Checkology is a great resource for educators or any individual interested in developing the skills of news literacy. It is a free and complete instructional resource – lms for creating classes and making assignments, instructional content, skill evaluation tasks, and open-ended resources for further exploration.
Educators can designate a class, select content, and invite students into the learning environment.
Google has released an app for taking handwritten notes named Cursive. Cursive can be obtained from https://cursive.apps.chrome rather than the Play Store. The app works by progressive download so it works a little differently than other apps.
I have explored Cursive and will offer some basic comments below. I would not personally use Cursive, but I would not rely on handwritten notes on paper or any digital device because of the quality of my handwriting and because I can simply take notes more effectively from a keyboard. Cursive is not unique in allowing handwritten notes, but it is free and intended for Chromebook users.
Some observations. I have a Chromebook Pixel, but cannot see using this device because while it has a touch screen it is designed in the form facter of a typical laptop and extended writing on the screen does not make ergonomic sense. I explored Cursive with my Acer Tab 10 tablet which is a native Chrome device. It is several years old and probably underpowered by today’s standards. My assumption is that Cursive was designed for a Chromebook convertible or flip device.
The following is the Cursive interface with the tool options across the top of the screen and other options (e.g., copy to clipboard, export as pdf) available from a dropdown menu. The tools include a pen or brush, an eraser, a way to extend the keyboard, and to import images.
Here is what my effort to hand write notes generated.
I tried to generate notes at a rate I think might be necessary to record notes in a class. My handwriting is this bad. I also was using a short stylus (I call it golf pencil length) – my Apple pencil does not work with other touchscreens. Even with an older tablet, I found the lag (time between a movement and consequence appearing on the screen) to exist, but not present a serious problem. The issue that did frustrate me was the requirement that I not touch any part of the screen (e.g. my palm) while trying to write or draw. This creates a strained writing posture that has to limit the quality of what is put down and would become tiring when taking notes during a long presentation. Apple has found a way around this issue, but I cannot speak to whether solutions have been found on other chrome devices.
My recommendation – if you have a Chrome device that you would like to use to take cursive notes, I would suggest you give Cursive a try. It is easy enough to add to your device and learn to use and it costs you nothing to give it a try.
P.S. Here is a review from someone with better handwriting.
I had always assumed I had to add something to allow me to make screen recordings on my Chromebook. However, recent improvements in the OS offer a built-in video recording capability.
You activate screen recording from the popup that reveals such information as your clock, wifi strength, and internet strength at the bottom right of your screen (shift+CTRL+show windows icon for those who prefer to rely on keyboard shortcuts). The screen capture icons is then used to access the features to control screen capture and screen recording (make certain your OS is up to date).
I could not figure out how to take a screen capture of the active screen capture controls so I had to use my digital camera. Controls will appear at the bottom of the window allowing recording to be activated and to set the size of the window to be recorded. A record button will appear to start the recording. A red button appearing at the bottom of the screen is used to stop the recording.
I generate most of the recordings I create on a Mac and have typically relied on Apple’s Quicktime to do so. I know that many educators have used Screencastify to record video from their Chromebooks. Screencastify has one great feature not available in the Chrome builtin or Apple’s Quicktime, it allows an insert recorded from the computer’s camera to appear on top of the screen being recorded. This “see my teacher view” seems more appealing to me. There is a free version of ScreenCastify limited to five-minute videos. The unlimited version (for educators) is $29 (for a limited time).
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