Directions

This activity is designed for the Tech Leader who is familiar with the Chromebook and its features. Experienced users will engage in this activity as a group to take each other’s knowledge to the next level.

As you engage in this exploration, consider it from the Leader point of view. How can you use this tool at your school? How will you use it for the novice learner? What will you do for a more experienced learner?

Take the next 25 - 30 minutes to complete the following tasks. If you run into any problems, please put your name on the "help" board.

Task 1 - Signing In to a Chromebook

1. Click Add user on the lower-left corner of the screen.

1. Enter your district Google account email address and password.

2. Choose a picture. You can update your picture after you've signed in.

• The sign in screen can show up to 18 users.

• After you sign in to the Chromebook, you’ll be automatically signed in to other Google services you use.

Journal Reflections

1. What potential problems do you foresee a novice user could have?

2. What proactive steps can you take at your school to minimize the challenges your colleagues may face with signing in with their accounts?   What ideas do you have to make this process as simple as possible with your students?

Task 2 - Setting Up Bookmarks or Tabs

1. Click on the Google Chrome Browser icon.

1. Don't waste brainpower memorizing URLs. Click the icon in the omnibox (website bar at the top of the screen) to place a link for the page into the saved bookmarks. Click the bookmark to revisit the page anytime.

2. Set up bookmarks for the following websites for YOUR use:

• Workshop website - http://leecounty.idecorp.com/

• Lee County website - http://www.leeschools.net

• IDEportal - http://www.ideportal.com

If you would like to add bookmarks to pages that you frequently visit, this can be an opportunity to do that as well.

Journal Reflections

1. Do you foresee any potential problems with this task?

2. What school/district related bookmarks could you recommend to your staff and students?  

Task 3 - Understanding the Shelf and accessing your Google Drive

1. Here is a brief Video that explains the Shelf/Launcher (note: some of the icons have changed since this video was made)

2. To see all of your apps, click the launcher icon.  

3. Click an app in the list to open it. You can also hold Shift while clicking to open it in a new window. To add more apps to this list, visit the Chrome Web Store.

4. After clicking the launcher icon , from your shelf click the Google Drive icon

    5.  Click the New button .

    6.  Select Folder, name the folder “Chromebook Training” and click Create.

We will be adding documents to this folder throughout the training. What strategy that you already kno w could you use to create quick access to this folder?

Journal Reflections

1. What potential problems may your colleagues have with this task? How will you introduce folders to novice users? Intermediate users? Advanced users?

2. How does Google Drive appear to be different from other digital file management systems (ex, Windows or MacOS) you may have used? What metaphor or image could you use to “show” your colleagues how the Drive file system works?

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Task 4 - Understanding the Touchpad

Learning to use the touchpad often has the greatest learning curve for new users. When working on a Chromebook, you can use the touchpad to move the pointer and select items on the screen. (Your touchpad may or may not make a clicking noise.)  Here are some gestures and actions supported by the touchpad. As you try these, consider how you can teach them to others.

Simply move your finger across the touchpad.

Note: A standard mouse can also be easily connected to any Chromebook.

Journal Reflections

1. What problems with this step do you foresee that your colleagues may have?  What strategies could you use in your training to help them learn these touchpad actions?

Task 5 - Shortcut keys

The top row of your keyboard may look different from a laptop or computer that you are used to. Take 5 minutes to familiarize yourself with the different keys.

Tip: To turn Caps lock on temporarily, press Alt + the search key.

Journal Reflections

1. Which of these shortcut keys will be most useful to your colleagues? To your students? Which might you introduce in initial trainings and which could you introduce as your colleagues become more familiar with the Chromebook?

2. Why is the caps lock key missing? What other key is missing? You may wish to review this information so you are able to assist your colleagues.

Task 6 - Understanding Status Area and Settings

If your shelf is at the bottom of your screen, the Status area is in the bottom right hand corner. This will allow you to sign out, connect to Wifi, see battery life, control volume, and change settings.

Lock your device or sign out

Need to step away from your Chromebook for a few minutes? Use the Sign out option or click on the lock icon to make sure no one accesses your account.

Open your Settings page

Select Settings to see everything you can adjust on the device. There, you’ll find settings for your mouse and touchpad, web browsing, and device permissions, among others.

Find additional help

Click the question mark icon to open the Get Help app. You’ll find a searchable database of helpful tutorials and troubleshooting information for your Chromebook, as well as support contact information.

1. Click on the Status section.

2. Click on the ?.

3. Click on Personalization (left hand side).

4. Take 5 minutes to scroll through the different features that you and your students can use to customize your Chromebook.

Journal Reflections

1. Which aspects of the status area and settings will be most helpful to your colleagues and your students? How might you prioritize how you introduce these in your trainings?

Final Reflection: