4 Chrome Extensions to Control Your Tabs

photo credit: jasonEscapist via photopin cc

With my limited attention span, I like Dory from Finding Nemo, and I quickly accumulate around 1,000 tabs in my Chrome browser at one time. While perusing the Internet or participating in a Twitter chat, sometimes the amount of resources I find can be overwhelming for both me and my computer. When the tabs start to blend together with little indicating marks or icons, it's time to start saving the tabs to read or review at a later time. In this post, I wanted to share my four favorite extensions that help me control the number of tabs I have open at a time.

Most of the time, I save items to me Pocket account using the Pocket extension or a Pinterest Board using my Pinterest Extension.  If it relates to a specific EdTech topic I collect on Pinterest, I will definitely just save the resource to Pinterest. Another option that I use is Evernote's Web Clipper extension. I really like saving content like PDFs using my this web clipper extension because I can save 1 GB/Month with my Premium account and I can annotate over these PDFs in Skitch if needed.  

These three extension are great for a read-it-later option.  Basically, the idea is to save your tabs to Pocket, Pinterest, or Evernote using these extensions. Then, read or review the site's content at a later time. 

However if you are like me and have too many tabs open and cannot decide which ones to close, then consider downloading One-Tab. It does a great job of consolidating all your tabs into one that can be accessed as needed or shared as a web page. In addition, it will reduce the amount of memory that Chrome is using. So, not only does One-Tab make it easy for human beings but this extension also makes it easier for our computers to function properly. 

Four Extensions to Control Your Tabs

1. Pocket Extension - Requires an account with Pocket but allows for saving content to read later, star as a favorite, and to remove ads for easier reading.  
2. Pinterest Extension - Of course, this extension works in tandem with a Pinterest account, but I thought this could help eliminate tabs by saving resources to a "Read it Later" pin board using the images on the website to pin. With this extension, images on the website will be marked with the Pinterest logo in the upper-right corner of the image when hovering your mouse over the image. By clicking this Pinterest icon, you are able to pin the image to any of your boards.  
3. Evernote's Web Clipper Extension - Requires an Evernote account, but allows for many options when "clipping" or saving images, PDFs, or websites to your Evernote account. 
4. One-Tab Extension - No account required. Just press the One-Tab extension to put all of your tabs into one. MY LATEST FAVORITE!

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What extensions do you use with Chrome to trap information or limit the number of tabs open in Chrome? What Chrome Extensions do you use?  

Gaming in the Classroom

Here is a GBL infographic from OnlineSchools.com. It's an older graphic however it points out a variety of positive aspects for the use of games in the classroom.

As educators, we should remain sceptical of gaming in the classroom. Sid Meier considers a game a series of meaningful choices and that is what teachers need to make meaningful instructional choices when attempting to incorporate games into the classroom. Many teachers have been using video games (or even just video game elements) to promote student engagement, classroom discussions, student reflection, and student creation. Over the next year, I believe the concepts and conversations around Game-Based Learning, Serious Games, and Gamification will become more serious trends for education.

The corporate world has really taken gamification seriously as an engagement and motivation tactic to keep customers coming back. But, its use in the classroom has been relegated to afterschool clubs and/or free time during the day. Why? Is it because gaming is the enemy that keeps students from doing classwork? Are many video games too violent to be considered educational? Are they dismissed as only fun? What do you think about Gaming in the Classroom?


Courtesy of: http://www.onlineschools.com

Free/Discounted iPad Apps Today

I just wanted to share a few apps that are free or discounted currently as I write this. These might not be free by the time you click the links.

Haiku Deck - Haiku Deck has always been free. But, there are in-app purchases that normally cost $1.99 each. Right now, certain ones are free, but get them quickly. The themes titled: Lucha, Orwell, Strangelove, and Underdog. I would check each theme to be certain that the others didn't go free. Regardless of getting these themes or not, Haiku Deck is a must have app for presenting with great visuals and forces slides to become succinct. This app is constantly improving and recently they released a presentation remote associated with the iPhone app. So, download this one and try to find the free themes.

Publisher Star (notes, flyers, scrapbooks pages,etc) - At first glance, this apps was fairly easy to understand. When opening the app for the first time, there are a few example projects to manipulate and publish with several choices.

4 Dice a Fractions Game - This looks like an interesting collaborative app, and I would like to see this game played with students. The one thing I didn't like is the Facebook connection within this app. Too often, iPad games that would be great for kids have a Facebook connection, and promoting a Facebook connection in class just isn't an option (or risk) that many teachers want take.

Storyteller Deluxe - It's not a pretty app. In fact, as I was playing with it, the top portion of the screen was partially blocked by the bar indicating my wireless signal. However, this apps seems to get the job done when creating a digital story. Students can add text, audio, images, and share their final products.

PICSMART for Sped. On Sale for 9.99 normally 99.99 - This would be a great app for parents or teachers that work with children that need help communicating their needs or feelings verbally.

To Tweet or Not to Tweet?

I came a across a Tweet the other day and found this chart of four levels of questioning by @michellek107. It demonstrates two things for me.

MT @MrsTelie: Love this questioning graphic by @michellek107 #INeLearn pic.twitter.com/v8XpG3URON” 

— Daniel Gibson (@hoosier_teacher) February 1, 2014

First of all, the chart is presented in a "fun" way to get kids to pay attention to the different levels. There are tangible concepts attached to each of the levels. For instance, students all know what robots, detectives, judges, and inventors are or can relate to these concrete examples after a quick explanation. Rather than assigning professional terminology to each level, these are all written in kid-friendly language.  So yea, this chart could be a all right resource the classroom, but more importantly it demonstrates the importance of teachers leveraging the power of Social Media.

Secondly, this find demonstrates why Twitter is awesome. If teachers become an active user, follow different EDU Hashtags, and/or participate in Tweetups, Twitter can provide invaluable resources to improve the teaching profession. It draws on a collective intelligence that is made up of a network of teachers across the world. We need to develop this community of sharers and ask more teachers join to strengthen our professional learning networks. So, start searching the Twittersphere for help, resources, or connections with like-minded professionals, and give it more than one day to learn how to navigate through this tool.

Social Media in the Classroom #Infographic

I didn't create it, but I wanted to share this infographic on social media's use and place within school systems.  Embrace these communication and connection tools.  What are your thoughts about Social Media being used at the classroom, school, and district levels?

Source: The Use of Social Media in School