September 5, 2013 – Shiny New Chromebook Tips

 Hello everyone and welcome back to school!!  I hope that you had a relaxing and enjoyable summer break.

With the new UGDSB computer refresh in full swing, and many schools trying to become more familiar with the new Chromebooks, I thought I would write a post which includes a few tips and tricks for these new computers.

The top row of the keyboard has a few symbols which you may not be familiar with:

 Returns to the previous webpage - works similar to F1 on the desktop

 Advances to the next webpage in your browser history – similar to F2

Reloads the current webpage – Similar to F3

 Brings the webpage view into full screen – F4

 Switches to the next window 

 Decreases the brightness of the screen

 Increases the brightness of the screen

Mutes the volume of the computer

 Volume decrease

 Volume increase

 This search key allows you to search the apps on your computer in addition to the internet.  When you press the search key, a pop up will appear showing your current Google apps.  As you begin tying the keyword you are searching for, the Chromebook will offer options which are similar to your search item.  By clicking on the item from the list, the app or webpage will open to the chosen option.

If you are having difficulty viewing the text on a webpage, simply click on CTRL and the + sign to increase the text size.  The text size will increase progressively each time they are depressed.  Similarly, pressing CTRL and – at the same time will decrease the size of webpage text.  Finally, pressing CTRL and 0 (zero) will return the text size to the original 100%.

Missing the Caps Lock key?  Simply press ALT and Search and a notification will pop up on the screen showing that the caps lock is on. To turn it off, simply press the search or shift key.

 

No Delete key? You can use Alt and    to remove text or images you no longer want. 

  

Looking for more shortcuts?  From the home screen press CTRL ALT and ? and you will bring up an image of the key board on your screen.   Then by pressing CRTL or ALT you will see the possible key combinations and shortcuts available to be used.

I hope that these tips are beneficial as you begin exploring what the Chromebook can do for you and your students.  If you have any questions about the shortcuts I have mentioned above or if you would like assistance with any other tech related topic, please feel free to contact me. 

As always, 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.

Thanks and here’s to another fantastic year,

Stace