If You're not Syncing Chrome, You're Missing Out

If You're not Syncing Chrome, You're Missing Out

Syncing your Chrome Browser is crucial if you want to use many of the technology tools that the district has available to you. There is a wide range of useful tools that can make your teaching more efficient and effective.  Many of the tools purchased through the district are available through Google Chrome extensions.

Here is how you check to see if you are syncing your Chrome Browser and the steps to take if you are not.

• Click on your icon at the end of the Chrome address bar (smaller icon)

• If the Sync is ON you are all set but if it is OFF, click Turn on sync button

• When the pop-up window opens, select Yes, I'm in.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Once your sync is on, you will have several extensions that load.  Some may open new tabs when they load.  You can simply close those tabs.  This will only happen when you first initiate the sync process.   Clicking the puzzle piece icon (circled in yellow)will show you a list of all of the extensions you have loaded.  We recommend that you click the pin icon (circled in red) to keep the extensions you want to use regularly visible on your bar.

Some of the tools you might see enabled are:

1.  Adblock Plus - this extension does a really decent job at blocking ads and popups on websites and in videos, including YouTube.  It isn't perfect but it is pretty good.
2. Kami - This extension is a powerful PDF annotation tool that allows the user to annotate on, and comment via text, audio, video, or even screen capture on any pdf.  It works with Google Drive making sharing with students very easy.
3. Save to Drive - This extension allows you to save most webpages or sites you are on directly to your Google Drive for later reference or sharing.
4. Screencastify - Any veteran of the pandemic probably knows Screencastify is a great tool for creating videos and recording your desktop. It has lots of built-in features that can be very useful in your classroom, pandemic or not.