Editing menu folders in Edline

How do you edit menus from within Edline?

Menus in Edline are nothing but folders.  Anything you add to a specific folder ends up showing on the menu.

1.  Log into Edline.

2.  Navigate to your class.  You cannot edit any page that does not give you permissions to edit.  Your class page is one that you should be able to edit.

3.  If you have the right permissions you should now see the "Edit this Page" button.  Click it.  If you don't see this button then you need to contact your network/Edline superuser to see if they will give you the rights.

4.  Now hover your mouse cursor over the menu that you would like to edit.  There are two options.  My preference is to use the "Edit" pencil icon.  Click it.

5.  From this scree you can add documents and other folders using the "Add" button.  Click the "Edit" buttons to edit specific parts of your folder/menu.  

6.  If you want to move, delete, change the visibility to others or change the order of your items, make a check mark next to the item you want to manipulate and then click the appropriate button.

7.  In this tutorial we are going to change the visibility of an item.  Click the "Change Visibility" button.  From this screen you can decide who you actually want to see your menu items.  In other words if you have a document that you only want teachers to see, you can deselect all the items and leave a check mark next to the "Teachers" option.  If you have a document that you only want yourself and a specific user to see, you can play with the "Private" options.

8.  If you want to make this item completely invisible, or show and disappear at certain times, just select the appropriate option.  Once you are done, click the "Update" button.

9.  You should now be back to the list view.  Click the "Done" button.

10.  You should now be back at your home page.  Click the "Done" button and this should take you out of the "Edit" mode.

How do you import Internet Explorer favorites/bookmarks to Google Chrome?

Importing Favorites/Bookmarks from Internet Explorer to Google Chrome

1.  Click on the "Wrench" icon in the top right corner of Chrome.

2.  Hover your cursor over the "Bookmarks" option and then select the "Import Bookmarks and settings..."

3.  Now you will get a popup window that asks from where and what you want imported from Internet Explorer.

4.  Make sure the the "Microsoft Internet Explorer" option is selected if you have more than one browser.  Of course you can import your bookmarks and favorites from any browser if you go through these steps.  Once you are done click the "Import" button.  

5.  You should now see a folder called "Other Bookmarks" on your bookmark bar.  If your "Bookmark Bar" is not showing follow these steps to get it set up.

How do you install Google Chrome Extensions

Awesome Extensions

1. What are extensions?
1. Extensions are small little add-ons that add features to your browser.  Little programs that add functionality to give the browser a little more flexibility and power.
2. Caution about extensions.
1. There are hundreds of extension that are quite cool.  The problem is that if you load a bunch on you start to slow your browser down.
2. Also there are many that are fun but become addictive time wasters.
3. Seven Google apps extensions worth having.
1. Save attachments that you get in Gmail, directly to your Gdocs so that you don’t have to download them.
2. If you find a page that you like on the web, you can send it to your Gdocs as a PDF.
3. If you find a page that you like, send the link to a friend by clicking a button.
4. How to add Gapps extensions.
1. Open up Google Chrome.
2. Click on the wrench icon in the top right corner of Google Chrome.
3. Click on the “Extensions” option on the left hand side of the screen.
4. Click the “Get more extensions” link at the bottom.
5. Type in the search terms of the extensions you want.
6. Click the “Add to Chrome” button.
7. A dialogue box will pop up
2. Click the “Install” button.
5. That is all there is to it.  Here is a list of search terms and extensions I like to use.
1. Gmail Attachments To Docs
1. Save those pesky Gmail attachments directly to Google Docs from the attachment list itself with a newly added Save To Docs link.
2. Send from Gmail (by Google)
1. Makes Gmail your default email application and provides a button to compose a Gmail message to quickly share a link via email
3. Send to Google Docs
1. Allows you to upload a pdf version of the current page to your Google Docs using the pdfcrowd service.
4. IE Multi-Tabs
1. If you come across a website that doesn’t work properly while using Chrome then try using this extension.
5. Print Friendly
1. Allows you to eliminate ads and other unwanted areas before you print from a web page.
6. Checker Plus for Gmail
1. Gmail notifications.  Be notified when you receive an email.  Compose, read, and reply to email from the notification.  Popsup a small window and hear sound when you get new mail.
7. Youtube Options
1. Cuts out all of the ads and comments when viewing Youtube videos.

How do you use the bookmark bar and add bookmarks to it?

Add the bookmark bar and add bookmarks to it.

1. Open up Google Chrome.
2. Click on the wrench icon in the top right corner of Google Chrome.
3. Hover your mouse over the “Bookmarks” option and then select the “Show bookmarks bar” option.
4. A gray section should now appear below your address bar.  
2. Click the “Import bookmarks now” link if you want to bring your “Favorites” from Internet Explorer over to your Google Chrome.
5. If you want to add some of the sites that you go to the most, right click on the gray bar and then select the “Add page…” option.
2. Give your bookmark a name and then type in the web address to the site, or you can always copy and past the address.  Once you are done, click the “Done” button.
3. You should now see the Name of the bookmark in the gray bar.
2. Click on it to make sure it works.  It should take you directly to your Gmail.

How do you create your home pages in Google Chrome?

Creating a default home page.

1. Open up Google Chrome.
2. Click on the wrench icon in the top right corner of Google Chrome.
3. Click on the “Options” option.
4. In the “Home Page” section select the “Open this page” radio button and then type in the web address that you want to use as your home page.

Have more than one home page. (Open up your most used pages all at once.)

1. Open up Google Chrome.
2. Click on the wrench icon in the top right corner of Google Chrome.
3. Click on the “Options” option.
4. In the “On Startup” section select the “Open the following pages:” radio button and then add the pages that you want to open up all at once when you first start Google Chrome.

How do you install Google Chrome?

Installing Google Chrome

1. Go to the link:  www.google.com/chrome
2. Click the “Download Google Chrome” button
3. Click the “Accept and install” button.
4. The install with then start.
5. Somewhere during the process it will ask you if you want to make it your default browser.  You can say yes or no, it is up to you.  I chose yes.
6. When it is done installing you should now have a new icon on your desktop that looks like this.

Lenovo X120e Laptop keyboard

Our district recently bought a bunch of the Lenovo X120e laptops.  I think it has been one of the finest technological moves our district has made.  We now have about 700 of them at the High School/Jr. High level.  The students are using them frequently and as a district we are getting away from all the "handouts" that we have been accustomed to giving for the last 100 years or so.

As part of the change we also put Edubuntu on the machines instead of Windows.  At first I was very hesitant of this idea, but now I am a huge fan of the Linux based software.  It is faster and if you plan on using it for mostly cloud computing then Ubuntu is the best.  It is fast and from the stand point of a technology person, it is wonderful that if a computers operating system goes bad you can just use Clonezilla to reimage the machine.

One of the training issues I have come across is that not all teacher know of the ability to use the keyboard as a means of muting, rasing and lowering the volume, and changing the brightness of the display.  This tutorial will show you how this is done.

Tutorial

1.  Every laptop keyboard these days has what is called the "Function key" or the "Fn key."  Many settings depend on this key.  To mute your laptops sound hold the "Fn" key down and then push the "Esc" key.  To raise and lower the volume, push the "Fn" key and the "F1" key or the "F2" key.  To dim the display hit the "Fn" key and the "Delete" key.  To brighten the display hit the "Fn" key and the "Home" key.

That's all there is to it.  Let me know if you have any question or need another tutorial on something else involving the Lenovo X120e laptop.

Why use Google Chrome and how do you install it?

Reasons to use Google Chrome:

1. It works great with the Google Apps.
2. It is faster than Internet Explorer.
3. So far I haven’t had any website ask me to install a toolbar to Chrome, so you shouldn't end up with a thousand unwanted toolbars.
4. You can many "add ons" that help with using google apps and other websites

Problems with Google Chrome:

1. There are some website that just don’t operate the same.
1. Example:  Playing sound in the School Reach Program.
2. However if you install the IE Multi Tabs extension this should solve that problem.
• IE Multi Tabs extension

Installing Google Chrome

1. Go to the link:  www.google.com/chrome
2. Click the “Download Google Chrome” button
3. Click the “Accept and install” button.
4. The install with then start.
5. Somewhere during the process it will ask you if you want to make it your default browser.  You can say yes or no, it is up to you.  I chose yes.
6. When it is done installing you should now have a new icon on your desktop that looks like this.
1. Note that if you don't see the "Beach Ball" icon then you are not using Chrome and that you are still using Internet Explorer or some other browser.

Gmail: Adding contacts to a group in Gmail

Below are instructions on how to add contacts to groups in Google Apps.

1.  Make sure you are logged in to your Google Apps account.

2.  Click on the "Contacts" option at the top of your screen.

3. Search for the name that you want to add.  Hit the search button.  If the name you are looking for is already one of your contacts you should see the names with "Brian" start to appear.  If you haven't entered them in yet you will need to hit the search button.  (Magnifying Glass icon)

4.  You should now see a list of all the names that meet the search criteria.  In this case here are all the "Brians" in our domain.

5.  Click on the name that you want to add to your group.

6.  Click on the "Groups" button, in this example I am placing "Brian Weir" into the "All District" group, so I click the "All District" option.

7.  Brian Weir should now show up in the "All District" group.  You can view all the groups your contact is in just under the name.