CGHS Library

One Keyboard Shortcut to Rule Them All

Use Control F to find anything on your computer. If you need to find a word or a phrase in a webpage, Control F. If you need to correct a name in a Word document, Control F. If you are lost in one of your own spreadsheets, Control F. Any browser or application you are using on a computer responds to Control F. If you get used to using it, Control F can save you much irritation and lots of time.

See other simple, yet essential keyboard shortcuts to learn now.

Best Photos from Code One, Aeronautics Magazine

Paperless Research

Mrs. McIver told me about the Save to Google Drive extension in Chrome. Once that extension is installed, Google Apps users can save web pages and online database articles directly to drive, read in drive, highlight and take notes in drive, and share with teachers or other students in drive. To install it in Chrome, go to Window-Extensions, search "Save to Google Drive" and install the extension. Once installed, a little Drive icon will show up to the right of your tool bar. From then on, whenever you want to save a document to Google Drive, just click on that icon. Slick.

Another thing to remember is that you can right click (Command, Click on a Macintosh) on any file in Google Drive and convert it. If you convert a pdf using Doc Hub, you can edit and highlight. That capability is handy not only for research tasks but for applications that may not be formatted the way you want them to be.

Chrome Browser Printing Tips

 Click on images to enlarge.

After clicking the print button, a gray box shows up on the left of the screen. Within that box, there is a two-sided button, and a Simplify page button. I didn't realize the Simplify page button was there until last week, but it took Mackenzie's 17 page document down to two pages. It doesn't work on every page, but when it works, it WORKS.

Chrome will print even if the paper size settings are wrong, but sometimes it will screw up the formatting in terrible ways. Click on More Settings and make sure the paper size is set to Letter rather than the A4 default. (Really, Chrome, A4 is your default?)

 

Converting Word Document to .pdf

In early October, I posted about how to convert a Google Doc to a .pdf, but there is also an easy way to convert your Word documents to a .pdf. Just hit the Print command. When the Print box comes up, go to the lower left hand corner and choose PDF, Save as PDF.

Flynn is Almost Ready to Go

Media Use By Teens

Common Sense Media has released the results of their research into the screen and media usage patterns of kids, tweens and teens.

 

By taking a “census” of kids’ media use, Common Sense’s new study quantifies screen use, identifies unique types of users, and uncovers patterns that could spark improvements in content, access, and learning.

Key Findings Include:

• It’s not your imagination — media use is off the charts.
• There is a wide diversity in screen media use.
• Low-income kids lack access. 
• Boys’ and girls’ media preferences are very different.
• Social media use is big — but maybe not super fun. 
• Everyone can be a maker, but not many are.

Read the whole report here.

New Carts

We received two new carts for the fifty Chromebooks we expect for the Junior High. The carts are nice and sturdy and called the Ergotron. I am not making that up.