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Chrome Web Store Extensions for Teachers

August 4, 2011 2:00 pm Zack Gilbert 1 comment

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Zack Gilbert Zack Gilbert

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Some of you might have noticed that EdReach is focused on sharing tools this week.  My first choice was sharing all the resources I use from the BBC.  They have great activities for my social studies and language arts class, but it is a very specific tool that might not be pertinent to most.  I finally decided to share some of the tools I use within the Chrome web browser. Google is the creator of Chrome and they make it very easy to integrate tools within their browser. 

Extensions

LastPass-
This is my favorite password collector.  I have one master password and it allows to me to store and create secure passwords.  You don’t believe it is secure? Just ask Steve Gibson (GRC) who is considered one of the top security gurus in the world.  This program is best within the browser.  I have used it on an Android phone and and iPad and it doesn’t run smoothly.

Chrome Web Store link for LastPass

Google Mail Checker-
This is a simple extension that indicates if you have any unread messages.  Sometime it is not quick in updating its status, but overall it does its job.  When you click on the icon it takes you to your inbox.

Chrome Web Store link for Google Mail Checker

Delicious-
I stopped using this social bookmarking tool and have recently returned.  There are no other bookmarking sites, in my opinion, that do what I want them to do.  Delicious is not perfect, it is just the best tool for my job.  How do I use delicious?  I use Delicious to help teachers I train and it helps my students find the information they need.  (I also have a lot of game links too!)  This extension allows you to bookmark any current page, add a title, add notes,  and add tags.  Bookmarking has become a process and I have learned to streamline this process.  I have created a “New” folder on my bookmarks bar and every few days I will add those bookmarks into Delicious.  After they are added, I then place them into a folder which syncs to all my browsers by using the tool below.

Chrome Web Store link for Delicious

My Delicious Links

Xmarks-
I am torn by this selection.  I used the original Foxmarks, which then turned into Xmarks. (That might have been the time when adding ”X” to words was cool)  The purpose of this program is to be able to sync your favorites with other browsers you use.  You can even sync across different browsers.  This can be very handy in a work situation where you might have limitations on what programs can be installed.  This allowed me to have the bookmarks I have at home sync with those at work.  (Be careful on what you bookmark)
Eventually I was having trouble syncing my bookmarks with Xmarks.  I don’t know what the problem was, but it got very annoying.  It was at this time when I started using Chrome almost exclusively and realized that I could sync my browser information using my Google account.  This was great and it did a wonderful and quick job of updating my favorites until this past spring.  I noticed that my bookmarks had not synced for 15 days.  I researched the problem and it could not be solved.  So now I am back to Xmarks and it seems to working well.  If anyone has any new information about this type of sync, please let me know.

Chrome Web Store link for Xmarks

Screen Capture (by Google)-
This is my newest and favorite extension.  I found this while trying to find pictures for a Prezi, another great tool.  This screen capture tool allows me to capture a page, visible content, whole page, and a region.  I can save the image as a PNG or JPEG.  You can edit the image by highlighting, adding text, and lines.  This extension has become very popular and it is easy to see why.

Chrome Web Store link for Screen Capture

 

Apps

I was going to include all the apps I use within Chrome but time, space, and making this a quick read will not allow it.  The list below is just a quick reference of the apps I do use.  All of them except TweetDeck are simple links. Please let me know if you have any questions about their functionality.

Chrome Web Store Links

Remember the Milk- A great to-do list.

Tweet Deck- A great way to see all your tweets and Facebook stream.

Google Calendar- A simple link to your Google Calendar.

Google Docs- A simple link to your Google Docs.

 

Image- Created using Screen Capture (by Google) from within Google Chrome

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