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I'm a Certified Google Educator!

Since the start of this year I've been periodically taking the required exams to become a Google Educator.  Last week, I finally achieved the goal by passing the 5th and final exam.  Actually, I passed a week earlier, but because I was over the 90 day limit (you must pass your last exam within 90 days of taking the first one), I had to retake the first two that I had taken in late January and early February.  A little annoying for sure, but I didn't let it stop me.  

In case you want to go for it, you should know that it's 15 bucks per exam and you have 90 minutes to finish the 60 question quiz once you start.  Honestly, I probably knew 60% of the answers off the top of my head, but the other 40 % I ended up doing a simple web search to find the answers.  I completed most of the exams in 60-70 minutes and passed them with 90% accuracy.  Head over to the Google for Education site at http://google.com/edu to learn more.

In addition to the Google Educator certification, I submitted my application to become a Google Education Trainer as well. I should find out in early June, so stay tuned!

ScreenCasting on a ChromeBook (Updated 5-18/14)

Update:  Over the last few months, the folks at Techsmith have been hard at work developing a screencasting tool for Chrome OS.  Just like their Jing product did for teachers using Windows and Mac machines, Snagit for Chrome promises to be a simple, yet fully featured image and video screencapture tool that integrates with Google Drive and works great on a Chromebook.  It is recently out of Beta, so check it out here!

As a prolific user and promoter of Google's Chrome operating system, I often sing its praises regarding speed, simplicity and security.  However, the one area where I have not been able to fully embrace Chrome has been the lack of a good screen recording option.  The only real viable option has been to do a Hangout with myself and enable the screenshare option.

In the last few days, weeks and months however, more options have become available in the Chrome Web Store. Most notably, just yesterday a new Chrome extension--Screencastify--was released.  Screencastify places a small icon in your extension toolbar that gives you the ability to record actions in a tab and audio from a microphone.  The quality is not great, and I did not see any option to enable a pointer tool or halo (like you get with Screencastomatic), but for creating short tutorial videos, Screencastify is a nice option.

Another web app that I have found in the last few days is Pixiclip.  If you have used Educreations or Showme on iOS, then you know exactly what Pixiclip can do.  Rather than recording your screen, it provides a white canvas on which you can draw shapes and record audio/video.  I would love to try this tool on the new Acer C720P touchscreen.

Finally, Movenote is a tool that was released in September.  It allows you to record yourself using the webcam and places the video next to a Powerpoint or Google Slides presentation. While not a screenrecording tool, per se, it does give an easy option for making presentations.  The nice thing about Movenote is that it is truly cross platform--available as a Chrome app and for iOS and Android as well. 

Which #Chromebook Should you Buy?

There's no getting around it--I love Google Chrome.  I have used Chrome for quite a few years now, starting with Chrome browser for Windows, progressing to a Samsung Chromebox, a Samsung Chromebook and now my favorite machine of all--the Acer c720.  

Yes, that's right, I traded in my Samsung Chromebook at Best Buy this week.  Granted, they only gave me $70.00 bucks for it (the person at the counter said it had more than 5 scratches on the chassis), but since the c720 checks in at a cool $199.00, I felt that it was definitely worth it.  I just couldn't take the lack of a high powered processor any more.  The ARM-based processor of the Samsung was not able to handle the way in which I like to use my Chromebook. I often have 10 or more tabs going, including streaming from Google Music or Pandora.  Even opening up Google Plus seemed to tax the poor machine.  Sure it looked great, but really, when it comes to my computing device, I need it to perform well rather than just look good.  

Indeed, I am  very pleased with the multitask capabilities of the c720.  Even though it has the same 2 GB of RAM as the Samsung, the new Intell Haswell chipset makes it much better at streaming video and supporting multiple open tabs (and let's face it, who uses Chrome without running lots of tabs simultaneously?) Furthermore, I actually like the look of the c720 just fine.  Its got a nice, understated gray finish.  More importantly, it seems solid.  I always felt like the Samsung was going to fall apart in my hands. This machine feels robust in the hand; no creaking or bending when it opens.  

If you are looking to add a second machine to your home computing set up, or if you are a teacher or tech director looking to buy devices for your school, I would definitely consider this inexpensive workhorse.  You won't be disappointed.