Top 10 Techie Teacher Tips Year in Review

This tip was shared on my Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts earlier this year after I watched my husband manually delete his tabs on his iPad’s Safari browser, one X at a time. Quickly close your Safari browser tabs on your iOS devices with this tip (great to teach students!). Press and hold the stacked square icon and tap the red text to Close _#_ Tabs. I couldn’t believe the response I received from followers. Many people had no idea this was an option!

This tip was one I learned about THIS year. Where I have been hiding? Stylus pens work on laptop/Chromebook trackpads! Read all about it HERE.

A frequent question I get from teachers is how to make an audio QR code, especially on an iPad. I shared my Back to School QR Kids Project that first appeared on my 5 Easy Back to School Technology Projects post in a Facebook Live back in August. I walked through the steps on how to create an audio QR code using computers and iPads. In that Live I demonstrated the Cloud QR Generator app that really excited many educators.

I don’t know about you but I have a ton of websites that I go to daily and want to get there within one click. Bookmaking websites on my Chrome browser is a must and I delete the titles of the website leaving the favicon in the bookmark bar so I can make the most of the space available. However, earlier this year I discovered that you could change the icon (favicon) to any image you would like! Here is an example of my bookmarks bar:

Learn all about it in this Facebook Live:

There are many amazing Chrome extensions and I have blogged about a few of them HERE, HERE, and HERE. But perhaps the one I use the most is the simple Sticky Notes extension. There are lots of different sticky note extensions but this is the one that works best for me. I keep all information that I easily need to grab often on this note. It also allows me to jot down notes when I am on web pages without having to leave the website. Everything stays on the sticky note until you delete your text. If you shutdown your computer and come back to your Chrome browser, your information will still be there. It is easy, quick, simple and efficient. If you are looking for something with more options, then you might like the Google Keep Chrome extension.

This tip is wonderful for your PLN! Do you have someone you follow on Facebook that constantly publishes content you love and you never want to miss their posts? Visit their Facebook page, click Following and turn on Notifications. I select See First so I am sure not to miss their post! Pages you follow do not get very good organic reach on their posts. Many have to pay to get their posts seen. You can select up to 30 people and pages to see first. Take control of your Facebook feed!

On mobile:

I can’t tell you how many weddings and special events I have been to in the past year in which people had no clue about the iPhone Camera Timer. Either they didn’t know it existed or they just didn’t know how to use it. This comes in handy on iPads too when students are working on collaborative projects that need a picture of everyone in their group! Simply launch the camera>tap the clock timer icon and choose your number of seconds. Tap the white button to take a picture and the camera will start counting down. I’m sure most of you already know about this tip so be sure to share with others! I’m telling ya..there are people out there who still have no idea…

Well, that’s a wrap! I’m excited to see what 2018 has in store for all of us. What is your favorite techie tip from this past year? Let me know in the comments below.