At the BETT Education Show 2023, Google showed off some of the educational features that will be available on Chromebooks this year. One of the most notable is that ChromeOS and the desktop version of Chrome will both add a reading mode.
This reading mode is similar to the one introduced on Android last year, but it is accessed through the desktop browser’s sidebar, which can be found in the drop-down menu of existing reading lists and bookmarks. The goal is to reduce distracting elements on the screen, such as images and videos, and allow users to focus on the main content of the web page.
Reading mode is displayed side-by-side with the original web page, and the user can adjust the width of the panel at any time. It also offers a variety of fonts, as well as the ability to adjust text size, background color (light, dark, yellow, blue), line spacing and margins.
Reading mode will be available later this year with support for Chrome (Mac, Windows, Linux) and ChromeOS (version 114).
In addition, Google announced some other updates, such as the Screencast app, which will allow any teacher to record and label their Chromebook screen with their face in the corner. Google will also transcribe the recorded voice and upload the footage to Google Drive for easy sharing with the class.
Google will soon add recording and transcription support for multiple languages such as Spanish, Japanese, Swedish, and Italian for Screencast, as well as animated click/touch and highlighting keyboard shortcuts. Finally, Google will also introduce a new web player that will allow students and teachers to “watch videos in any browser on any device. These updates will roll out with ChromeOS version 112 starting in April.
Cast Moderator is another feature that will allow teachers and students to cast their Chromebook screens or desktop versions of Chrome to Google TV-enabled devices. This feature will soon be available in Dutch, Spanish and Japanese, and “Cast Moderator hardware” will be available in Europe and Asia later this year. In addition, soon any presenter will be able to pause the screen they are projecting so they can continue working on their laptop (for example, taking notes during the presentation). Teachers will also be able to switch between the tabs being displayed without ending the screen casting session.
