What the Heck Are Screenshots?

 And... 

Why Should I Use Them?

Screenshots are one of the most useful techniques for communication. A screenshot is basically a picture of what your whole computer screen looks like at that moment in time. 

See? Right now I am writing this blog, in between playing Farm Heroes Saga! 

USES:
Screenshots come in really handy when you are trying to tell Tech Support what is going wrong with your computer! If you email them a screenshot along with a description, they will be able to fix your problem faster. 

Use screenshots when you are trying to teach someone step by step instructions for webpage navigation. Dry Creek teachers: You know the Barbara Ferguson specials? She sends you a document every year telling how to enter scores into Datawise, or posts directions on the Teacher Resource Page for how to use the KACE box? All done with screenshots. 

Students can benefit from your use of screenshots when you are trying to teach them how to create a product online, or how to find something on a website. Click here to see a document which teaches you how to create a Glog. All of the pictures are cropped screenshots, and the arrows are shapes added in. 

How do I take a screenshot?

On a PC: There is a button that says PrtScn SysRq. When you press it, your screenshot is captured on your computer's clipboard. I find one of the easiest ways to access it then is to paste it into a Word or PowerPoint document. When you have the image in there, you can crop it. Cropping is a good thing because you don't always want people to know that you are playing brainless games on Facebook! It also allows the viewer to focus on exactly what you are trying to communicate. 

On a Chromebook:
Click Control and the Triple Window button to take a screenshot

A notification window will pop up saying you have taken a screenshot. You can click on the notification to open your screenshot, or find it in your Files folder under downloads. (You can find your Files folder under your apps checkerboard.)







When you open your screenshot on the Chromebook, you can click on the pencil to edit and the cropping button to remove all pieces that you don't want other people to see. Make sure to remove any personal information you don't want others to be able to view. 

After you have cropped the image, it will remain in that format in your Files folder. You can then insert the image into a Google Doc or other application.


I am not a Mac girl yet, but maybe someone who knows how to do this on a Mac will comment below. 

Happy cropping!