Wednesday, June 24, 2015

What Can You do on a Chromebook?

Why the Chromebook? Time, Age, Location, and Platform Agnostic Learning

There are millions of web resources you can access on any web-based device, but here are a few suggestions for web apps that you can find either in the Google Chrome Web Store or on the web.  These work on the Chrome browser on a desktop or laptop and on Chromebooks.  
I want kids to . . .
. . . and on Chromebooks or using Chrome, they could use . . .
Link to Resource
create a document
create a presentation
 
HaikuDeck.JPG 
ThingLink.png
MoveNote.png
create a spreadsheet
create an audio response or presentation
create a webcam video recording of themselves
take pictures
Chromebook camera app
(built into Chrome OS)
create and edit a movie
create a digital publication
create a graphic/drawing
create a comic on the web
create a Thinking Map
use a graphing calculator
interact w/ digital geometry
robocompass.JPG
learn about astronomy
create 2D & 3D graphics
practice keyboarding
use speech to text
use a digital whiteboard
access & read eBooks
access online textbook content
create online notes
create & interact with maps
ArcGISLogo.png
build/interact with vocabulary
In addition to all of the things you can do on a Chromebook, there are some great extensions for Chrome that students & teachers can use to “extend” what they can do on the browser itself.  Here are a few of our faves:
Extension
Icon
Added Functionality
No account required; gets rid of the “extra” stuff on a website that can be distracting and just gives you the text.
Free version adds read aloud functionality to websites and GoogleDocs and highlights each word as it reads. Also has a translator function.
Provides a way to set keyboard shortcuts for frequently used phrases in Chrome. (Helpful for younger students w/ long school email addresses.)
Lets you annotate and highlight PDFs; integrates with Google Drive; also allows you to share a marked up PDF via link
Online highlighting & annotation tool for web-based text. Account required for saving annotations (Google account option).
Hides (by dimming) anything except the video window in YouTube or other video sites. Helpful for making comments, related videos, and other content invisible.
A screen capturing tool, this lets you grab screen caps & animated GIFs. Also lets you do screencasting with narration. Integrates with Google Drive.
Effectively blocks ads on websites. Great to “push” onto student profiles to keep the ads away from kids.
If you’re using Chromecast, this is a must-have.  This lets you cast your Chrome tabs to Chromecast for projection.
GoogleTone.png
Want to send a link to computers near you? If Google Tone is installed (on your browser and theirs), use this to “send” the link.

Originally from Cherry Creek Schools’ Office of Instructional Technology (+Kellie Ady-CCSD@kellie80); additional contributions welcome by contacting Kellie Ady & requesting editing access