Google ChromeOS and desktop Chrome browsers will usher in reading mode
CTOnews.com, March 29 / PRNewswire-FirstCall-Asianet /-- at the 2023 BETT Education Show, Google demonstrated some of the educational features of Chromebook, which will be launched this year. The most striking of these is that both ChromeOS and desktop Chrome browsers will add a reading mode.
According to CTOnews.com, this reading mode is similar to the one launched on Android last year, but it is accessed through the sidebar of a desktop browser and can be found in the drop-down menus of existing reading lists and bookmarks. The aim is to reduce the interference elements on the screen, such as pictures and videos, so that users can focus on the main content of the page.
The reading mode will be displayed side by side with the original web page, and the user can adjust the width of the panel at any time. It also provides a variety of fonts, as well as the ability to adjust text size, background color (light, dark, yellow, blue), line spacing and margins.
The reading mode will be launched later this year and supports Chrome browsers (Mac, Windows, Linux) and ChromeOS (version 114).
In addition, Google has announced other updates, such as the Screencast app, which allows any teacher to record and label their Chromebook screens and display their faces in the corner. Google also transcribes the recorded voice and uploads the video to Google Drive for sharing with the class.
Google will soon add recording and transcription support for Screencast in Spanish, Japanese, Swedish, Italian and other languages, as well as animated click / touch and highlight keyboard shortcuts. Finally, Google will launch a new web player that allows students and teachers to "watch videos on any browser on any device". These updates will be released in April with the ChromeOS 112 version.
Cast Moderator is another feature that allows teachers and students to project their Chromebook screens or desktop versions of Chrome browsers onto devices that support Google TV. This feature will soon support Dutch, Spanish and Japanese, while "Cast Moderator hardware" will be available in Europe and Asia later this year. In addition, any presenter will soon be able to pause the screen they are projecting so that they can continue to work on their laptops (such as taking notes during a presentation). The teacher can also switch between the tabs that are being displayed without ending the screenshot meeting.
