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Friday, November 13, 2015

Is your Chromebook touchy? I hope so!


Remember to model the simple things!
A neighboring school district recently shared their scope and sequence for technology skills across grade levels.  What really caught my eye was the tagline on the pages for each Essential Understanding: "All teachers will model all skills at all times." You might be wondering what this has to do with touchy Chromebooks.

We recently heard concerns from teachers about the difficulty some students were experiencing when using the touchpad on their Chromebooks. Then came the question "Can't they just use a mouse?"

My immediate thought was: does the issue lie with a user's lack of instruction or with the device?

Solid modeling plays a very important role in removing barriers to using technology in the classroom. When young learners need to be shown how to properly hold a pencil we introduce them to the  tripod grasp or the pinch and flip trick. So why wouldn't we teach them the two-finger swipe or two-finger scroll on their Chromebook touchpad?

Google provides a support page for everything you would want to know about how to be efficiently touchy with your Chromebook's touchpad: https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/1047367?hl=en. In addition to learning a few gestures, you can also slow down  or speed up the responsiveness of your touchpad.

So remember: be a good model in your classroom and model all skills at all times!

Chromebook Touch Pad



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