Chromebook Training Guide
Peter Horner IT Manager & Digital Learning Lead Barton Peveril Sixth Form College
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Agenda
Why Chromebooks?
Getting to know your Chromebook
Add Features and Functionality with Apps & Extensions
Find more ideas and activities
Chromebook Features
Speed is key: Logging in is normally less than 10 seconds! Lessons can get started quicker;
Battery life: 10 hours of battery life lasts the entire college day;
Touch screen: Most Chromebooks now have a touch screen, which are great for drawing and annotating;
Secure by design: Chromebooks are our safest devices. They use the principal “defence in depth” providing multiple layers of protection;
Updates: Chromebooks update themselves automatically so you are always running the most up-to-date version of Chrome OS.
Explore Your Creativity
Chromebooks open doors for you and your students to visualise ideas and explore creativity, using the wide range of Chrome Extensions and Android Apps available.
Getting to know your Chromebook
Chromebook 101
Many education Chromebooks include:
Touchscreen;
2-in-1 design to transform from a laptop into a tablet;
10 hour battery life.
Stylus for writing, drawing, and annotating;
Micro SD card reader.
Search
Google replaced the caps lock key with a special search key providing quick access to the Launcher search bar.
Shortcut Keys
Chromebook features shortcut keys along the top of the keyboard for browser navigation, toggling full screen view, changing screen brightness, and adjusting volume. At any time, you can display a map of all Chromebook keyboard shortcuts by pressing Ctrl + Alt + ?
Touchpad
You can use your Chromebook touchpad to right-click, switch between tabs and more.
Right-click – Tap the touchpad with two fingers.
Scroll – Place two fingers on the touchpad and move them up and down, left or right.
See all open windows – Swipe up or down with three fingers.
Open a link in a new tab – Point to the link, then tap or click the touchpad with three fingers.
Switch between tabs – If you have multiple tabs open, swipe left and right with three fingers.
The Shelf contains the system try, app launcher, and quick-access icons for your favourite apps or web pages. It will also show any apps that are currently running.
Adding an app to the Shelf
Click or press the Launcher in the corner of the screen;
Press the Up arrow;
Find the app you want to add;
Right-click the app;
Select Pin to Shelf.
Use the Launcher to access your apps or quickly search the web.
You can also access the Launcher using the search key on your keyboard, which is located where Caps Lock used to be.
The System Tray allows you to check your battery and WiFi status, adjust accessibility options, and access Chrome settings.
Chromebook Keyboard Shortcuts
You can use keyboard shortcuts to complete some tasks more quickly.
Take a screenshot: Press Ctrl + Show windows
Take a partial screenshot: Press Shift + Ctrl + Show windows
Turn Caps Lock on or off: Press Search + Alt
Lock your screen: Press Search + L
Open a new tab: Press Ctrl + t
Reopen the last tabs closed: Shift + Ctrl + t
Dock a window on the left: Press Alt + [
Dock a window on the right: Press Alt + ]
Find all keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl + Alt + /
Accessible for all
Chrome includes a wide range of accessibility tools right out of the box. Go to Settings > Accessibility:
ChromeVox - Enable the screen reader built in to every Chromebook;
Dictation - Speech-to-text recognition in programs where you’d normally have to type;
On-screen keyboard - Use the on-screen keyboard to type or handwrite text.
Zoom and magnify - The Fullscreen magnifier or docked magnifier to zoom your entire screen or parts of it.
To explore more accessibility features in Chrome check out the Accessibility for All slide deck by @scotlandlouise.
Sign-in to Chrome on a desktop computer to keep your Chrome settings, history, saved passwords and extensions in sync with your Chromebook;
Click the People button and select Sign-in to Chrome.
Chrome Sync
Pin a tab to avoid accidentally closing it;
Right click the tab > select Pin.
Pin Tab
Using an incognito window is a good way to test something without being signed in to your Google account;
Go to settings > New incognito window.
Go Incognito
Chrome Tips
Screenshot Tool
Chromebooks include a fantastic screenshot and screen recording tool. Simply press Crtl + Alt + Show windows :
Capture region / screen - Take a partial or full screenshot and have the image automatically save to Google Drive;
Create recording - Record your entire screen or part of your screen;
Add voiceover - Use your Chromebook microphone to add a voice over to your recording.
Using the Chromebook Stylus
Chrome includes some useful Stylus Tools for teaching, which can be accessed from the Stylus menu :
Capture region / screen - Take a partial or full screenshot and have the image automatically save to Google Drive;
Create note - Quickly launch Google Keep and create a note to write directly onto the screen;
Laser pointer - Use your stylus as a laser pointer, perfect when your connected to a projector.
Magnifying glass - Use your stylus to make part of your screen bigger.
Chromecast
Chromecast allows you to:
Wirelessly connect to a screen or projector;
Cast just one Chrome tab or your entire desktop;
Play a YouTube video directly to a Chromecast.
To Chromecast your screen:
Open Chrome and select the Cast extension . If this isn’t visible click the Settings menu and select Cast.
Choose whether you’d like to cast a single tab or entire desktop.
Select your classroom number.
Add Features and Functionality with Apps & Extensions
Chrome Web Store
Apps & extensions: Use the Chrome Web Store to explore apps and extensions you can install on your Chromebook or Chrome browser;
Easy to install: After finding an app you’d like to add, simply click Add to Chrome;
Stay in sync: Sign-in to Chrome on your desktop computer so you can sync your apps and Chrome settings;
Manage extensions: You can manage extension settings in Chrome by clicking More > More tools > Extensions;
Permissions: Some extensions will request permission to read and change site data. Check these carefully and make sure it’s from a trusted provider.
Chrome Extensions [Try on your device]
Add voice comments and audio content;
Works with Google Classroom, Docs, Forms, Slides, and Gmail.
Mote
Powerful accessibility toolbar for Chrome;
Text-to-speech, speech-to-text, screen mask, dictionaries and more..
Read & Write
Record your Chromebook screen;
Great for online lessons, tutorials, and feedback.
Screencastify
Transform any document to a PDF;
Integration with Google Classroom.
Kami
Save, organize and share content from across the web!
Access Wakelet collections from new tab.
View guided tours from BBC, NASA, and National Geographic.
Wakelet
Introduce students to self-paced learning with interactive video lessons.
Edpuzzle
Play Store
You can find and download Android apps on your Chromebook by going to the Play Store:
Load the Play Store from the Shelf or the app Launcher;
Install Android apps with a single click;
Next, let’s look at some of the apps available.
Play Store Apps [Try on your device]
Use the Student Selector tool to randomly select a student;
Annotate student work when marking.
Google Classroom
Draw with pencils, pens, and brushes and export to Adobe Photoshop;
Great for sketchnoting.
Adobe Photoshop Sketch
Take handwritten notes;
Markup PDFs, sign documents and more.
Squid
Game-based learning platform;
Explore 500+ lessons and immersive worlds.
Minecraft Education
Explore the world from above with satellite imagery and 3D terrain;
View guided tours from BBC, NASA, and National Geographic.
Google Earth
Browse the entire TED Talks video library.
TED
Jamboard
Jamboard is Google’s collaborative digital whiteboard, perfect for touchscreen Chromebooks! Jamboard is available to install from the Play Store or you can go to jamboard.google.com.
Collaboration - Have your entire class join a Jam and collaborate simultaneously;
AutoDraw and Recognition - Convert handwriting to text and transform drawings to images;
Insert notes - add sticky notes for sharing ideas;
Search the web or add a Drive file - Import external resources and use these in a Jam;
Share in Classroom - Jam’s exist as files in your Drive, which can be shared in Classroom.
Chrome Canvas
Chrome Canvas is a browser-based drawing app perfect for Chromebooks with a stylus or graphics tablet.
To try Chrome Canvas go to canvas.apps.chrome;
Use pencil, pen, marker, chalk, and eraser tools;
Export drawings as a PNG file when done;
Drawings synced to your Google account for easy access from any device.
Find more ideas and activities
Resources to explore
Our very own Digital Learning site full of great Chromebook apps and ideas for teachers and students.
myBarton Digital Hub
Control Alt Achieve is full of Google Workspace and Chromebook resources for educators.
Control Alt Achieve
Explore ideas and apps suggested by educators from around the world.
Filter by age, category or subject.
Chromebook App Hub
Chromebook Classroom contains fantastic resources and courses created by John R. Sowash.
Chromebook Classroom
My YouTube channel containing how to videos for Chromebooks and Google Workspace.
Peter Horner Edtech
Get all the latest Chromebook information, news and reviews.
Chrome Unboxed