Happy
Friday the Thirteenth everyone!!
This week I have chosen to share with you a fun
tool which can be used as an app on the iPad, with Twitter and accessed from
your desktop computers. ‘Pocket’
(formerly Read it Later) is a great way to bookmark and store all of those
great articles you come across or have been recommended to you. If you are like me, your computer is full of
folders and the bookmark bar is jammed with online webpages you want to come
back to when you have more time for reading.
Pocket is a great way to retain all of those articles in one place, and
tag them with key words so you can easily find them later.
iPad,
iPhones and Twitter with Pocket:
The
Pocket app can be purchased from the app store for free or you can go to the
user website (http://getpocket.com) and create a user
account (also free). When you are
surfing twitter and someone recommends a great article they have just read,
simply click on the link in the tweet and the article will open in a new
window. Here you will see a box with an
arrow emerging from it in the top right hand corner. Tap on this icon and select ‘Mail Link’. Next an email message will appear and you
simply type in add@getpocket.com in the
‘To’ line of the message. When you tap
send, the article will be added to your list of saved articles. This is the same procedure to use if you are
surfing with an iPad and find useful material you would like to return to
later.
Chrome
Extension:
Pocket
is available as a free extension from the Google Web store. When you purchase it from the Web Store, the
icon will appear in the top bar of your web browser next to the web
address. When you come across a page you
would like to read at a later date, simply click on the pocket icon and a
header will appear at the top of the page stating that the ‘page has been
saved’. You will also be offered the
option of adding ‘tags’ to the page.
This allows you to include key words which describe the article or
remind you of what the article is about so you can find it much easier
later.
Bookmarklet:
Pocket is available as a bookmarklet (button on
your tool bar) so that all you need to do is click on the button when you would
like to save a webpage to your personal pocket of items. To add the bookmarklet to the tool bar you
may visit the following webpage (http://getpocket.com/welcome?b=Bookmarklet)
for complete and simple instructions
Accessing
your articles and marked pages:
When you
find yourself with a little time on your hands (not likely for a teacher, I
know) or when you would like to retrieve an item you have stored, simply open
the pocket app on the iPad or iPhone and log into your account. Here you can find all of your items, in one
location. By tapping on the desired
article, Pocket will open the item and you can continue reading. From your desktop computer simply go to the
pocket website (http://getpocket.com) to
sign into your account. Here all of your
articles, videos, and images will be listed for you; with a click a new window
opens and you are able to read the item.
I hope
this helps get you organized a bit and will allow you to clear out some of the
bookmarks you have stored on your computer.
Past Tech
Tidbits posts can be found on the blog at http://techtidbitz.blogspot.ca and
if you have an idea for a future blog topic, please feel free to pass it along
to me.
Cheers,
Stace
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