Emerging Ed: April 2015

There are many tools to explore with GAFE, and we will get to all of them, but let's begin with Google Chrome, the browser that interfaces with all the Google applications. Many of you have already signed into Chrome and may have already become familiar with its advantages:

Browsing history, settings, and data, such as bookmarks, apps, extensions, themes are saved to your Google account and can be recovered if your computer is lost or broken. Simply signing into Chrome again will bring them back.

Changes you make on one computer are automatically and instantaneously reflected on the other computers where you are signed in and have enabled sync.

You can also sync open tabs, bookmarks, and omnibox data from your computer to your phone or tablet with a Google account. Accessing previous searches and settings across devices can help both teachers and students save valuable time.

Chrome has the ability to extend its functionality through apps and extensions.

Let's begin with Chrome's menu:

Click on the "hotdogs" (hey, I don't name 'em) in the upper right corner of Chrome.

Here you will find your bookmarks (and where to import and export them), your history, your recent tabs, as well as tabs open on your other devices. Under "Settings" you can customize the appearance, such as font size and style themes, and can personalize your search experience. This is also where you sign in to Chrome if you have not already done so.

Further down the menu is "Help". Help > Help Center is a great place to get you started, where you can review the basics, learn how to personalize Chrome, find tips for searching the web, and more.

The Omnibox

The green rectangle below is called the "omnibox", it's the familiar place where we type our URL's and where many of us begin our searches. Typing key words here will produce popular search suggestions and auto-complete recently bookmarked sites, but did you know you can do math calculations in the omnibox, or convert currency and measurements? By typing in specific words like Define:, or Filetype: you can filter your searches.

Use the omnibox as a dictionary.

Enter math equations.

You can also use the omnibox to track a package, or check the status of a flight, set a timer, find a sport score. Click here to see more Google search tips and tricks.

You can quickly add websites to your favourites by clicking on the star shown in figure 1 below.

Tabs

Using tabs (#2) in our browser is not new to us, but here are a few tips I find useful:

Dragging a tab to your desktop will automatically open a new window
Highlighting and dragging text to a tab will open a search with those words
Right-clicking on a tab will allow you to:

Pin your tab so that it will open the next time you open Chrome,
reopen closed tabs
bookmark all open tabs at once

Apps

We can add apps and extensions to Chrome. Think of apps as web-based software. To access the Webstore click on the apps button on the right of your browser.

Then Click on the Webstore icon. The other icons you see below are app I have added.

There are a daunting amount of apps available. You can filter your searches to be only apps produced by Google, and that might be a good place to start. They are also divided into categories, and there is one for Education. As you can see in the figure below a description and reviews are available, but feel free to try out different apps to see which work for you. There are some apps that work offline.

The Webstore is also where you will find Extensions. These work directly in Chrome to enhance its capabilities. Here you can see some extensions I've added. An example would be a Youtube ad blocker extension, which will block ads when you play a Youtube video.

You can manage them (turn them on and off) by going to your Chrome hotdog icon and choosing "more tools".

I've created a Google sheet of apps and extension. Please add to this list when you find something you like. As the list grows, I will divide the list into tabs. Enter only the information you think is needed. I've added a few of my favourites.

Google Search

We've gotten used to "Image search", but you can also search Google using voice. You will notice a microphone in the Google's search window. Clicking on it will activate the tool. (If you go to Google.com, saying the words "Okay Google", will activate the mic.)