or even more to come back on line, losing battery life as it goes through the motion of waking up. The iPad doesn't have the battery life of the Chromebook and it requires some wake up time to boot. A drawback of the iPad is that even with a keypad it doesn't feel comfortable and the keyboard loses charge.

I've been able to take pictures with my phone and quickly upload them to an album for this workshop. I'll continue to add photos and write about the workshop in another post. For now, it seems that I've been happy with the results and have a full feel of the device after the whole five days.

Update on Chrome 64 Plugin

Since my last update on my Chromebook experience, I played around with the Chrome 64 plugin. I tested the browser and was pleased to discover that previously visited links were accessible. The reason was that Google has made the upgrade with some limitations. Below is the statement on the help line that explains the limitations. For more information click HERE.

Chrome 64-bit supports only 64-bit NPAPI plugins

The 64-bit version of Chrome supports only 64-bit NPAPI plugins.

We have tested the following 64-bit NPAPI plugins and confirmed that they work with Chrome 64-bit:

• Oracle Java (64-bit)
• Microsoft Silverlight (64-bit)

The following Google NPAPI plugins will not work with Chrome 64-bit:

• Google Voice Plugin
• Google Earth Plugin

Note: Google Hangouts works fully on Chrome 64-bit.

If you want to use these or other NPAPI plugins, you should use the 32-bit Chrome channel. To switch channels visit theChrome download page.

Please note that NPAPI will be removed from Chrome soon. You can contact the vendor of your NPAPI plugin and ask them to provide a replacement Chrome extension or app.

My Chromebook Experience

Chromebook on my desk.

Last week I made the decision to purchase a Chromebook so that I could understand the workings of the equipment and the Google Chrome operating systems. The equipment I'm experimenting with will be provided to participants through a Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board teacher quality grant. The "Retooling Science Education through Technology" grant provides training on how to use Google apps to teach science. We're getting close to getting the equipment in to the hands of participating science teachers. The requisition is being processed, but that for the instructional team is going to take time, so I made the decision to purchase my own.

Over the week, I've had an opportunity to write blog posts and work documents, create tutorials, and update webpages. All of this with ease! To work with a Chromebook a good Internet connection is essential, but I can tell that the connection is quick. What else is quick is the speed at which the Chromebook loads up. I'm up an running within eight seconds of opening up the screen.

After set up, operating the Chromebook requires that you use a Google account. I found that it was very easy to set security settings. Every time you open the laptop, you need to use your Google account password to get in, making the Chromebook a very personal device.

If you've used Google apps, then the rest is pretty familiar. Even if you have used Microsoft or Mac OS, the applications are similar and learning to use them is quick. The apps that I've used so far on the Chromebook include Google Drive, Gmail, Google Plus, Google Slides, Google Search, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Keep, Google Maps, YouTube, and several extensions like Screencastify and Zoom Scheduler. All of these applications have been easy to use.

The Chromebook does have some issues, but I believe their minor. For one, you have to have an Internet connection. Now that sounds like it can be a big thing, but many of the Google applications can be used in an offline environment. I have found a possible issue with the 34 bit Chrome browser. Some applications require 64 bits, but Google claims to be developing a 64 bit Chrome browser. My bill pay application does better with Safari than with Chrome, but I can live with that since I can still check my bank information with it.

This is only the first week of using the Chromebook and I'll get more familiar with the good and bad of it with more experience.