Tag:

browser

Sync Your Browser Bookmarks

by Miguel Guhlin May 5, 2022

written by Miguel Guhlin

Need a quick way to synchronize your browser bookmarks or favorites across browsers? You may already know that several browser-based tools synchronize your bookmarks. But the ability to make a copy of your browser favorites is often limited to a type of browser. Let’s review some synchronization options and learn about one solution that works across various browsers. It can be a lifesaver when transitioning from one browser to another (e.g. Chrome to Firefox).

The Bookmarking Problem

While many take advantage of social bookmarking tools like Diigo, others do not. For example, a colleague of mine kept all her bookmarks in Internet Explorer. She clung to that browser longer than she needed to. The reason why? She didn’t want to lose her bookmarks. It’s understandable because it’s easy to lose your bookmarks!

Many of us switch browsers, often as we move from one computer to another. Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox synchronize our bookmarks, thank goodness. But what happens when you deviate from security-poor browsers to more secure ones? You lose access to your bookmarks.

One scenario I find myself in often is relying on new browsers that maximize privacy. Some browsers, like Microsoft Chrome and Microsoft Edge, often fall short. Privacy Tests revealed study results that show how less-than-private your browser use is.

If you’re working on a different computer between home and work, you want to be able to bring in your home browser’s bookmarks to work and vice versa. I like to synchronize all my “work” bookmarks to a home browser so I can access links I update all day at work. If the browser I use at work differs from my Chromebook at home, then favorite bookmarks may not appear.

Bookmarking Solutions Abound

A quick solution to the problem? Use either Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox in a consistent manner. Google Chrome offers synchronization of bookmarks, as does Mozilla Firefox. For the most part, synchronization even works with Chromium or Firefox derivative browsers.

Here’s what sync settings look like across browsers:

In Microsoft Edge, a Chromium browser like Google Chrome:

In Librewolf, a Firefox browser derivative with a high privacy rating:

Security-conscious browsers like Librewolf turn off Firefox sync, remove all bookmarks, and save items when you close the browser. Learn how to turn on Sync in Google Chrome or activate Firefox Sync.

If jumping from one browser to another, you may find the export/import bookmarks options of use. That said, it’s an inelegant solution. Your version of bookmarks becomes obsolete once you add or remove a bookmark on a browser.

This brings us back to the question, How do you sync your bookmarks across browsers and devices? As I said before, there are many solutions available. I’m going to focus on one so you can see how it works. That said, I would be remiss in not pointing out other solutions, and you can find a list at the end of this article.

Introducing xBrowserSync

Skip browser synchronization options on Google or Firefox. Avoid the game of exporting and importing bookmarks. Give this solution a try and save yourself some trouble.

xBrowserSync offers a secure, anonymous, and free solution. Per its website:

xBrowserSync is a free and open-source alternative to browser syncing tools. No sign up is required and no personal data is ever collected. To start syncing, download xBrowserSync for your desktop browser. Enter an encryption password and click Create New Sync. You’ll receive an anonymous sync ID. This identifies your data and you use it to access your data on other browsers and devices.

What’s more, xBrowserSync offers a search interface that simplifies finding and sharing bookmarks. You can use it to add descriptions and tags to bookmarks. You can get it as an add-on for Chrome/Chromium and/or Firefox browsers (or derivatives). Google Android users can also take advantage of it.

xBrowserSync in Action

Here are a few screenshots of xBrowserSync in action:

Search for a Bookmark:

Edit Bookmark to Add Title or Descriptive Tags:

Browse your xBrowserSync Bookmarks:

Settings Sync:

Settings Backup and Restore:

Avoid Browser Lock

There are many ways to keep track of your bookmarks now. But it is easy to get “browser locked.” Don’t get locked into any one browser. Find the browser that works best for you, then use xBrowserSync to sync your content.

Here are some additional solutions that are similar to xBrowserSync that you can explore:

Be sure to read the fine print for privacy and cost details for each of these solutions. What’s for sure– you now have a way to avoid switching browsers!

May 5, 2022 0 comment

Chromebooks Educational Research Good Teaching

Digital Notes: Three Steps for Video Annotation

by Miguel Guhlin January 31, 2022

written by Miguel Guhlin

Need a quick way to annotate YouTube videos? Then look no further than LunaNotes, a new Chrome extension now available. Come along with me as we take a quick look at this YouTube video note composer.

First, though, let’s take a look at why it’s important to add notes to video. It can have a powerful impact on student learning.

View or Get a Copy of the Google Slides version

Notetaking Makes a Difference

You may be familiar with a Surface Learning, evidence-based instructional strategy. This strategy is notetaking and enjoys an effect size of 0.51. Learning how to take notes yields the following benefits:

Increased engagement
More generative learning
Greater self-efficacy

To take full advantage of notetaking, students have to learn the skills involved in taking good notes. This means that note-takers engage in an active process to work through material. Also important is making connections or relating it to their existing knowledge (source).

An Active Process

You may ask, “What does an active process of notetaking entail?” It is not transcribing verbatim. In other words, just having students copy notes that the teacher created is not effective. Instead, students must paraphrase and summarize what they are learning, whether it is from the teacher, a resources like a textbook or website, or each other. These processes stimulate “deeper semantic processing,” and result in generative notetaking.

Generative notetaking pertains to “summarizing, paraphrasing, concept mapping.” Nongenerative notetaking involves copying something verbatim (source).

As students take notes, it’s important that they put what they see and hear in their own words. That is, paraphrase and summarize concepts. This means a three-step approach may be useful when considering digital notetaking.

Digital Notetaking: A Three-Step Process

When employing digital notetaking tools, you want to discourage verbatim transcription of information. Instead, encourage students to do the following:

Step 1: Take notes with paper and pencil.

The benefit of watching a video on the computer and taking notes by hand can stimulate learning as the deeper semantic processing gets the long-term retention results.

Step 2: Type up notes using LunaNotes.

Once you have jotted notes down on paper, review them. Type them up in LunaNotes as you watch the video a second time. Again, the goal is to revisit your notes over time to take advantage of spaced vs massed practice effect.

Step 3: Create a quiz on what you viewed.

Take advantage of the practice testing (a.k.a. retrieval practice) strategy. Create a quiz using one of the many tools available, such as Blooket, Vimboard, Podsie, or Knowt. For example, with Knowt, you can copy-and-paste your LunaNotes into it. Knowt will then create a quiz for you or your students.

Ready to see what LunaNotes can do?

Introducing LunaNotes

With a Chrome or Chromium browser (works fine in Microsoft Edge), get the browser extension. Other compatible browsers include Brave, Opera, and Vivaldi.

You can learn more about LunaNotes online at their website. They offer a short minute and a half video you can watch.

Features make it easy to do the following:

Add annotations to any YouTube video
Add colors, lists, bold, and other styles
Take screenshots of the video and draw on it

Your notes get saved to the cloud, so no need to worry if they disappear.

Feature Image Source

Screenshot by author

January 31, 2022 0 comment

Web 2.0 Tool

Get Styled: Text Generator Roundup

by Miguel Guhlin May 5, 2021

written by Miguel Guhlin

Find yourself needing an amazing font look for a special document? Or maybe you want to take an existing Bitmoji and customize it with the font and word art? This collection of text generators may be your style. In this blog entry, I’ll share a few fun ways you can find online font generators and create a custom look. Have fun on this journey.

text generator

Font Tool #1: DaFont.com

Need a quick way to customize a statement? Check out DaFont.com’s website. It offers a wide variety of fonts you can use. For example, here’s my use of the font to wish a colleague a return message for Star Wars.

text generator

DaFont boasts hundreds of pages, each row of text a new and interesting font. Here is a quick snapshot of a few pages:

text generator

Font Tool #2: Font-Generator

The Font-Generator site offers a wide variety of fonts and customizations. I had fun making this announcement using this font, which some may appreciate given the last year:

text generator

Of course, Font-Generator offers many more options, as you can see below:

text generator

Font Tool #3: Instagram MetaTags

Want to add some pizazz to your Instagram descriptions? Why not use MetaTags to do so? You can add all sorts of upside-down messages and boxy colors to your Instagram. To do so, go to MetaTags and type in your desired message. Then copy the text, as shown below:

text generator

Then, log in to your Instagram account via your web browser and paste in the custom font text:

text generator

Pretty amazing, right? The font appears in color on the web and in black-and-white dominoes on the mobile app.

text generator

Catch me on Instagram @mglearn.

A nice alternative is the Square Text Generator. You may also want to explore Instagram Fonts which can generate unicode-friendly creations, such as:

**☆꧁༒тⓒ???????? ⓡＯＣкＳ!༒꧂☆ **

Font Tool #4: Font Meme

This text generator makes creating text and logos that resemble movie memes easy. One of my favorite fonts is Animaniancs. (That may result from having to watch the show with my children one too many times.) Also, Among Us has a distinctive look. There are a wide variety of shows available with corresponding fonts:

text generator

For each type of style, you get a bit of history about the movie or show. And then, you can have fun customizing text.

text generator

Oh, what mischief you could have with something like this. Give it a try.

Font Tool #5: Assorted Text Generators

Search the web, and you’ll soon find a wide assortment of text generators. Here’s a quick round up of what’s available.

text generator

Each lets you type up text and then see what it looks like in various font styles.

text generator

Here’s a list of fun text generators to try:

CoolSymbol
CoolText (I’ve been using this one since the late 90s)
FlamingText (a nice alternative to CoolText)
FSymbols
LingoJam
Qwerty

And, if none of those do it for you, give GlowTxt a shot. It may amaze you with its animated features.

text generator

You can easily add these font and text creations to a Bitmoji. Use Kleki to erase unwanted content in your Bitmoji, then add custom text. Need some ideas on how to get started? Read this blog entry, Fix Your Grumpy sElf: How to Change Your Bitmoji Expressions.

But wait, there’s MORE!

“I just read your blog on Text Generator Roundup. I thought you might want to check this one out: TextGiraffe,” says TCEA Area 16 Director Tammy McClain. What an amazing find. Thanks, Tammy!

You can see some of the logos TextGiraffe came up with below:

Two Additional Resources:

15 Best FREE Logo Makers & Generators

Designer Resource Center

This article was updated with new resources on October 20, 2021.

Feature Image Source

Photo by “My Life Through A Lens” on Unsplash

May 5, 2021 3 comments

Chromebooks Google Tips and Tricks

Make Your Chrome Browser Even Stronger

by Dr. Bruce Ellis September 19, 2019

written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

In a previous post, I shared several flags that you can enable in the Chrome browser for additional features that you might find helpful. I have heard from several folks that enjoyed those features, so here are two more that you might want to consider. And, as a reminder, to access the flags in Chrome, you’ll need to go to chrome://flags in your Chrome browser.

Enable Tab Groups

The Tab Groups flag will allow you to cluster opened tabs into groups. Still experimental, this feature isn’t as robust as it will eventually become, but it may be helpful none-the-less. Once enabled, you’ll notice an additional choice as you right-click on a tab – Add to New Group. If you have already created a group, then you will notice that you have an option to add the tab to a particular group. The first group is named Group 1 with all the tabs added to the group obtaining the color of the group. Unfortunately you cannot rename the group name (yet) and the groups cannot be rearranged. Also, once you close the browser, the grouping is removed.

Chrome browser

Below is what my Chrome tabs look like now. This flag is definitely in the infant stage of development, but there is great potential for it. Even if you choose not to keep this flag enabled (and you set it back to default), keep an eye on it; in Chrome Canary (the developer’s version of Chrome that is updated nightly), this flag already allows you to rename the group and assign a color to the group.

If you like the concept of tab groups but are disappointed with the lack of features in this flag, then consider using the Tab Group extension. Wow, what a game changer! Not only can I create tab groups, I can also name them, easily add to them, and have the extension open a saved group in the current browser or a new window! This feature is like having my bookmarks already in a folder and able to open up at once (which is already possible but less convenient than this extension makes it).

If I’m a classroom teacher, I may use the extension to create grouped tabs that I’ll use when teaching…or teach my students to create grouped tabs so they can be more efficient (at least in my class) while on the laptop/desktop/Chromebook. I personally have started using it to group similar tabs that I need to open based on various tasks that I might be doing (work, social media, research, training, etc.). Below is a screenshot of what my current groupings look like using the extension (not the flag).

Chrome browser

Enable Focus Mode

If you want to focus on a particular website, but don’t want to be distracted by the other tabs that may also open, then consider enabling the Focus Mode flag. Once enabled, Focus Mode will allow you to remove the identified tab from the current window of tabs and open it in its own special window. Special window? Yes, special window. The window that it will open to will be stripped of many interface elements (omnibox, extension bar, bookmarks bar, etc.) leaving you with just a title bar, the more features icon, and a scroll bar.

If you want to drop the focused window back into the window from where it was extracted, then click on the more icon (the vertical three dots on the right-hand side of the browser) and select Open in Chrome. This flag is great if you like to have multiple tabs open normally, but need to focus for a bit.

Google Chrome developers are always working to see how they can keep Chrome ahead of the game and make it the browser of choice. Stay tuned as we keep our eye out for more goodies that are coming your way!

September 19, 2019 0 comment

Chromebooks Google Tips and Tricks

Make Your Chrome Browsing Experience Even Better

by Dr. Bruce Ellis July 5, 2019

written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

There are many things I enjoy about the Chrome browser, including a wide array of extensions I can use, assigning my startup pages so they automatically load when I open the browser, and being able to cast my browser to my TV for group viewing. Needless to say, I was excited when I found out about various new features that developers are testing to see if they are worthy to become full-fledged features in Chrome. Here are some of my favorites.

A Word about Chrome Flags

First, I need to give a disclaimer.

When developers are testing new features that may not be ready for prime time, they push them out as experimental features. You can find these features by typing chrome://flags into your Chrome browser and hitting return. You want to be careful when altering flags, as it may have unintended consequences. And, if you feel you’ve gone too far and want to undo your changes, just click the “Reset all to default” button at the top of the flags page. But, if you are like me and interested in what might be coming down the road, taking a look at flags can be a sneak peek into what the developers are thinking. Also, because flags are considered experimental, they may disappear at any time if it is decided to abandon a flag. Since flags are testing grounds for features, some of them may actually make it to the prestige of becoming a “real” feature in Chrome.

Enable Reader Mode

Enable Reader Mode (#Enable-Reader-Mode) opens a new page that has been stripped of ads. This is great when you are wanting to share a web page with others, but it is cluttered with ads that distract from the page. Chrome extensions that are similar to Reader Mode include Clearly and Print Friendly & PDF. To enable Reader Mode:search for #enable-reader-mode in the search box at the top of the experiments page. Click the blue button on the right and select “enabled.” You will be prompted to relaunch Chrome to have the change take place.

To use Reader Mode, go to a website of your choice. Click on the Customize and Control icon (the three vertical dots) on the top-right of your browser. Select “Distill page.” Your page will refresh to a simplified, less cluttered view. To leave the distilled page and return to normal viewing, just click the back button. This mode is available for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS.

Focus Mode

Focus Mode will pop out the current tab into its own window. To make use of this feature, you’ll need Chrome 7.6 or higher, which was not yet out at the time of this writing. If you like to be on the cutting edge, though, and want access to this (and other) features before they are rolled out to the masses, then consider using Chrome Beta. Chrome Beta allows you to preview features before they are released. This is great if you work in a support capacity or you find that you are the geekiest of your group of friends.

With this flag enabled, you can right-click on a tab to get the contextual menu to appear. Notice to the right in the menu that “Focus this tab” is now in the list. Select this item. The tab will be removed from the current window and will reopen in a tab-less window with no omnibox. To restore the page, click on the Customize and Control icon and choose “Open in Chrome.” This feature is available for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS. #focus-mode

Extensions Toolbar Menu

When the Extensions Toolbar Menu flag is enabled, Google will place an icon in the top-right corner of your browser in line with the omnibox. If you like a clutter-free browser toolbar or you are making screencasts, you will find this to be a handy feature. When you click on the icon (which looks something like a bad puzzle piece or a odd ship in Star Wars), you will be able to view and access all your enabled extensions via a drop-down list. Having your extensions in this folder-like feature provides a wider omnibox for viewing URLs. This feature is available for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS. #extensions-toolbar-menu

Tab Hover Cards

Tab Hover Cards replace the traditional tool tip. This is great if you have multiple tabs open but have trouble identifying the difference between them. While this isn’t a huge improvement over tool tips, it may be easier to see, especially if others are looking on at your computer.

Tab Hover Cards are much more relevant when coupled with Tab Hover Card Images. This flag will generate a thumbnail of any background tabs when you hover over them. For me, however, this seems a little slow to load the image; I’m not sure if that is due to needing some more efficiency in the coding of the flag or it is the way it is intended to work. Both flags are available for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS. #tab-hover-cards #tab-hover-card-images

More Information At Your Fingertips

For more information on Chrome flags, check out these resources:

Everything you need to know about Chrome’s flags by Android Central
Reddit r/chrome – search results for this subReddit group for flags
Google Chrome Announcements – find out what’s new with each updated version of Chrome
Google Search for learning about Chrome flags

If you have worked with flags before or come across a great article that shares some interesting flags, jump in the comment section below and let me know. I’d love to hear from you!

July 5, 2019 3 comments

Chromebooks Google Tips and Tricks

Google Chromebook App Hub Now Live

by Lori Gracey June 20, 2019

written by Lori Gracey

A few months ago, Google announced the future launch of their new Chromebook App Hub for education. And now it’s gone live.

What is the Hub?

The Chromebook App Hub, according to Google, is ” a place where educators can get the most out of their devices.” It was created in response to teachers who said they were spending a lot of time searching for just the right apps to use with their students. This makes it easier to search for just the right app.

In addition, the site offers “idea sparks,” ways to use apps in the classroom for learning. These include tips for success, differentiated instruction strategies, and links to additional resources such as how-to videos, activities and websites. Besides those already included, educators can submit their own ideas. In time, there will even be a community aspect to the site to connect teachers with others who are using the same app.

Besides apps, the site will offer additional great content. Epic! will contribute to the App Hub its library of children’s books, Chromebook App Hub videos and games; Adobe will include its visual storytelling app Adobe Spark; and Khan Academy will bring its free library of lessons across subjects like math, grammar, science, history, standardized tests and more.

How can I find apps?

The Hub can be searched in a variety of ways, including subject, age range, learning goal, and idea category. For the learning goal, you can look for apps that encourage students to:

Analyze and interpret data
Ask questions and define problems
Construct explanations and design solutions
Develop and use models
Explore civics and culture
Develop language proficiency
Use persuasive and argumentative skills
Plan and carry out investigations
Read and comprehend text
Research and develop information literacy skills
Respond to text
Speak and listen

Age ranges include 5-7, 8-10, 11-13, and 14 and up. Every possible subject area is included.

Is the Chromebook App Hub safe?

Google worked with policy partners, including the non-profit Student Data Privacy Consortium (SPDC), to assist developers considering the student privacy implications of their products. “The SDPC is proud to work with [the Chromebook App Hub] to provide transparency and openness around the critical aspects of schools, states and vendors securing learner information,” says Dr. Larry L. Fruth II, CEO of A4L/SDPC. This means administrators can rest assured that apps on the hub are built by developers committed to transparency and security.

This looks like a game changer for busy educators. The only drawback I can see is that Google will only update the content quarterly, which may mean there are not a lot of lesson ideas available now. But it should grow over time. Take a look for yourself and see what you think.

June 20, 2019 4 comments

Chromebooks Microsoft Tips and Tricks

Protect Your Eyes with Chrome Extensions

by Miguel Guhlin February 6, 2019

written by Miguel Guhlin

“A high percentage of learners with Dyslexia are complaining about the white background in the new look Google Classroom – is there any way this can be changed?” asks United Kingdom educator, Scott H. There are several ways to “dim” the brightness of a screen and to protect your eyes. How do you accomplish this? You use a Chrome extension.

An example of “Care Your Eyes” extension effects applied to your Chrome browser

Why Adjust the White Background?

“Dyslexia is a learning disability that impairs a person’s fluency or accuracy in being able to read, write, and spell,” says Anthony (Source). Anthony points out that putting black text on a white background, or white text on a black background can result in a “blur” effect. He puts it this way:

Another kind of visual distortion effect that can occur among dyslexic users is the blur effect [1]. This is when dyslexic readers see their text blurring or swirling or together [5]. This can significantly affect a dyslexic user’s reading ability, and make reading tiring for them [7]. You can lessen this effect by avoiding a couple of bad practices.

Contrast sensitivity comes into play, as you can see in the image below:

To avoid the blur effect that comes from a white background on a website like Google Classroom, you have several options to minimize the impact on dyslexic students. Let’s review them.

Option #1 – Use Care Your Eyes

The Care Your Eyes Chrome browser extension, available for free, allows for several options. You can see them in the screenshot below:

You have the choice to “Disable at this site,” which turns it off for certain websites. That means, that you could enable Care Your Eyes for Google Classroom but leave Care Your Eyes extension off for others.

Option #2 – Visor

Visor describes itself as a “screen dimmer and reading aid.” It suggests that the extension may help with fluency and eye-strain. What’s more, during reading, Visor improves concentration and comprehension. Per its website:

Visor’s overlays and point of focus feature may be assistive to users with visual perceptual difficulties such as Dyslexia, Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome and Visual Stress. Whilst research shows results vary from person to person, some users may find that the use of overlays can help with fluency, eye-strain, concentration and comprehension whilst reading.

The options it has appear as a simple slider color scale:

The focus feature reminds me of OneNote’s Immersive Reader, which has a similar feature. You can see Visor’s in action below, focusing the reader on a line of content:

As you can see, a line of content appears in normal colors while the rest of the visible screen is dimmed. You can see OneNote’s Immersive Reader, which works just fine in the Chrome browser with content in a OneNote notebook, below:

The only reason I share OneNote’s Immersive Reader is that it is the gold standard for accessibility right now. Watch this video to learn more.Read this blog entry for updates announced January, 2019.

Option #3 – Eye Protection

Boasting similar features as Care Your Eyes and Visor, Eye Protection makes it a simple affair to replace the white background that leads to blur effect. You can see the options available via its Chrome extension drop-down:

And this is what a web page looks like. The light green color fills the white space of the background.

Option #4 – High Contrast

Like the other solutions, the High Contrast Chrome extension makes it a simple matter to “invert the color scheme to make web pages easier to read.” All that is black becomes white, and white becomes black. Only photos are not inverted. You can see the options available:

Here’s what a web page looks like with High Contrast enabled:

Protect Your Eyes with Chrome Extensions

You don’t have to be dyslexic to seek to minimize brightness and improve readability on websites. These Chrome extensions should provide you with some options.

February 6, 2019 0 comment

Technology Applications

Seven Keyboarding Tutorials to Share

by Miguel Guhlin January 3, 2019

written by Miguel Guhlin

Are you a touch typist or do you thumb and one-finger type your way through life? For a year, I learned how to be a two-fingered typist. Then, I took keyboarding in high school and I no longer agonized over every key’s location. When people comment on how I get work done so quickly, a part of me says “Thank you!” to the matron who drilled us in touch typing. In this blog entry, we’ll explore a few keyboarding tutorial programs.

typing tutor

Source: What Makes a Faster Typist? (April, 2018)

Keyboarding Research

Is teaching keyboarding necessary? My own children thumbed their way through many an essay or poem. On Twitter a few days ago, I read a teenager’s poem where he describes the joy of writing on a small screen. Of course, he’s not handwriting on a small screen using Google Handwriting Input app. Using the built-in keyboard to his iPhone, he’s two-thumb typing. Let’s hope he doesn’t get smartphone thumb, a painful inflammation of the thumb tendons.

Poet: J.E. Guhlin (@jguhlin)

Dr. Leigh Zeitz shares a recent roundup of research relevant to keyboarding. A slight paraphrase of his text appears below:

Keyboarding is a life long skill. It has evolved from a transcription typing skill to generative typing. Transcription typing involves typing hand-written content. Generative typing involves composing original thought at the keyboard (Cooper, 1983).

Student writing develops faster through generative typing. It facilitates the review and revision learning process. Efficient keyboarding skills allow students to emphasize concept development instead of key location.

Source: Zeitz, L. (2008). A New Look @ Research-Based Keyboarding Instruction. Chicago, Illinois: Sunburst.

Learning to type with a full-sized keyboard may be passe. Brain chips and other interfaces offer hope. One day, we may shed the keyboard as an input device. Until then, learning to use a keyboard may remain our best option.

Type Faster on Your Mobile Phone

Have you tried one of the various keyboard apps that make typing on a small screen easier? To type faster on a small screen, consider these tips:

Use emojis
Enable always-on number row
Turn on text correction and next word prediction
Empower contact name expansion

Find more tips available for Android and/or iOS. Of all the typing tutors reviewed, only Z-Type offers a browser and smartphone-friendly app (more on that below). For now, let’s take a look at some full-sized keyboarding tutors.

Typing Tutorials

Ready to explore a few typing tutorials? Here are a few you may want to introduce to your children and/or students. They range from boring to engaging games.

Source: Doorway Text Type 3

Tutorial #1: Doorway Text Type

“Doorway Text Type is a touch typing tutor (TTT),” says their website. It “takes learners from the home keys to mastery of the whole keyboard and typing sentences.” It is accessible to visual impaired learners. You can get a CD for offline access.

Tutorial #2: Dance Mat Typing

This site offers four levels to play. Each level is divided into three stages. The end of each level allows you to test your typing speed. It appears intended for a younger audience.

Sense-Lang’s Meteor Game

Tutorial #3: Sense-Lang

This keyboarder’s dream offers lessons as well as a plethora of games. One of my favorites includes Meteor Game. You will stumble on that past level sixteen of the keyboarding lessons.

Source

Tutorial #4: Peter’s Online Typing Course

Peter’s Online Typing Course is just that, a rich assortment of lessons. It has several distinct web pages displayed in a table of contents. Each leads you to a lesson that you read and then practice on.

Z-Type

Tutorial #5: Z-Type

My favorite typing tutor, Z-Type turns you into a starfighter pilot. You zap letters and words as they fall towards you (compare to the author’s XType 2012). It reminds me of my old Apple //e typing game. If this is too tame for you, older learners may appreciate the Typing Game of the Dead. This is in Adobe Flash and has you slay the zombie horde one-at-a-time with a quick-typed word. The use of weapons, while not approved for school, is tame compared to Fortnite, and other FPS games.

Z-Type is available via Google Play store and iOS App store, making it ideal for thumb-typing practice.

Typing Lessons’ TypeLift

Tutorial #6: TypeLift

This browser-based solution offers “a free touch typing courseware.” Get started via their website. Sporting a clean keyboard look and the use of lorem ipsum text, you will soon find yourself “turning off” your reading for comprehension, letting your eyes and hands take over as they type information on the screen. All the best typing tutors will move you into the zone at the higher levels.

Tutorial #7: TypingClub

TypingClub is a free web-based site. They have made a promise to always remain free for both individuals and schools. You can keep practicing your typing skills until you get five stars.

Thanks for joining me on this quick exploration of seven keyboarding tutors you can share with K-12 students or adult learners. Each has something to offer to a particular audience, whether its striving for perfection or avoiding certain death. What’s your preference? While you are pondering that, you may want to check out Timothy Cayer’s list of best keyboarding sites.

January 3, 2019 6 comments

Google Tips and Tricks Technical Support

Bookmark Organization the Easy Way

by Miguel Guhlin July 31, 2018

written by Miguel Guhlin

There are many amazing tools available for organizing your Chrome browser bookmarks. Whether it’s a social bookmark tool (e.g. Diigo) or just built-in browser management, the tools make it simple. Yet it’s the simple tools that many of us overlook. Tired of wading through a pile of bookmarks, I recently decided to look around for a better solution and found a Chrome add-on that you may also want to use.

Really? Bookmarks?

“Bookmark organization…that’s so early 21st century,” you might be saying. Why get excited about bookmark management? But if you’re like a lot of folks, myself included, you may want something simple. If you have to manage bookmarks on your Chromebook by sorting through tons of bookmarks to find what you need, you will love this Chrome extension.

I had been using social bookmarking tools like Diigo because it makes sharing bookmarks with others, well, social. You can get an RSS feed for a collection of bookmarks that’s based around a tag. You can use Diigo to annotate a web page. Diigo offers educators free or reduced cost options. The problem is, it’s too much trouble. I just don’t want to mess with bookmark tools and add-ons. There are other options, though.

Google Chrome’s Bookmark Manager

Google Chrome comes with a built-in bookmark manager that is pretty powerful.

bookmark menu

You can create folders for your bookmarks to organize them. These folders, when placed in your bookmarks bar, allow you to group your bookmarks. In the screenshot below, you can see three folders, including Work, Tools, and Microsoft.

In the picture below, you can see that clicking on any one of the folders will reveal the bookmarks. I’ve clicked the Tools folder to show a list of bookmarks.

You can use this built-in bookmark manager without any additional extensions. Open it with a keyboard shortcut on Windows (Ctrl-Shift-O). You can enhance the built-in manager with a Chrome extension.

Did You Know?

You can easily transfer your bookmarks between computers or devices. Turn on Sync in your Chrome browser settings. Your extensions, like the one mentioned below, and your bookmarks will get copied to other computers you are signed in to. You can also export your bookmarks as an HTML file and then import it using the Chrome Bookmark Manager.

Open Bookmark Manager

The Open Bookmark Manager makes getting to the built-in bookmark manager in Chrome easier by adding a quick button. This is faster than clicking on Settings, Bookmarks, and then Bookmark Manager. The button appears in the extension panel (top right corner of your browser). You will see a white star on a blue background.Additional features include setting up keyboard shortcuts to jump straight to your bookmark folder of choice.

Keep It Simple

In a world full of complex, new tools, an old maxim rules supreme: keep it simple. Open Bookmark Manager makes getting to Google’s Bookmarks Manager easy and simple. That makes it worth adding to your favorites, right? (pun intended)

July 31, 2018 0 comment

English Language Arts Writing

Writing Tools for Chrome

by Lori Gracey August 26, 2017

written by Lori Gracey

The Chrome browser is such a powerful piece of software, and it’s becoming more prevalent every day. Whether you’re using a Windows, Mac, or Chrome computer, this browser should be your go-to for Internet access. If you have students who are using the Chrome browser, then there are some extensions and websites that you will want to recommend to them to use to improve their writing.

Grammarly for Chrome – I love this extension! It comes in both a free and a premium version. The free version will check your spelling and grammar on almost anything you write, including Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Tumblr, and nearly everywhere else you write on the web. It does require that you create a free account. But with that account, you’ll get weekly emails with insights and performance stats about your writing. You can find out more here.

The premium version will check for more than 100 other types of errors and provides vocabulary enhancement suggestions, detects plagiarism, gives citation suggestions, and more.

WordCounter – While this website serves a seemingly simple purpose, I use it all the time. Apart from counting words and characters, their online editor can help to improve word choice and writing style, and, optionally, help you to detect grammar mistakes and plagiarism. In addition, WordCounter shows you the top 10 keywords and the keyword density of the article you’re writing. This allows you to know which keywords you use how often and at what percentages. This can prevent you from over-using certain words or word combinations and check for best distribution of keywords in your writing. In other words, it can help you become a better writer!

In the Details overview, you can see the average speaking and reading time for your text, while Reading Level is an indicator of the education level a person would need in order to understand the words you’re using. To check word count, simply place your cursor into the text box and start typing. You’ll see the number of characters and words increase or decrease as you type, delete, and edit them. You can also copy and paste text from another program into the online editor.

EasyBib Toolbar – This extension is great for secondary students and up. It will let you cite web sites with just one click. Students who use it can also receive advice on the credibility of the website they’re citing, making it a critical part of their digital citizenship skills. Cite as many sources as you need to build a fully-formatted, alphabetized, and Word-processor-ready bibliography.

Cliche Finder – Another good extension for secondary students, this one lets you paste text into the website and then have all of the cliches identified. Besides helping with their own writing, Cliche Finder is also a good tool to help students understand what cliches are and how they are regularly used in the news and movies.

Hemingway Editor – Help your students to embrace clear, clean writing like the great author Hemingway with this website. The app highlights lengthy, complex sentences and common errors. It also identifies dense and complicated sentences, sentences written in passive voice, and weak adverbs and phrases. It will show the readability level and word count, too.

MindMup 2.0 – Although this extension has a terrible name, it is a very powerful but easy-to-use mind mapping tool. Using a graphic organizer like a mind mapper is a great resource for all students and can help them become stronger writers. MindMup can be used for collaborative writing as well and interfaces with Google Drive.

Calmly Writer – If you have a student who is easily distracted while writing by all of the bells and whistles available in most word processing programs, try the Calmly Writer website. It offers a completely blank screen with nothing to think about but the writing. Clicking on the lotus flower in the left-hand corner will reveal a drop-down menu of expected word processor options. One of the preferences available is white text on a black screen, which can be good for students with dysgraphia. While there is a Calmly Writer app for Chrome, it is $4.99; the website is free.

WriteWell Online – This Chrome extension has won awards for its intuitive editor vast library of writing templates, many of them designed for K-12. Some of the included templates are:

Five Paragraph Essay
Research Paper (Analytical and Argumentative)
Short Story
Argumentative Essay
Expository Essay Narrative Essay
Cover Letter
Persuasive Essay
Lab Report
Expository Essay
Speech (Informative or Persuasive)
Book Report

It is free to use for up to five documents. You can receive unlimited documents for $2.99.

What great writing tools have you discovered that work with the Chrome browser? Please share in the Comments section below!

This blog was updated with additional resources on September 22, 2017.

August 26, 2017 0 comment

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