Shortcuts for Efficiency

Tech Tip Tuesday (March 4, 2025)

Use 'em! Repeat 'em! Become magical!

We've all experienced the frustration of endless, manual tasks in our digital work.

The sheer volume of time wasted on these repetitive duties is staggering.

Have you ever stopped to calculate just how much?

I mean, don't because that's just a bummer.

However, the average person in business copy and pastes over 1,000 times per week, and we as educators aren't far off in some crazy stats, spending about 3 hours on average on administrative duties not related to teaching duties.

Teachers spend a significant amount of time on various tasks both inside and outside the classroom, one of those is staring at the endless abyss of the computer screen.

Use some shortcuts to shave down some of that time!

My Top Student Shortcuts!

Undo anything on most pages!

We make mistakes. Undo them easily with this shortcut rather than searching for the button or backspacing.

Ctrl + Z

Get everything at once!

Get everything all at once to move items on a page easily.

Ctrl + A

Don't scroll, find.

You could take the hard way and read every little bit or use your keywords to and find it.

Ctrl + F

My Top Teacher Shortcuts!

Ope, didn't mean to close that.

Chrome lets you reopen that tab you didn't mean to close amongst the other 20 tabs that you probably should close.

Ctrl + Shift + T

I need to copy this, but don't need that Comic Sans.

Sometimes, I just need to words and not the random highlighting or font. Do this to just get the unicode, just the letters.

Ctrl + Shift + V

Hyperlinking>3766 characters that follow that Amazon link.

Most websites have the same way to add a hyperlink over text. Use it and move faster for linking.

Ctrl + K

Want a Shortcut poster for your classroom?

Print out or customize this shortcut poster for students using Chromebooks!

🌍 ALL DEVICE SHORTCUTS

Click below for Mac, Windows, or Chromebook shortcuts!

Mac keyboard shortcuts - Apple Support

By pressing certain key combinations, you can do things that normally need a mouse, trackpad, or other input device.

support.apple.com

Keyboard shortcuts in Windows

Learn how to navigate Windows using keyboard shortcuts. Explore a full list of taskbar, command prompt, and general Windows shortcuts.

support.microsoft.com

Chromebook keyboard shortcuts

To complete tasks quickly, you can use keyboard shortcuts. To find shortcuts on this page, press Ctrl + f and type what you want. To find all keyboard shortcuts, press Ctrl + Search

support.google.com

Reflection required, snacks optional

Movies are fantastic tools to make learning more engaging and help students understand different ways of presenting information.

TeachWithMovies.org is an educational resource designed to help teachers integrate films into their lesson plans. The site offers a variety of learning guides and lesson plans based on over 425 films, focusing on themes such as character education, ethics, and social-emotional learning.

Teach with Movies

TWM offers lesson plans that use movies to inspire, inform, and engage students. Their goal is to help teachers create excellent, educational movie-based lessons, ensuring maximum learning benefits in the scant times films are used.

❗❗Spoiler: AI detectors don't work.

As AI tools like ChatGPT become increasingly popular with students, instructors are facing new challenges regarding academic integrity, such as the risk of higher grades for students using AI and the potential decline in critical thinking skills. While some companies have developed AI detection software to flag AI-generated content, these tools often have high error rates, leading to false accusations of misconduct. In response to these concerns, it's essential for educators to focus on strategies that promote academic honesty and critical thinking, including establishing clear guidelines, fostering open dialogue with students, and designing creative assignments that navigate the complexities of an AI-enabled world.

Click below for more!

AI Detectors Don't Work. Here's What to Do Instead. - MIT Sloan Teaching & Learning Technologies

As new tools raise concerns around AI academic integrity, instructors can deter misuse through transparent policies, open discussions with students, assignments that engage intrinsic motivation, and inclusive teaching practices.

mitsloanedtech.mit.edu