Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Getting Started With Google Chromebooks
posted on July 12, 2015 A few years ago, I purchased an iPad, thinking that it would make a perfectly sized portable computer on which to write blog posts, short stories, and even my novel. At the time, I had an iPhone as a mobile communication device so I thought the setup would be perfect. Unfortunately, I discovered that blogging on my self-hosted WordPress site using the iPad had a less than optimal workflow. The biggest stumbling block in my case was adding photos to my blog posts. On my laptop, I download a photograph from one of these sources and editing it in Photoshop. Once the final image is saved as a JPG à in the Dropbox folder on my computer, I upload it to my server. If Iââ¬â¢m using a computer that doesnââ¬â¢t have Photoshop, then Iââ¬â¢ll graphical elements and text to the photoà with the online image editor Pixlr. None of these options worked with my iPad. But itââ¬â¢s been a relative breeze with the Chromebook, though there have been a couple of speed bumps. As you can see from the image above, I used an image editor to addà an arrow to graphic for this post. (Technically, I used the Awesome Screenshot Chrome extension to edit this particular image, but you can do the same in Pixlr) and then saved the image to a Blog Posts Asset directory I created in Google Drive. For now, Iââ¬â¢m moving images from Dropbox to Drive as I need to edit them on my Chromebook Hereââ¬â¢s the deal though: I normally save all my files in Dropbox on my laptop, which I can then edit on my Android phone. The speed bump I experiencedà is that after I mounted Dropbox to my Chromebook using the File System for Dropbox app (available in the Web Store), I canââ¬â¢t open the files in the folderà using the Chromebook apps. Iââ¬â¢m not sure whatââ¬â¢s going on there, but will write an update when I figure it out. Save images in Drive to edit on your Chromebook. My workaround for photographs that Iââ¬â¢ve taken with my Android phone (which automatically sync to a Dropbox folder) is to select the image I want to use and move it over to my directory in Drive via the phone. This seems doable and not terribly inconvenient for now. Pixlr Note: A glitch I noticed in Pixlr is that when I have the web application in full screen mode (to hide the advertisement), I canââ¬â¢t add text to the image or change the filename of the image. But if I take the application out of full screen mode, I can do these things. So far, setting up my Google calendar, Gmail (which I use to captureà and reply fromà all my domain emails), Drive and other Google-related goodness took all of about two minutes. I think Iââ¬â¢m in love! Michelle WatersI am a secondary English Language Arts teacher, a University of Oklahoma student working on my Masterââ¬â¢s of Education in Instructional Leadership and Academic Curriculum with an concentration in English Education, and a NBPTS candidate. I am constantly seeking ways to amplify my studentsââ¬â¢ voices and choices.
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