PDFs are incredibly useful for all kinds of things. For instance, they are a universal file format that works well on all devices and don't need any additional software for viewing their contents. However, they can also be a very frustrating file format. Have you ever tried to split a PDF, merge it with another PDF, or convert it to another format? Adobe will sell you a subscription that will let you do all this and more. Preview on the Mac has a number of useful options for this too. However, if you don't have access to either of these options, you can take a look at a tool I saw courtesy of Leslie Fisher. It's called PDF Candy.

With PDF Candy you can do all kinds of useful things with your PDF. You can rearrange pages, extract text, unlock password protected PDFs, and convert them to all kinds of useful formats. You can add watermarks, use page numbers, delete pages or add to the header or footer of a PDF. All you do to get started is head over to PDFcandy.com and choose the feature you need. Then, upload your PDF and get editing!

Of course, one of the reasons that people use PDFs is to try and make it harder to copy or alter their original work, so be mindful of copyright and respect the rights of the original author. There are a lot of powerful tools at PDF Candy, but as Uncle Ben (and others) would caution, with great power comes great responsibility!

• You can create PDFs in Word or Google Docs. Simply create the document as you normally would and save it as a PDF format instead of a Word or Google Doc format. You can do the same with PowerPoint and Google Slides!
• If you upload a PDF to Google Drive and open it with Docs, Google will extract the text of the PDF for you and paste it into a Google Doc
• You can save any webpage as a PDF in Chrome using the Print menu. Simply navigate to the website of your choice and then go to File > Print and change the default printer to Save as PDF. This works in other browsers to thanks to the PDF Print drivers on Mac and Windows.
• iPhone and iPad users can save websites as a PDF from Safari. Simply tap the Share arrow and looks for the Create PDF. Use the built-in annotation tools to markup the PDF or tap the Share arrow again to choose where you want to send your PDF.
• You can scan paper documents and turn them into PDFs with mobile scanning apps like Word Lens, Adobe Scan, Camscanner, Scanner Pro, and more.
• Sites like DocHub.com will let you sign a PDF for free using their website or Chrome extension. You can also do this with Preview on the Mac, or with the built-in annotation tools on an iPhone or iPad.
• Speaking of annotation, the Google Classroom app for iPad will also let students annotate a PDF if you assign them a map or a graphic organizer to work on in a PDF format.
  

Have you used PDF Candy before? What are your favorite PDF tips and hacks for teachers?

Jonathan Wylie (@jonathanwylie)
Digital Learning Consultant, Grant Wood AEA

Things to Remember

• As the teacher scans the room the Plicker app reads the student's Plicker and records the results.  
• Each student's answer will only be recorded once.  
• The results are displayed in bar graph form
• No two plickers are the same

This is an excellent option for schools where devices are scarce or wifi is spotty.  Plickers work well with students of all ages.  Take some time to check out this low-tech formative assessment tool.

Additional Resources

​Link to Plickers website 
Link to the Plickers Card Deck
​Link to Plickers Tutorial by EdTech Tidbits


~ Beth Swantz, Technology Consultant, GWAEA @betswan

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Recently I came across an interesting browser extension called Wikiwand. It is available for free for Chrome, Firefox or Safari web browsers, and there are companion apps for iPhone and Android. Once installed, Wikiwand automatically transforms any Wikipedia page that you visit into a visual feast for your eyes!

The first thing you will notice are the big, vibrant, cover images that dominate the top of an entry and provide context to the content of the article. There is a convenient table of contents on a sidebar on the left that remains on the screen no matter how far down you scroll. Links in the article have pop-up previews when you hover over them and give you a summary of what is being linked to. There is even  a media slideshow that you activate by clicking on any of the images. The slideshow has all the images from that Wikipedia page.

Not convinced yet? Take a look at the images below for a before and after shot of Wikipedia and the Wikiwand version of the same page. You can also check out a random Wikiwand page by clicking here.

Wikiwand does not provide any additional information to the page you are looking at, but it does make it a lot nicer to look at. It makes Wikipedia pages easier to navigate and easier to read (thanks to the hyperlink pop-ups). There is a text-to-speech feature that you can activate by clicking the speaker in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, but the voice is not as good as some other options you have in this area, so it may not be as useful as you might hope.

However, in a world of visual learners, where design is becoming increasingly important in our lives, Wikiwand stands out from the crowd as a way to access information in a clean and efficient way. If you haven't tried it yet, it is well worth a look. Check it out at www.wikiwand.com.


Jonathan Wylie, Grant Wood AEA Technology Consultant, @jonathanwylie

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This post is geared primarily toward literacy teachers, but in case you didn’t know, that is everyone. Yep, even you Mr. PE Teacher are a literacy teacher.  All of us are responsible for incorporating literacy activities in our classroom.  Now I’m not saying let’s read Ivanhoe in Algebra I (that’s just silly), but why not have your students  take a look at this non-fiction article and debate the merits of Algebra. And in fact, the Common Core advises that students should, by 12th grade, spend 30% of their time reading literary texts and 70% of their time reading informational/non-fiction text, furthermore suggesting that a great deal of non-fiction reading in grade 6-12 can happen in classrooms outside of ELA.

All right, descend from soapbox and let’s take a look at a tool that will help us in the teaching of literacy.  This tool is called Actively Learn.  It is one of my new favorite tools for ELA, well it’s not new, just newish to me.  If you are not familiar with Actively Learn, watch this short video to get a quick overview:

 So why do I love Actively Learn?  Here is my top three list:

1. Content - the content available in Actively Read is phenomenal.  I taught the gamut of HS ELA classes (everything from English 9 to AP English Lit and College Composition) and in the available content in Actively Learn is representative of most of the texts that I taught.  Additionally, texts are Lexiled and sorted by grade level and subject.  Additionally, teachers can add their own content by going to the “Create Assignments” tab and selecting “Add Content”.  They can add  from a URL, Google Doc or PDF.  So go ahead, add those lyrics from Thunder Road or Don’t Drink the Water, they will work.
   
   
2. Support -  The Actively Learn interface has a ton of support built right into the tool.  When teachers log in, the first stop is their “Checklist” which shows them what they need to accomplish to fully leverage all of the features built into Actively Learn.  The checklist links to a help video on the topic as well as text instructions with screenshots.  Additionally, you will always find a helping hand hanging out in the lower right hand corner of the app.  Click on the photo of the support person and you can launch into a live chat.
   
   
3. Collaboration - My mantra has always been “comprehension is collaborative”. Ok, I don’t think that I came up with that one on my own, but it is true.  Comprehension hinges on the student’s ability to build/activate their schema and make connections and the best way to support this in an ELA classroom is to create a collaborative reading experience (my other thoughts on schema building).  Kids should be talking about text, they should been sharing what they see in the text, and they should be having debates about the text.  Actively Learn allows this to happen at anytime.  No longer is a student “alone in the text”.  They can post notes for their fellow students to comment on, they can send a private “I don’t understand” flag to their teacher, and they can accommodate for themselves as needed (i.e. have the text read aloud, look up definitions of words, etc.).  In short, they have a community of learners to aid in their comprehension.  Additionally, teachers can co-author assignments together and they can co-teach classes.
   
   

Actively Learn truly puts the student experience at the forefront.  Students have great opportunities to collaborate and connect with their classmates and teacher via the text and this helps aid comprehension and the development of schema. So, if you are a literacy teacher (and I know you are) give Actively Learn a look and don’t leave your students “alone in the text”.


- Gina Rogers, Technology Consultant, Grant Wood AEA (@grogers1010)

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