At SET, we have worked with many educational leaders and administrators and have noticed one thing that they all have had in common: they never have enough time.
This week’s newsletter describes three tools that SET uses to increase productivity, streamline workflow, and gain back some valuable time:
1. Pocket
Do you open up links to articles, news stories, and blog posts on your phone, laptop, and tablet in your spare time but frequently don’t have time to read them?
By installing the pocket app (for smartphones) and chrome extension, you can now save all wanted reading material with 1 click and access it from any of your devices. Once you save your articles (from any device), you can then pull them up on your phone (or other device) later on and, for example, make better use of your time waiting in the long grocery line! You can also add “tags” to the items you’re saving for later reading, creating an organized and easy to access set of resources.
2. Shift
Do you use multiple Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Calendar accounts and wish you could open them all in one spot?
The Shift application makes it easy to navigate between your various Google accounts as well as access Gmail, Google Calendars, and Google Drive simultaneously. This allows you to keep your tools for different accounts open without launching multiple browsers and tabs. Checking email, adding calendar events, and accessing collaborative documents has now become increasingly seamless through Shift. The tool is easy to use and set up and allows you to consolidate all your gmail accounts (and tools) in one nifty spot.
3. Freedom
Do you feel distracted by email, Facebook, or random Google searches while you’re trying to get a project done? Wish you could temporarily self-censor?
Freedom allows you to create block lists that enable a user to prevent themselves from opening distracting websites while they’re trying to work. This easy-to-use web tool can block these sites on your phone as well as computer. Create a list; choose the amount of time to enable the block; and get to work!
If you have a chance to try out these tools, let us know how they worked for you by emailing us at contactus@strategicedtech.com
In the News
“I call them iGen. Born between 1995 and 2012, members of this generation are growing up with smartphones, have an Instagram account before they start high school, and do not remember a time before the internet.”
We highly recommend that all parents read “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” which appeared in the September 2017 issue of The Atlantic to better understand the impact of screens and devices in your child's’ generation.