How to Use Chromebook Locked Mode

There is a simple feature known as Chromebook Locked Mode which comes in handy while students take quizzes and tests. The Chromebook Locked Mode is useful when tests are taken in Google Forms using Chromebook. You need to be accepted to the beta program and then turn it on.

How does the Chromebook Locked Mode work? 

If Google Chromebooks are used in a classroom, then there is a feature that helps students remain focused. If they do not stay focused, then you will be alerted. This feature is the Chromebook Locked Mode.

The Chromebook Locked Mode is a feature for managed Chromebooks. It helps the students to remain focused when they take quizzes and tests. When the students take the quiz in a locked mode, they will not be allowed to browse other websites. They will not be able to open any other app.

In the Chromebook Locked Mode, some extensions and keyboard shortcuts too will not be available.In the eventuality of a student opening any other tab or exiting the quiz, the teacher will immediately get an email. With this Chromebook Locked Mode feature there is no messing around.

All in all, with the Chromebook Locked Mode feature in place, the student can only open the assessment. There will be no scope for multitasking, no texting, no music, no Googling and above all no cheating.

What are the requirements for Chromebook Locked Mode feature? 

You will need a G Suite for Education Account.

Next you have to sign up for the beta program.

There should be a Chromebook managed by the school for each student.

You need to have ChromeOS 68 or later version.

Once you have been accepted to the current beta program, you can enable the Chromebook Locked Mode.

Steps to follow for turning on the Chromebook Locked Mode in Google forms

In the first step, open a quiz in Google Forms.

At the top, click Settings and then click Quizzes.

Turn on the locked mode.

When the locked mode is turned on, your quiz will automatically do the following:

It will collect the email addresses.

It will allow the students to submit only once.

It will limit your domain only.

A view of the Beta Programs

In the Google Classroom Gradebook, the instructors will get a dedicated grading area. They will be able to view the complete work by a student and their classwork progress. The instructors can then give grades. They can also view and customize average grades and share the overall performance with the concerned student.

In the Chromebook Locked Mode, quizzes can be conducted in Google forms. On managed Chromebooks, the instructors can lock the student’s screens. They can stop the students from navigating away from the quiz until they have submitted their answers. The Chromebook Locked Mode can be enabled by the instructors by a simple checkbox. The instructors will have full control of the assessments.

To use these features, Google needs to collect data. They also need information which needs to be collected from the user’s G Suite usage. Google Classroom and Google Forms will be provided under the organization’s G Suite agreement.

Chromebook Tablets for Versatile Learning

Google has introduced Chromebook tablets which can be used even by students in the third grade itself. The Chromebook tablets are for the low cost Chrome OS devices.

The Acer Chromebook Tab 10 is the first Chromebook tablet that has been revealed by Google. The Acer Chrome book Tab 10, will be the first tablet to run on Chrome OS.

Features 

The Acer Chromebook Tab 10 has a 9.7 inch, 2048 x 1536 display with front and rear facing cameras. It comes with an OP1 processor, 4GB RAM, 32 GB storage and a USB-C port. It has a microSD card slot and a headphone jack. The Chromebook tablet has about 9 hour battery life. The Chrome book tablets come with an in-built stylus that does not require a battery or any additional charging and touchscreen. The Chrome book tablets will be priced at $329.

The students of third grade, at a school in California were the first to test the device. The Chromebook tablets are a great device for them because of the technology and touchscreen.

The Chrome book tablet is first targeting the schools and later will be available for the consumers as well.

In classrooms, the teacher will give each student a device and the session begins. The student then logs in with their name and password, complete their work or even play on the Tab and when they are done, can log out. All the user information on the Chrome book tablet has been encrypted. Each time the device is booted, the verified boot checks the security of the device.

The Chromebook tablet comes with an in-built stylus which does not require charging or pairing to function.

The Chrome book tablets are light in weight with touch and stylus features. It is the ideal device for students to create multimedia projects and the user gets an engaging and absorbing experience. The Acer Chrome book Tab 10 supports many of the learning apps that can be obtained from a wide range of apps from the Play Store.

The first Chrome book tablet which is the Acer Chrome book Tab 10 is slated to be made available by the end of this year.

Advantages of Chromebook tablets 

The Chromebook tablets come with support, management and an in-built access to educational content. Google provides continuous support, updates and ensures security. Hence it becomes convenient and hassle free for the teachers and students using the Chromebook tablets.

The price of these devices is lower than laptops and hence they are more affordable even for personal use.

The Chromebook tablets can be set up within minutes. A Chromebook management license enables you to access the web-based management console. From there you can configure and manage 10 or 10,000 devices across the institution, local education authority or even across the entire region.

The students can share a single device and can even get a personal learning experience by just logging in. Each student can access his or her own work, apps, books and videos.

Importance of the Google Chromebooks for Work in the Business Field

Google decides to launch a new feature that is recognized as the Chromebooks for work. It would include the advanced options that would help the users with the better performance. The features provide the increased security system that would enable the businesspersons to manage the system without facing any intricacies.

You can obtain the single sign-on facility here that aids you to maintain the systematic procedure along with the better output at the work place. Also, he employees can experience the suitable environment that inspires them to perform well. The Chromebook uses the Security Assertion Mark Up Language in short the SAML that restricts the space for the unauthorized users.

Other Technical Opportunities

You can even recognize the Wi-Fi connectivity that enables your business to set up a strong network. It gives you online access using which you can develop the overall business infrastructure. Here, the consumers would also need the authenticated licenses to enter the platform. The wireless networks allow you to maintain the overall condition along with the optimistic features for your business.

In this way, your business can attain the smart outlook accumulating the advanced approaches. Alongside, the signed-in employees can explore other manifold options and even the administrator can control the complete system. The administrator need to use the Admin console option using which they can view the entire status of the employees. So, it eliminates any sort of malfunction and sustains the suitable work environment increasing the business opportunities.

The Suitable Graphics Option

Moreover, the system consist the comprehensive graphics that you can easily understand. It represents the feasible 3D applications along with a suitable display on the Chromebooks. The advanced desktop settings also allow you to carry out the procedure efficiently at your ease. You can explore the options such as the Google Cloud print along with the effective visual opportunities.

In addition, the secured SSL connections increase the overall security measures. It improve the status of the entire system helping the users as well as the administrators. Also, it does not involve any large investment due to which you can easily incorporate the suitable option for your business. Currently, the new price range is available in US and Canada where the businesses can experience the outputs. So, you can recognize the improved business results using the particular technical apparatus from Google.

Have a Detailed Communication with the Technical Expert

After you decide to implement the suitable features, once consult with a technical person knowing the detailed opportunities that you would receive. Make sure that you obtain the customized attributes that would take your business to a different level.

Gradually, your business would accumulate the advanced technical facets that would enable the users to maintain a clean profile. Also, it would save the time and effort, as it completely maintains the automated system. You can even browse the reviews where you can gain ample information. It would help you to understand the usability of the system. While installing the system make sure that you handle the entire technology efficiently along with the suitable performance.

Android Apps Like Vine, Evernote, and Others Arrive on Chrombooks, Google Says

Google has announced the arrival of handful Android apps on Chrombooks and Chrome OS based desktops. These android apps include Vine, Sight Words, Evernote and Duolingo. This is just a start or try by Google and will bring more apps in the future; as it is working with a group of Android developers to bring-in more apps. This move by Google is not only to bring the Android and Chrombooks together, but the aim is to allow the users to operate their Chrombook using their Android device (handset).

Vine: 

Vine is basically a video sharing service founded by Rus Yusupov, Colin Kroll and Dom Hofmann in June 2012. Twitter in October 2012 acquired this company for $30 million. Vine app was officially announced as a free app on 24th January, 2013 for iOS devices and its Android version was released on 2nd June, 2013.

The users can record video clips of 6 seconds long using the in-app camera and share it after editing it on the fly or by creating stop motion effects, if required. The video is recorded only when the screen is being touched by the user. Later in July 2013 the developers added few more features in this app which include ghost and grid image tools for the camera, revine, protected posts and curated channels. Further, the app came up with a new update which shows the number of times that the vine was viewed. This update was named ‘loop count’.

Evernote: 

Evernote is a collection of services and software which is designed for archiving and note taking. Stepan Pachikov founded it and its services were made available on June 24, 2008. A ‘note’ can be a web page, a piece of formatted text, a voice memo, a photograph, or ‘ink’ (handwritten) note. These notes can have files attached to it and can be saved in folders, then edited, annotated, tagged, exported and searched as a part of the notebook.

Image capture and voice recording notes are also supported by Evernote. The user can recognize the text written on the captured images using OCR and annotated. Tablet and touch screens with handwriting recognition is also supported by Evernote. Skitch—which allows users to share the image online after adding text and shapes to an image, was acquired on August 18, 2011 by Evernote. This app is made available on Windows 8, iOS, Android and OS X devices for free by Evernote.

Duolingo: 

Duolingo is a free text translation and language learning platform. French, Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, German, Dutch, Italian, Danish, Irish and American English courses are offered this app. This app is available on iOS, Web and Android platforms with the above mentioned and other combinations of languages. Its private beta was launched on 30th November 2011 and was made available to public on 19th June 2012 after having more than 300,000 users as waiting list. Duolingo was selected as the iPhone app of the year by Apple in 2013 and also at the 2014 Crunchies it won the Best Educational Startup.

Google Chromebook tend to function better than Apple and Android tablets

Both Windows PCs as well as Mac have been traditionally fighting to have their dominance in the desktop landmark as seen in the business sector. On the other hand, we notice Android tablets jostling around with iPads to gain its preeminence in the market.

As these battles are on, everyone tried to overlook Chromebook, despite its persistent signs of development and growth. As per the prediction made by Gartner, it is most likely that the cloud-powered laptops will have a boosting sale of around five million units by the end of this year.

In addition, analysts also believe that with the further implementation of collaborative working practices and cloud computing techniques, in the business area, the sale of Chromebook will even rise as high to about 14 million by 2017.The director of Gartner, Ranjit Atwal states that the appeal and attraction of Chromebook to business is immense because it comes with functionality enabled with its cloud-based operating system. One of the other reasons why is it in huge demand is because it has access to apps and comes with a centralized data, which is convenient for many businesses he explained.

Even with the decline of notebooks, Chromebook came in and filled the gap, which dominated between the fluctuating demand of fully-fledged laptops and tablets: both of them have so far reduced their price and have a well-established business so far. Thus with this, V3 asked the director whether Chromebook can ever have any impact on the market of tablet and laptops.

Quocirca’s service director, Clive Longbottom, is a bit skeptical about this. He believes that has been so far working on and has been familiar with Windows laptops might have a tendency of refraining from adopting Chromebook, as one of the moves to cloud computing, despite also stating clearly that Chromebook have in fact "improved massively", since the time they have come to the market.

He stated that with Chromebook not being cheaper than a Windows 7/8 laptop, the companies that already have an existing Microsoft license agreement would most probably move in for windows laptops. However, he also stated that Chrome books might come in with a great option for companies and organizations that are new or "web-born” and would most likely gain huge advantage from collaboration which is offered from Chromebook end.

Furthermore, Chrome book’s sale might get fuelled by start-ups and other set of new businesses which require cost savings and flexibility that is delivered by cloud-based software’s and services.

The principal analyst at MWD Advisors, Craig Wentworth states that Chromebooks are being already treated as tablet plus devices since they generally have a tendency to reply on tablet plus and apps, but they offer a much more improved functionality with additional proper Qwerty keyboard. He further went on declaring that the middle ground position is not a very strong position for Chromebook to stay in. he stated that with the recent demand of touch screen, mostly present in nearly all mobile devices today, it is trying hard to fully embed it into the Chrome support system by Google.

Samsung Announces New Chromebook 2 Series in Leather Finish

The new entry-level notebooks from Samsung with Google's operating system, called Chrome books, will provide housing cover with leather. Samsung has done away with all the internet rumors and his second Chromebook Series announced: The new models with Chrome OS available in two sizes 11.6 and 13.3 inches, and they stand out by their cover in leather look.

The devices cost 230-290 Euros and come in April in the U.S. market. The Samsung Chromebook 2 with a 13.3 -inch display has a 1920x1080 Full HD resolution. Inside the model tinkers an Exynos -5- Octa- processor from Samsung with four cores and 2.1 GHz. Four gigabytes DDR3L memory ensures a brisk speed with low power consumption. Samsung indicates that the batteries of the Chormebooks can support 8.5 hours backup.

The unit has been marked with the price tag of 290 euros, comes in gray in color and weighs around 1.4 kg. The smaller of the two new Samsung Chromebook has a HD resolution of 1366x768 on 11.6- inch display. It has the same memory and processor as the 13.3- inch version, but the processor has a lower clock speed of 1.9 gigahertz. The laptop battery lasts up to eight hours of operation according to Samsung. The Chromebook is available in black and white, it weighs 1.1 kg and costs around 230 Euros.

Both Chormebooks Series 2 are Chromebook typically equipped with a meager 16 gigabytes of storage, and it can be expandable by cloud storage. The other features are an HDMI, USB 2.0, USB 3.0 port, microSD slot and a 720p webcam. Samsung is the leading manufacturer in the market for Chromebooks in the United States and in 2013 alone 60 percent of the Chromebooks originated from the South Korean manufacturer, the first laptop with Chrome OS released in 2011.

Chromebook Versus Laptop?

Who is Google’s Chromebook for? Can it really replace a laptop or is it just a really expensive browser? That’s what I tried and am still trying to figure out. Are people buying the Chromebook just because it has Google’s signature all over or is it really that good?

But first…

What Exactly Is The Chromebook?

Maybe you haven’t heard about it.  After all, if I spend all my time between Microsoft Word and my web browser, that doesn’t mean you all do too.

So, there’s a simple concept behind it - to run just about everything within the Chrome browser, obviously with Google’s services and apps taking care of your document storing and management, email, calendar and more.  Some major selling points are the 8-second boot time and a lengthy 8-hour battery life. Plus, the Chromebook comes with a solid state disk drive, which means it’s unlikely your disk drive will crash in case you drop your Chromebook, for example.

So, What Makes It Different From An Average Laptop?

The Chromebook has no file management system whatsoever. With cloud storage being all the rage these days, the Chromebook might seem like the obvious replacement for laptops. But is it really? Think about it – you cannot manage files that aren’t saved on the cloud. In other words, if you have no Internet connection, you have, well, nothing.

So, it’s not really a laptop, nor is it a tablet. It’s… a £200 web browser that you can use to access your email or your calendar, write some documents and share some photos. Did I miss anything? (If you were thinking about watching videos on it, with a meagre 12.1" display, it might not be the best device for watching videos).

Advantages & Disadvantages

Price: On Amazon.co.uk,Acer’s cheapest Chromebook starts at £199 while Samsung’s Chromebook Wifi sells at £223 and it looks like the prices are dropping. On the other hand, an Acer Aspire laptop starts at £315 which is a bit more expensive.

Usability: There are many apps available on Chrome’s Web Store so no reason to complain here. Plus, since everything is online, you won’t have to worry about having to install heavy programs.

Keyboard: The Chromebook’s keyboard might take some getting used to as the usual keys you’re accustomed to won’t be there. No delete key, no function keys. You’ll have to Google a bit to find the work-arounds.

Should You Buy It?

Don’t get me wrong, the Chromebook is fantastic but not as a replacement for your laptop. It’s great for when you’re travelling and need a lightweight device to stay up-to-date with your emails and meetings; or for when you want to have a Skype call to handle some quick business issues; or for when you need quick access to important documents but aren’t at the office or at home. But then again, you can use a tablet for that, if you can live without a keyboard.

At the end of the day, is comes down to what you’re looking for in a laptop. However, do keep in mind that with a Chromebook you need non-stop 24/7 connection to wireless Internet, otherwise you won’t be able to use it.

How about you – have you tried Google’s Chromebook? 

Guest post by Alexandra Gavril who writes for the dedicated server providers heartinternet.co.uk