#12 Remembering to Use the Chrome Web Store

In this blog we will look at the benefits of remembering that:

a) extensions exist

b) we can find them easily on the Chrome Web Store

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Q: Why should we remember that the Chrome Web Store exists? 

A: Let's use a simple teacher concept/tool to help us highlight why: Word Clouds

Word clouds have been around for a while now. Common educational uses of word clouds include:

1. Ice Breakers

2. Introduce new topic

3. Collect new ideas

4. Conduct a brainstorm session

5. Set up a discussion

6. Sum up a topic

7. Check for understanding

8. Reflect on experience (learning)

9. Ease into vulnerable topics with student anonymity

10. Check in on students Social Emotional Learning

(The above list was taken from ClassPoint. For more information about each activity check out their in-depth summaries for each activity here.)

Now, let's imagine that making a word cloud is something that you or your students want to do as part of a lesson activity. 

Of course, you could make it arty and hand out some paper and colored pencils. 

However, if you or your students want to do it digitally, you may ask yourselves: "How do you make a word cloud quickly and easily so we can print some off or share online?"

 Like so many things these days, the answer is simple: find, download and use an extension from the Chrome Web Store.

But how do you do that, exactly?

In this example case of word clouds, easy: Follow these instructions:

1. Go the the  Chrome Web Store

2. Type into the search box 'word cloud'

3. You will get options come up, like this:

4. Pick word cloud generator and click the blue button to install

5. Once the extension is installed, find it in your Doc under extensions tab

6. Type in your words and the word cloud extension converts the words into a word cloud

7. The final version is ready to use

We have used 'making word clouds' the example topic of this blog. But of course, the point of this blog is to remember: Any time you have something tech-related you don't know how to do, particularly if it's in Google Docs or Slides, the Chrome Web Store might be able to give you something a little extra to help you do it.

Remember to use the Chrome Web Store!

Example Word Cloud Doc

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Note: A question about terminology

You may come across the phrases plug-ins OR add-ons OR extensions. 

What's the difference and is it important?

There is a technical difference, yes, but generally speaking for most educators you can use the three terms interchangeably, thinking of them all just as things that technically enhance your files/documents capabilities.

The shortest, most succinct answer I could find was this: 

- 3rd party plugins and add-ons add functionality and extra features to a particular webpage (but don't alter the code)

- Extensions add functionality and features to the whole browser and change the behavior of the browser (by changing the code).