Thursday, May 10, 2018

Hey Teacher! Why Not Get an Extension?


Often when we think of the word "extension" we picture a student approaching our desk one day before a deadline for a major assignment. What about extensions for teachers though? Many of us would appreciate a few extra days for our assessments, although that is not the type of extension I am referring to. Google Chrome offers extensions that can be downloaded to your browser to assist in organization, productivity, assessment, and meeting your own deadlines. With the right Chrome extensions you may never wish for another of those other extensions again.

Here are four of my favourite Chrome extensions:

1. Tab Resize: This extension will resize your browser tabs into layouts on separate windows for easy split screen access. You can have up to four different windows visible at one time. Instead of switching back and forth from different tabs you could easily see the assessment rubric, the student's assignment, or your own notes side by side.

2. Toby Mini: Speaking of having a lot of browser tabs open, this extension will save all of your tabs into a session, which you will be able to easily open up later. You have the ability to name each session, which provides you with the opportunity to organize based on student name, subject, assignment, or anything else you desire.

3. Screencastify: This is a simple screen recorder extension that provides the opportunity to capture, edit, and share videos quickly. You could use this extension to provide quick feedback to your students on assignments or develop question and answer videos to avoid the need to answer repeat questions.

4. Google Read&Write: This extension is not only to assist your students, it can increase your own productivity as well. After a long day it might be easier to speak and have Google do all of the writing for your assessments. The read back feature can also help you hear mistakes that you may have missed.

All teachers need good extensions! What is your favourite Chrome extension?

3 comments:

  1. Great blog. I use the extension "adblocker" on my MacBook. It is free and works well. Some sites do not allow the use of it so the site will notify you to turn it off, but otherwise most sites that have any form of advertising or pop-ups it works on. If you have an MacBook and click the apple logo->system preferences->extensions there are many there to choose from.

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  2. You really can't underestimate the power of a good extension. Like Nic, I am a huge advocate for Adblock Plus. Helps to reduce visual clutter and distraction while browsing. I also owe a lot of my sanity to my Google Calendar and Google Scholar extensions. With the Google Scholar extension, if you're browsing the web and stumble across a content you'd like to learn more about, you can simply highlight the phrase, click the button, and it pops up an overlay with the top three results. You can also open it in a new tab to view the full search. No more having to open a new tab, navigate to the Scholar site, type in your entry... easy peasy!

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