I was working with a student this week who needed to sign a document and send it back to me. She did not have a scanner and did not know what to do. The answer? Scan it with your phone!
Using your phone to scan documents can be helpful when you need to sign and email documents, but I also use it in the library to scan pages from books that I have quotes I want to use in my research, reference lists I want to follow up on from articles I like, non-research/at-home uses, etc.
There are many scanning apps for your phone. If you are not familiar with scanning apps, here is a short (2:41) video to show you what it's like! This demo shows the scanning app I use most often, Genius Scan, but it is similar with any scanning app!
Wait! How did Robin screencast on her phone? Check out how to do it on Apple and Android phones.
(full disclosure: I used a video editing program to add the boxes and highlights to the video after I screencasted it.)
How might you use your phone for a scanner-on-the-go?
Audio (and video) podcasts are a great addition to your PLN. In addition to providing another way to learn (auditory), audio podcasts are a multi-tasker's dream! You can listen to podcasts while cooking, cleaning, walking the dog, driving, exercising, etc! This week, you are going to find and listen to at least one podcast.
Find a podcast relevant to your PLN. You can check the iTunes library if you have an iphone, ask others for recommendations, or just search for "Podcast" and "something-you-are-interested-in-for-your-PLN", see what comes up, and then scroll until you see an episode you want to listen to! To listen on your mobile device, search for the podcast name on the podcast player you have on your mobile device. Here are a few podcast options to get you started:
AI for Humans podcast--I cannot find a good link for the audio podcast. Search for it in your podcast player. (Also on YouTube)
Listen to at least one podcast episode on the web or using a podcast player on your mobile device.
If you like a podcast, consider subscribing! (if you subscribe, new podcast episodes will come to your podcast player automatically, just as new blogs automatically come to your Feedly.)
What HRD or technology and learning podcasts do you recommend for us to add to our PLNs?
YouTube is an amazing resource of videos that we can incorporate in our own PLN and as we develop others. Here are some tools to make using YouTube even better!
Creating a "cued up" YouTube video link - through YouTube If you want to start showing a video at a particular time in the video, you can use YouTube to modify the URL for the video so it starts where you want it to start. Let's say you were watching the YouTube video of the Ze Frank web playroom TED talk and wanted to share it, but wanted to start at a particular spot in the video project which begins 14 minutes and 22 seconds into the video. Do the following:
1. Click on the Share icon to show the URL.
2. Click the checkbox and add the start time in minutes and seconds.
Now when you share the URL, it will start at 14 minutes, 22 seconds.
(I encourage you to take a look at this entire TED Talk. And oldie--2010!--but a goodie.)
Displaying a YouTube video without distractions
Let's say you want to show a video in class or in a training session or in a meeting. The problem with going to the YouTube website is the random videos in the sidebar. Not only are they distracting, but since you have no control over what is presented in the sidebar, they may be completely inappropriate for your setting! There are several easy ways to show the video without the sidebars on the screen:
Show the video full screen. This is a less than perfect options because you will spend some time on the YouTube screen before you make it full screen.
Embed the video in a Powerpoint presentation. The video will show "in" your Powerpoint without the sidebar videos or comments from the YouTube page.
What if you are not using Powerpoint?
You can use Watchkin.com. Watchkin is a website that allows you to paste your YouTube URL into the blank Watchkin webpage (except for the Watchkin branding) so you can watch on a distraction-free webpage. You can also fullscreen the video from the Watchkin page.
You can also use the DF Tube (Distraction Free for YouTube) extension for Chrome or Firefox.
If you find a YouTube video you want to use for development and it has ads during the video, a good tip is to add a "dash" to the YouTube link so your link appears as yout-ube.com/etc.etc. It will allow you to watch the video without externally added ad interruptions (this does not work if the "ad reads" are read by the host as part of the video).
What are your favorite YouTube tips to share with us?
(Here is a more in-depth video on all of the video recording options in PowerPoint, including how to create a screen recording from within PowerPoint that is "editable" and then easily include it in your PowerPoint slide.)
But the question is:
Once I have a video...what do I do with it?
Uploading a video to YouTube
Obviously, you can include your video in your Blogger blog. But often, you will want to upload it to YouTube. Everyone who has a Gmail account automatically has YouTube storage space. Your ISU email is a Gmail account, which means your ISU email has YouTube storage associated with it! Here is a brief video on uploading a video to YouTube.
Once your video is uploaded to YouTube you can copy and share the link just like you would with any YouTube video!
Trimming your YouTube video
When you record your video, there is often some "extra" video at the beginning of the video between when you start recording and when you actually start your presentation. There is also typically a bit of "extra" video that gets captured at the end of the video as you finish up, turn off the recorder, etc. It is not critical to remove the "extra" bits, but it makes your video look much cleaner and more professional. Here is a video that explains how to trim your video once it is uploaded to YouTube.
Although not a tool for use with learners, this is one of my favorite "productivity" tools--I use it almost every day. (it's the only way I can ever get close to "inbox zero.")
FollowUpThen is
a tool to help you manage your email inbox. It lets you resend an
email to your inbox at a later date (for example when you need to be
reminded of something, or when you are ready to take action on the
email). To accomplish this, you use SOMETIME@FollowUpThen.com as an email address in your
distribution.
Example
Let's say I sent an email to Susan and Enrique asking when they were available to meet. Ordinarily, I might be tempted to
CC or BCC myself on the email and leave it in my inbox to remind me
that Susan and Enrique should be getting back to me about this. This is not
a good reminder system because
it clutters my inbox
with
all the email in my inbox--and with this email potentially scrolling off
the bottom of the screen and not being visible--it may not be a good
reminder for me.
Instead of BCC-ing myself on the email, I can BCC SOMETIME@FollowUpThen.com. Let's say I wanted to be reminded on
Friday that Susan and Enrique should have gotten back to me. I would include
in the distribution of the email:
TO: Susan, Enrique
BCC: Friday@FollowUpThen.com.
The email will go to Susan, it will go to Enrique, and on Friday it will show up in my inbox.
How to Use it
When you go to the FollowUpThen website
you'll see you can sign up for an account. The free version allows for 50 follow-ups in a month.
With FollowUpThen you can also control who sees the follow-up. If you put the SOMETIME@FollowUpThen.com email address in the:
BCC: only you will see the follow up
CC: all of the original recipients of the email will see the follow up
Because FollowUpThen is just an email address vs a separate email tool, you can use it with any email program.
A Big Caution
The way FollowUpThen works is that it
stores your email, encrypted, on the FollowUpThen servers until it is
time to re-send the email. After the email is sent, it is deleted from
the FollowUpThen servers.
However, the fact that the email is stored on third-party servers may be against your company's data management/privacy policies.
Because of this, many of you will not be able to use FollowUpThen at work. Check
with your company to see if it is OK to use FollowUpThen before you use
it at work. Here is FollowUpThen's privacy policy.
(although it should still be handy with your non-work email).
One of my favorite features of Gmail--and one I use almost every day-- is the "snooze" feature. The Gmail snooze feature lets you resend an email to your inbox at a later date (for example when you need to be reminded of something, or when you are ready to take action on the email).
How to Use it
Select the email you want to snooze. You can open the email to select it, or you can select one or more emails by checking the box next to the email in the inbox.
Click the snooze icon from the list of icons on the top of the window.
Select a pre-set date and time or click on "Pick date & time" to select a custom date & time. The email will disappear from your inbox and reappear at the date and time selected!
You can always find your snoozed emails by clicking on the snoozed folder on the left sidebar of your Gmail.
When to Use it: Example #1
Let's say I sent an email to Susan and Bob asking them for information I need for a meeting next Tuesday. Ordinarily, I might be tempted to CC or BCC myself on the email and leave it in my inbox until Friday when I want to send a follow-up email if I have not heard from Susan and Bob about this. This is not a good reminder system because (1) it clutters my inbox, and (2) it might scroll off the bottom of the screen or get "lost" in my inbox and that is not a good reminder system! Instead of leaving it in my inbox, I can CC or BCC myself on the email and then snooze the email until Friday when it will pop back in my inbox and remind me I need to send an email if I have not heard from Susan or Bob.
When to Use it: Example #2
Let's say Luis sends me an email with an agenda for our meeting on April 15. I want to review the agenda before the meeting and bring it with me to the meeting on April 15, but do not need it cluttering my inbox for the next several weeks. I can snooze the email until April14 and then delete/file the email because I know that the email will be delivered again to my inbox on the 14th, giving me time to review the agenda before the meeting. (and keeping all the clutter out of my inbox!)
How can you use the Gmail snooze feature to improve your productivity?
Finding just the right color for text or images can be a challenge. Maybe you want to match a color you saw on the web, or maybe you are looking for the perfect color blue. Here are a few tools to help you find just the right color.
But first a little background...
Color "Names"
One of the challenges in finding the right color is figuring out what to call it! If you have ever been to a paint store, you know there is no such thing as white. There is off-white, arctic snow, cloud white, ecru, tan, and more! The computer solves this problem by giving each color a numerical name. There are two main color naming conventions: RGB and hexadecimal. Sometimes you will work with a program that wants the color in RGB and sometimes a program will want the color in hexadecimal.
RGB is a color model that gives a numeric value to the amount of Red, Green, and Blue in the color. This is useful as a naming convention and gives you the option to make small adjustments to the color by increasing or decreasing the red, green, or blue number. (it is like adding a little more "tint" to the paint color!)
Hexadecimal (or "hex") gives a numeric value to the color but instead of using a base 10 numbering system (decimal), it uses a base 16 numbering system (hexadecimal). A hex color name is six digits in length and begins with a #. For example, #FF0000 is the hex name for a particular red.
(Decimal uses the characters 0-9 which is 10 characters. Deci means 10 which is why our numbering system is called the decimal system. Because hexadecimal uses sixteen characters, it uses 0-9 and A-F.)
OK, but how do I findthe color I want to use?
If you want to locate a color "by eye" you can use a web-based tool
this tool by w3schools.com is similar to the standard and custom color picker used by Word and PowerPoint. You pick your color and then use the lighter/darker scale to find the exact color you want to use. The selected color is displayed in the middle of the screen with the hex, RGB, and hsl colors. (hsl stands for hue, saturation, and lightness and is the third naming convention for colors, but you likely will not see it very often.)
you can mix your own RGB colors by altering the amount of each color in this tool by w3schools.com. Adjust the amount of Red, Green, and Blue by typing a number or clicking on the Red, Green, and Blue color lines. Your newly mixed color will be displayed in a color block above the Red, Green, and Blue color lines, and the RGB, Hex, and HSL color codes for your new color will be displayed to the right of the color block.
If you want to match a color on the web
In a previous blog post, I told you how you can use the eyedropper tool in PowerPoint (or Word) to sample a color from within PowerPoint. But what if you want to sample a color outside of PowerPoint and from a webpage?
There are several tools to sample a color on the web, and the one I use is called Colorzilla. Colorzilla is an extension you can add to your Chrome or Firefox toolbar. You can then use the eyedropper/color picker to find the exact color of anything in your browser, and use the color numbers to color your text, lines, or fills!
Here is a demonstration of how to install and use Colorzilla.
