Posts with Tag: Chromebook Archives - Modern Pen
HDMI-VGA Adapters
November 19, 2014
Tags: Chromebook, Lenovo, Projector, Staff Laptop
Both student Chromebooks and staff members’ Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 11e laptops are equipped with full-size HDMI ports for displaying video on other displays. While HDMI has become a standard for high definition video, classroom projectors in School District 21 are set-up for more traditional VGA connections. As a result, students and staff members do need […]
Chrome App Launcher Organization
October 19, 2014
Tags: Chrome, Chrome Apps, Chromebook, Lenovo, Staff Laptop
With the deployment of Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 11e laptops to CCSD21 staff members, students (on their Chromebooks) and staff members all have access to the Chrome App Launcher (pictured below) across ChromeOS and Windows. Did you know that you can organize your ChromeOS apps in whatever way you’d like–including with the use of folders?
WeVideo–Setting up a CCSD21.org Account
August 31, 2014
Tags: Chrome, Chrome Apps, Chromebook, Google Apps, WeVideo
Beginning with the 2014-2015 school year, School District 21 has purchased licensing from WeVideo. There are a great many benefits to this. These include: collaborative video editing, additional features (like green screens), and the ability to export more video than on free accounts. At the same time, there is a limit to how many accounts […]
Securly–CCSD21’s New Web Filter
August 9, 2014
Tags: Chrome, Chromebook, Digital Citizenship, Filter, Internet
For over a decade, federal law has required that schools that receive E-Rate funding, which helps offset the cost of telecommunications services, including the Internet, maintain a web filter. School District 21 has always complied with this legal requirement. As technology has advanced, School District 21 has continued to make changes to the filter in […]
Lucidpress: Make engaging documents
March 3, 2014
Tags: Chrome, Chrome Apps, Chromebook
Lucidpress is a publishing application for Chrome. Using Lucidpress, pre-created templates can be used to create beautiful newsletters, signs, and other publications. Lucidpress connects to your Google Drive, and all of your Lucidpress files are saved to your Google Drive. At this time, Lucidpress is free for use by schools. This may change at any […]
Lucidchart: Organize your thoughts
March 3, 2014
Tags: Chrome, Chrome Apps, Chromebook
Lucidchart for Education is a diagramming/flowchart app for Chrome OS that is a counterpart to apps like Inspiration, which School District 21 began using in the Late 1990s, and Visio, a Microsoft application that is used by an engineers to lay-out technical solutions, workflows, and solution-oriented processes. Lucidchart currently offers their Chrome app package free […]
WeVideo: Edit video in the Cloud
March 3, 2014
Tags: Chrome, Chrome Apps, Chromebook
WeVideo is the premier Chrome video editing suite. WeVideo videos are stored in one’s Google Drive, and the user can have up to 5 GB of WeVideo videos. To launch WeVideo the first time, it must also be connected to one’s Google Drive. WeVideo currently has free and paid services. At this time, School District […]
Using Google Calendar as your Assignment Book
January 12, 2014
Tags: Calendar, Chromebook, Google Apps, Student Devices, Students
Within hours of eighth graders first receiving their Chromebooks in October 2013, students were discovering that their Chromebooks could serve as a more modern, more effective version of the traditional assignment notebook. We’ve identified multiple strategies for effectively using your Chromebook to keep track of your assignments and manage your time and work. In this […]
Using Google Keep as your Assignment Book
January 12, 2014
Tags: Chromebook, Google Apps, Google Keep, Student Devices, Students
Within hours of eighth graders first receiving their Chromebooks in October 2013, students were discovering that their Chromebooks could serve as a more modern, more effective version of the traditional assignment notebook. We’ve identified multiple strategies for effectively using your Chromebook to keep track of your assignments and manage your time and work. In this […]
Read & Write for Google
December 10, 2013
Tags: Chrome, Chromebook, Google Apps, Google Docs, Read and Write
As Chromebooks are being rolled out to 7th grade students across School District 21, students and teachers throughout School District 21 are also receiving a staged roll-out of Read & Write for Google. Read & Write for Google is a product that supports students with reading text in the browser as well as with […]

Each District 21 school is named after an American author, and learning and literacy is at the center of our Professional Learning Community. The Modern Pen provides a collaborative location in which District 21 teachers can come together to learn the skills that will enable their students to learn new skills and to understand concepts at an even different level than before.