Set Up a Chromebook: Difference between revisions

Summary	Some tips to get started with your RCS Chromebook
Author	Maintained by Matthijs van Mierlo
Help	Get help with this article
Status	Up-to-date for the 2024-2025 school year.

Latest revision as of 09:25, 5 August 2024

Basic Setup

Turn on your Chromebook using the power button to the left of the keyboard
Sign in to your Chromebook using your RCS username and passphrase
If you're asked to, select an image for your user profile.
Ensure you're on the RCS-Community Wi-Fi network.
- Click the status tray at lower right (it has the time and your battery life)
- If you see Connected to RCS-Guest, or Connected to RCS-Chromebook, click it, select RCS-Community, and enter your passphrase.
Next update your Chromebook by following these instructions (in the Check for updates yourself section)
- Click Done when finished
When your Chrome OS update is ready, you'll see an alert in your status tray. Restart your Chromebook to install the update

Learn Keyboard Shortcuts

As with most operating systems, there are some very useful keyboard shortcuts that are worthwhile to explore. Some examples of keyboard shortcuts include:

Common Shortcuts
Description	Shortcut
Copy text	CTRL + C
Paste text	CTRL + V
Search for text	CTRL + F
Undo change	CTRL + Z
Redo change	CTRL + Y
Caps lock on/off	Search + Alt
Lock your screen	Search + L
View all shortcuts	CTRL + Alt + ?

For a more extensive list of shortcuts, you can refer to Google's documentation here: https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/183101?hl=en. The more keyboard shortcuts you know, the easier everything becomes!

You can also click CTRL + Alt + ? on your Chromebook keyboard to view ALL of the shortcuts you can use.

Record Your Screen

It may be useful to take screenshots or to record your screen on the Chromebook. There are two easy ways to do this! One if through the notification tray menu (where you change WiFi networks), and the other is by using keyboard shortcuts.

Open the menu on the bottom right of your Chromebook screen (where you change WiFi networks) and click on the Screen capture icon. Select the range you want to screenshot by clicking and dragging on your screen, and press Enter on your keyboard to take the screenshot.

The keyboard shortcut is CTRL + Shift + Windows. See screenshot below for the location of the Windows button on the top row of your keyboard

Install Android Apps

Once your Chromebook has been updated, you can use the Google Play Store. We have curated and tested a set list of apps for you to use. If you are hoping to use an app but cannot search for it in the Google Play Store, reach out to a member of the Tech Team at help desk or submit a ticket by emailing support-ticket@riverdale.edu.

There are a lot of apps you can download for school use! Click on the Google Play Store after clicking on the Chromebook Launcher (bottom left of the screen), and see what you can install on your device!

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-==Were you one of our first Samsung Chromebook users?==
+{{AboxNew
-If you received a Chromebook from us in late spring / early summer '''and signed in with your personal Gmail account,''' [mailto:support-ticket@riverdale.edu?subject=RCS%20Chromebook%20enrollment&body=I%20received%20an%20unenrolled%20Chromebook.%20Please%20set%20an%20appointment%20in%20my%20Google%20Calendar%20to%20powerwash%20and%20enroll%20it.%20Thanks! click here to request an appointment with us] to convert it to a RCS-enrolled Chromebook. It should take about 20 minutes.
+| name = Set Up a Chromebook
+| learning = x
+| instruction =
+| community = x
+| summ = Some tips to get started with your RCS Chromebook
+| maintained = MV
+| year = 2024-2025
+}}
+__TOC__
-==RCS-enrolled Chromebooks==
+==Basic Setup==
-If you were received a Chromebook in June or later '''and signed in with your Riverdale Gmail account,''' you're enrolled. Congratulations! Keep going.
-On first login you'll see this page:<br>
+#Turn on your Chromebook using the power button to the left of the keyboard
-[[File:Chromebook-network-1.png|300 px]]<br>
+#Sign in to your Chromebook using your '''''RCS username''''' and '''''passphrase'''''
+#If you're asked to, select an image for your user profile.
+#Ensure you're on the '''''RCS-Community''''' Wi-Fi network.
+#*Click the '''''status tray''''' at lower right (it has the time and your battery life)
+#*If you see '''''Connected to RCS-Guest''''', or '''''Connected to RCS-Chromebook''''', click it, select '''''RCS-Community''''', and enter your '''''passphrase'''''.
+#Next update your Chromebook [https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/177889?hl=en by following these instructions] (in the '''''Check for updates yourself''''' section)
+#*Click '''''Done''''' when finished
+#When your Chrome OS update is ready, you'll see an alert in your status tray. Restart your Chromebook to install the update
-Change your network to RCS-Community, then select/enter the following (including your own RCS username and password):<br>
+== Learn Keyboard Shortcuts ==
-[[File:Chromebook-network-2.png|500 px]]<br>
+As with most operating systems, there are some very useful keyboard shortcuts that are worthwhile to explore. Some examples of keyboard shortcuts include:
+{| class="wikitable"
+|+Common Shortcuts
+!Description
+!Shortcut
+|-
+|Copy text
+|CTRL + C
+|-
+|Paste text
+|CTRL + V
+|-
+|Search for text
+|CTRL + F
+|-
+|Undo change
+|CTRL + Z
+|-
+|Redo change
+|CTRL + Y
+|-
+|Caps lock on/off
+|Search + Alt
+|-
+|Lock your screen
+|Search + L
+|-
+|View all shortcuts
+|CTRL + Alt + ?
+|}
+For a more extensive list of shortcuts, you can refer to Google's documentation here: https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/183101?hl=en. The more keyboard shortcuts you know, the easier everything becomes!
-The next screen will ask you to "Sign in to your Chromebook." Do this, using your RCS username and password again.
+You can also click '''''CTRL + Alt + ?''''' on your Chromebook keyboard to view ALL of the shortcuts you can use.
-If you're asked to, select an image for your user profile.
+== Record Your Screen ==
+It may be useful to take screenshots or to record your screen on the Chromebook. There are two easy ways to do this! One if through the notification tray menu (where you change WiFi networks), and the other is by using keyboard shortcuts.
-Now let's get things humming.
+Open the menu on the bottom right of your Chromebook screen (where you change WiFi networks) and click on the '''''Screen capture''''' icon. Select the range you want to screenshot by clicking and dragging on your screen, and press '''''Enter''''' on your keyboard to take the screenshot.
+[[File:ScreenshotCB2.png|thumb|198x198px|none]]
-First let's remove the RCS-Guest network. Starting in the status tray, do the following:<br>
-[[File:Chromebook-network-3.png|500 px]]<br>
-[[File:Chromebook-network-4.png|500 px]]<br>
-[[File:Chromebook-network-5.png|500 px]]<br>
+The keyboard shortcut is '''''CTRL + Shift + Windows.''''' See screenshot below for the location of the Windows button on the top row of your keyboard
+[[File:WindowsKeyCB.png|thumb|150x150px|none]]
-Next update it [https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/177889?hl=en by following these instructions].
+== Install Android Apps ==
+Once your Chromebook has been updated, you can use the '''''Google Play Store'''.'' We have curated and tested a set list of apps for you to use. If you are hoping to use an app but cannot search for it in the '''''Google Play Store''''', reach out to a member of the Tech Team at help desk or submit a ticket by emailing support-ticket@riverdale.edu.
-While you're in settings, check out some of your options. "Google Now cards" might be useful. And under "Touchpad settings" you can reverse your scrolling direction (Chromebook calls this "Australian scrolling").
+There are a lot of apps you can download for school use! Click on the '''''Google Play Store''''' after clicking on the Chromebook '''''Launcher''''' (bottom left of the screen), and see what you can install on your device!
+[[File:PlayStoreCB.png|thumb|none]]
-Once updated, you should be able to use the Google Play Store in order to test Android apps. Android is the key to some of the Chromebook's functionality, including using the stylus to annotate PDFs.
-[https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-install-android-apps-on-a-chromebook/ Go here] for instructions on updating Chrome OS and activating the Play store
-We'll have Google Play activated by default in the fall, once we turn on Chromebook management, but for now you need to operate this way in order to experiment.
-Next start learning about Chrome OS with these links:
-Google's Chromebook tutorials
-tips (Geek.com)
-tips (Gizmodo)
-You can search Google for "Chromebook tutorial" if you want more.
-Definitely learn its keyboard shortcuts by pressing ctrl+alt+?.
-alt+[ , alt+] , alt+- and alt++ are alt-awesome, and there are an alt-ton more. Trust me, you won't figure them out unless you use that first combination. (Note: the above shortcuts mean you hold alt and press the key after the +.)
-Android on Chrome OS is still very much in beta. Google is expected to release a full Android implementation this summer. You'll find some issues running some Android apps. But now's the time to start looking for great apps that we can use in the fall. Some to try:
-Xodo (for PDF annotation)
-OneNote (for, um, notes)
-Google Keep (also for notes) (it's already installed)
-Schoology (for integrated audio/video posting as well as status tray notifications)
-Explain Everything (for whiteboard recording)
-AirDroid (for file transfer between Chromebook and laptop)
-Find other useful Android apps
-Lirbi Reader might be a good e-reader (especially if you're named Jason Curry... Jason, check out Musician mode!), but there are a ton more. What else might you need? If you're a Math teacher, you need to try the Geogebra apps. English and History teachers might be fine with Xodo (link above) for document annotation, but there are plenty of other options to try. Science, you say? See whether any of these 10 or these 14 suit you. And finally, everyone should browse the Google Play store -- or just do a Google search for "android app" plus your discipline or course.
-Don't forget about the stylus.
-And finally, share your learning in our Schoology group "Professional Learning at RCS." That's a REQUIREMENT. We're all going to learn from each other this summer, whether we like it or not. :) Special bonus: you're already a member.