Day 6 - Taking a Screenshot on the Surface RT and editing Photos
Surface RT for Teachers -Teaching and Learning with a Windows 8 Tablet
I stated yesterday that you learn a lot about your computing habits when you get a new device. When you need to get your work done you need access to the tools to get the job done. The first day I used the Surface RT I needed to edit a photo. Since the Surface RT does not run x86 programs I was in need of finding an app from the Windows Store to fill in the void. So today I continue my appification of the Surface RT by selecting another app to get my work done.
But first, a little more about my two app picks from yesterday, both were consumption apps, Kindle and Audible, from Amazon. I think you could make the case that the Surface RT is worth its current $349 price tag just from these two apps alone. I now literally have my entire ebook collection purchased from Amazon available to me on the Surface RT! When the Kindle was first introduced in 2007 the vision was “any book, anywhere, in less than a minute”. Today Amazon has pretty much delivered that vision. Wow, just Wow!
This is great for individuals but for schools there are challenges for ebook distribution to students with many unanswered questions. How do schools buy ebooks, distribute them, who owns them, can they be re-used year to year, will the ebooks work on a variety of devices, can you add annotations in the margins, etc… This is another reminder that we really need to do our homework if we intend to replace textbooks with ebooks. It is doable but there are many logistical questions that need to be answered before rolling out a massive 1:1 program.
For an educator, having access to such an ebook delivery service is truly amazing. I have not had the Surface RT for even a week but I see much potential. I have experienced a negative update experience and am now aware of this weakness, but so far it is certainly not a deal breaker for me.
My overall positive experience to date makes me wonder about some of the pejorative comments from others that have said no one would want a Surface RT even if given away like at #iste13. Have we become so spoiled and branded by the consumption engineers (marketing) that we cannot see the potential of the Surface RT? The RT is far from perfect, but in the hands of a teacher I see so much potential.
I think some of my optimism for the Surface RT stems from my experience with computers in general over the past two plus decades. We really have come a long way and each generation gets better.
Today’s App Pick
Now back to my app pick for today. When I began this blog series one of the first things I needed to do was take a screenshot of the Surface RT and paste it into this blog. How do you do that on the RT?
Taking a Screenshot on the Surface RT
To take a screenshot on the Surface RT all you need to do is press the Windows button and the Volume Down rocker at the same time. When you press the Windows button you will feel a slight vibration letting you know you pressed it. When both the Windows button and Volume Down rocker are pressed at the same time you will see the screen dim and your screenshot will be saved to your Pictures folder in a subfolder called Screenshots. The default file type is in the PNG format.
To get to the Pictures\Screenshots folder go to the Surface RT Desktop and click on the folder icon located on the left-side of the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, this is the File Explorer (just like Windows 7).
Fotor – Photo Editing App for the Surface RT
Of course one of the first things I wanted to do with my screenshots was to edit them for this blog. I downloaded the free Fotor app from the Windows Store and in less than two minutes was editing my first screenshot picture on the Surface RT
Fotor is very easy to use and is touch-friendly. You can Crop images, add Text, and apply a wide range of special effects to images and photos. If you so choose you can make some “Instagram-like” images very quickly by clicking on the filters. There are also adjustable slides to move back and forth to vary the effects.
There is also a secondary feature of Fotor that is very nice and allows you to make your own photo collages very easily. You can select multiple photographs and you have a variety of collage templates. Once finished arranging your photos in the collage the way you like you can Save it to a JPG file.
Until next time…
Keep on Learning,
Tom Grissom, Ph.D.
@tomgrissom
http://eiu.edu/itc/
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