Use the AMAZING Print Friendly to print any web page… and much more!

Have you ever found that you are on a website and you want to quickly print the page or a portion of the page? When it prints it is lopsided because it was meant to be on landscape, it is 16 pages long which you didn’t realise  plus you have wasted ink with a whole lot if unnecessary pictures and words (not to mention unwanted ads!)?  That has happened to me so I was delighted to come across Print Friendly (http://www.printfriendly.com/) . 

After opening Print Friendly, the first thing I did was impulsively add the little button to the browser bar so that Print Friendly is easily accessible.  After that I watched the video on how to use it! I am embedding this video below because it is very useful. 

So how does Print friendly work?

1. Find the article you want to print and copy the URL.

Paste it into Print Friendly at the designated place

2. Look at your amazing options:

You can print, make a PDF, email, make th print bigger, remove pictures and more!

3. Let’s take a detailed look:

 a) Print: I tried this and it worked like a charm

b) Make a PDF: This is such a useful feature. I always do this using Google Docs but here is another way. When you click on this feature it gives you a button to download as a PDF. This could be WAY quicker than using Google Docs. 

c) Email: When you click on email it opens a window. I have emailed this article to mayself so let’s see if it arrives. WOW! it worked like a charm!

d) Increase text size: The highest seemed to be size 15 but that was okay.

e) Remove images: They all disappeared. Quite amazing. What I also discovered is that if you have say three images and you just want to include 1, you can click on the other two and they disappear.

4. This is the best - Add a Chrome extension

Being a lover of Chrome and all its extensions I used this last. It neatly added itself to my Chrome extensions on the browser bar. 

This is definitely the best option! You can do so much more. You can highlight and just click on text you don’t want to include and it disappears. (So that little bookmarklet I added to my browser when i first started will no longer be used by me – I will go for the Chrome extension! This image shows some of the benefits.

This is going to be a very useful tool. It will be especially important and useful for your students when they want to print something and just print bits of the page. Do try Print Friendly as soon as you can.

Use KeepVid to successfully download YouTube videos to use offline

You may run into times when you're offline and want to watch a YouTube video, or you want to share a YouTube video with your class without going online and waiting for the video to open (a problem in SA with bandwidth). In those cases, you need an actual copy of the video rather than a link to the YouTube site. You can download videos to your computer using a marvelous free online tool called KeepVid (http://keepvid.com). This post aims to give directions on how to do this if you are new to KeepVid

1. Find the video you would like to download on YouTube

For example I have chose a LEARNit-in-5 video called ‘How to use Lino’.

2. Highlight and copy the URL from YouTube

This video from LEARNit-in-5 has the following YouTube URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTLYxmrNATs&feature=channel&list=UL

3. Open http://keepvid.com/ in another window

4. Paste your copied URL from YouTube into the blue rectangle and click on Download

(Ignore any big blue and green download advertisement buttons! It is easy to click them in error) By the way you will need to have Java installed – but most computers today have Java installed in order to open a lot of web applications. It is available free online.

5. You will always get this security warning, so accept the risk and click "Run"

Your video will start the download process and suddenly the security warning appears. Accept it to continue.

 

6. Keepvid will give you many different options for the download.

I nearly always choose MP4 because it will play in PowerPoint if you insert it there, but .FLV is also an option. 

7. Click the download that you would like to make and save it

 

Save it wherever you would like to save it – probably in My Videos on your PC. If your computer just saves it without asking you, you will most likely find it in your Downloads file.

Your video will now be available to play whenever you need to. I have discovered in the past that this is the best way to go when you want to play something from YouTube for students in a class.

Further reading

1. How to Download Videos From YouTube Using KeepVid

 

Use Today’sMeet for useful backchannel discussions

Often when you are watching a presentation and you have computer access you want to make a comment on what the presenter is saying. Twitter is most often used for this. But often, if one wishes the responses to be more private a backchanneling programme like Today’s Meet is used.

What is Today’sMeet?

 

Today’s meet is a simple way to set up an instant live chat room. It allows participants to ‘backchannel’. This means they can get fully involved by adding their comments and thoughts for everyone to read as the presentation is being delivered. In a backchannel participants can ask questions, discuss what is being presented, share links and reflect on their learning. A backchannel is a great way to enable peer support and the beautiy of it is that you can look through it afterwards to see what to comment on or clarify.

How to create a backchannel using Today"sMeet

1. This isa web-based tool so can only be used online. Open it at http://todaysmeet.com

2. Create a ‘room’ (this is the lingo when creating a backchannel). The following graphic is taken from Nik Peachy’s blog

 

If you look at the image above you’ll notice that there is place to:

a) Name your room: This might be the name of the presentation, teacher, subject or whatever you choose. You’ll see that a green tick appears if the name is available. If not available, make another choice.

b) Choose when to delete your room and all the data. The time range can be anything up to one year.  

c) Set a password if you wish to.  

d) Click on “Create your Room”. You can now give out the URL to others. The URL will have a specific format starting with http://today’smeet.com/name.

How does a participant join a backchannel?

1. If you are joining a backchannel that has been creating simply type the URL into your browser.

2. You will be asked to type your name in the blue box and to click join. The following two graphics come from the Teaching Generation Now blog

3. Thereafter you will type your message in the blue box and click on ‘Say’. 

If you are using a data projector the backchannel will be displayed. At the bottom of the screen you will see the words ‘Transcript’. When you click on this you will be able to see the whole conversation.  

When would one use a backchannel in the classroom?

Students would need access to computers. The backchannel could be used:

• for Skype calls
• for listening to audio podcasts or watching educational videos
• for revision classes
• during debates
• when listening to guest speakers
• for oral presentations
• when learning new skills
• to teach students about online etiquette

Further reading

1. Backchanneling-Movie Watching-Note Taking- Information Scribes

2. lTry TodaysMeet for backchannel chat without distraction
3. TodaysMeet: Perfect Tool for On-the-Spot, Total Student Engagement
3. http://www.teachgennow.com.au/2011/04/35-todaysmeet/ 
4. http://quickshout.blogspot.com/2009/06/tap-into-backchannel-in-your.html