Chanatown

The challenge : Finding an easy way for students to use the Chromebooks to annotate PDF files. The solution: Crocodoc Recently, I attended a conference presentation on Subtext, which looked awesome on the iPad, but sadly, the web version is still in its infancy.  I just gave it another go, and couldn't find an easy way to upload and start inking on a PDF.  I had demo'ed PDFescape during a recent presentation on Chromebooks and Accessibility, and the web application gets the job done, but it does so with an abundance of ads, as well as some clunky behaviors. So, in preparation for a meeting with a teacher who is interested in having her students annotate on the Chromebooks, I stumbled upon Crocodoc and I must say that I am impressed. Right from the initial first use, the interface for Crocodoc is very clean, minimalist, and easy on the eyes. The feature set is extensive for a web app. You can write comments on the margins, add pointers, box or highlight text. Free h...

Hard to believe that it's been a few months since the last post. During a recent offline plane ride, I took the opportunity to jot down a quick catch-up on my edtech life. Year of the Chromebook What started as an initial idea and prototype piece of hardware has now developed into one of the fastest growing contributors to the edtech world. Just as quickly as the iPad was annointed as a potential game-changer, the Chromebook has swooped in with its no frills, browser-based, low maintenance and easily managed iterations (the most popular being the budget friendly Samsung Series 3). It is hard to argue with the Chromebook as it manages to accomplish much of what is requested both from the IT department and classroom teachers. The devices are easy to deploy and manage, and they reduce the time needed to get students up and running. Could this be the machine that pushes more schools into the 1:1 playground and gets computers into the hands of all of our students? For our sc...