Chromebook Tip Of The Week: Hassle Free Updates

An up arrow in a Chromebook's status area
(lower right) means restart to update.

Chromebooks have the simplest, most effective computer updating mechanism I've ever seen. Updates happen silently and without hassle. Occasionally, you will have restart your Chromebook to apply an update. When you see the up arrow in the status area of a Chromebook's tray, simply restart your device to update it. The device will restart and be fully functional in about fifteen seconds. You'll enjoy security updates, bug fixes, and occasionally, cool new features.

Chromebook Tip of the Week: Change Screen Resolution

Change screen resolution on the fly!

Pressing Control, Shift, = makes screen items bigger (decreases resolution), and Control, Shift, - makes screen items smaller (increases resolution).

The teacher Chromebooks can go all the way from 1182 x 665 to  2194 x 1234. The default resolution is a comfortable 1536 x 864. You may find the ability to quickly change resolution handy when connecting to a projector or external monitor.

Chromebook Tip of The Week: Charging

USB C Cable

Forgot your Chromebook charger? District issued Chromebooks charge using a standard USB C port. In a pinch, you could get by using a simple iPad charger, and automobile charger, or even an older phone charger and a USB C cable. If you're using a newer Android phone, you already have a USB C charger and cable. While the iPad or old phone charger won't charge as quickly as the supplied charger - and may not even keep up with the drain on the battery -  it could be enough to get you through a low battery situation.