Onenote For Chromebook
OneNote Web Clipper lets you quickly clip all or part of a web page to OneNote, and save it for later. Clip images, pdfs, videos, or a visual bookmark of a page. Best of all, you can access them from any computer, tablet, or phone - even when you're offline. CLIP YOUR WAY - NO CLUTTER! Chromebooks and Office 365 together will challenge Windows laptops. With Microsoft porting Office 365 to Chromebooks, a big reason to stick with Windows has gone out the door.
Get a digital pen for your Chromebook!
A touchscreen Chromebook is even better when you add in a digital pen.
Teaching during the COVID pandemic made this abundantly clear to me…some things are just easier to do with a pen.
A touch screen with a Chromebook pen makes it much easier to draw, diagram, show steps, and quickly jot down notes.
Only a handful of Chromebooks come with an included digital pen, but that doesn’t mean you can’t purchase a digital pen.
Unfortunately, finding the right digital pen for your Chromebook has not been an easy task.
I know because I have purchased and tested a half-dozen digital pens with my Chromebook.
Some were terrible…and others don’t work at all.
Let me fill you in on what you need to know and help you get a digital stylus that will work with your Chromebook
Which Chromebook pen do I need?
I wish I had a simple answer for you, unfortunately the digital pen market is a bit confusing.
There are three types of digital pens. Let me help you determine which pen your Chromebook can use.
Capacitive Stylus (passive)
A capacitive stylus will work with any touchscreen device, but the results aren’t very inspiring.
A passive stylus works just like your finger. They are also the cheapest digital stylus because they don’t require sophisticated electronics or batteries.
You’ve probably used a capacitive stylus before…they’re the ones with the big rubber tip at the end.
Capacitive pens are cheap, but they can’t measure pressure or sensitivity and don’t offer special settings for brush strokes, saved colors, etc.
You can get them for free (just visit your favorite vendor at an edtech conference), or find them on Amazon for just a few dollars.
If you are a teacher and you wan’t to write on mark student assignments, you won’t be very pleased with this type of Chromebook pen.
Let’s take a look at a second option.
EMR Stylus (by Wacom)
EMR is a very sophisticated touchscreen protocol developed by Wacom, the company that makes various digital pens, drawing pads, and touch screens.
EMR pens are AWESOME! You will love them!
Before you go out an order an EMR pen, you must make sure that your chromebook has an EMR digitizer (a special type of touchscreen).
A number of Chromebooks include EMR digitizers (screens) including popular classroom devices from Acer, HP, Lenovo, and CTL.
Check to see if your device is on this list of supported EMR Chromebooks.
The downside to the EMR technology higher device cost. You won’t find a $200 Chromebook with an EMR digitizer. These tend to be higher priced devices.
What stylus should you get for your EMR Chromebook?
I recommend the Noris Digital Stylus. It looks just like a pencil and can be purchased for around $25.
If you don’t have an EMR stylus, don’t worry…there’s another option for you!
Active Stylus
An active stylus contains internal electronics that communicate with your device. This allows your pen to communicate pressure, angle, and user preferences, providing a custom user experience.
The Pixelbook pen and Apple Pencil are both examples of active styluses. Both of these pens work very well (and are obscenely expensive).
An active stylus will work with most touchscreen Chromebooks, but the results vary widely because there is no agreed upon standard for these pens.
I purchased a handful of active pens and got wildly different results.
Some of the pens I bought were hot garbage…I couldn’t even draw a straight line.
Others were decent (this one was okay)…not as accurate as an Apple Pencil, but workable.
If all of these details are starting to overwhelm and confuse you, you aren’t alone!
Don’t quit on me yet….I have one more option to tell you about!
USI: the solution to the confusion!
Because there is no standard for how laptops and digital pens talk to one another, performance can vary widely.
This is the problem that the Universal Stylus Initiative (USI) set out to solve.
Onenote Chrome Os
USI is a group of companies (Google, Lenovo, Bic, Dell Wacom, and more) who are working together to develop a set of rules that govern how digital pens and devices work together (kind of like how USB makes it easy to plug stuff in to your computer).
Want to learn more about USI? Listen to this podcast episode featuring Peter Meuller, chair of the USI committee.
Google is a major supporter of USI and is requiring that pen-enabled Chromebooks come standard with USI support.
USI will make it easy for Chromebook manufacturers to include pen support and make it easy for pen manufacturers to ensure that their writing tools work effectively on a wide range of devices.
USI is a win for schools who will no longer need to worry about device compatibility. Standardization will also drive down the cost of the pens making them much more affordable.
Get a USI pen for your Chromebook!
While USI has been under development for several years, USI pens have only recently become available for purchase.
Finding a USI pen has not been easy, but I was able to order this pen from the Lenovo. website.
While the Lenovo stylus was a bit on the pricey side ($39), it vastly outperforms all of the other pens that I have tested.
To test the accuracy of a digital pen I slowly draw a straight line to look for jitter – jagged imperfections in the line. A good pen will have little or no jitter.
My new USI pen works on my Lenovo Duet and the HP x360.
In fact, all but one of the Chromebooks launched in 2020 include USI pen support, a trend I expect will continue.
Right now there are only a few USI pens on the market.
As more pens become available, the price will go down as well. Eventually, I think you will be able to purchase USI pens for a few dollars.
Can You Get Onenote On Chromebook
Is USI good for Chromebook Classrooms?
USI promises to make it easier for companies like HP, Lenovo, and Dell to work with the companies that design digital pens.
USI is a platform on which companies can develop inexpensive pens for classroom use or highly accurate pens used for digital art and animation.
Over the next 6-12 months I expect to see a number of new USI pens hit the market at various price points.
Ultimately, USI will provide simple and affordable pen support for touch screen Chromebooks which will allow students and teachers to draw, diagram and jot down notes with ease.
One of the beautiful things about Chromebooks is that they’re largely cloud-based. You don’t have to fill up your hard drive with endless files. Instead, you can do just about everything through Google Drive. But as great as that is, most of us are used to Microsoft Office apps like Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. Luckily, you can run Microsoft Office on Chromebooks.
You can’t install desktop versions of Office on a Chromebook, but you still have options when it comes to running Microsoft Office on Chromebook. Depending on what software you run on your Chromebook, you’ll be able to use Office in a somewhat limited capacity. Let us tell you how it’s done.
Can You Use Onenote On A Chromebook
Read next:Here is a list of the best Chromebooks you can buy
Microsoft Office for Chromebook: Google Play Store
The easiest way to get Microsoft Office on Chromebook is to download the Office apps that are available for Android. Some older Chromebooks still don’t have access to the Google Play Store, but most do. Check out our list of compatible Chromebooks to see if yours has access to the Google Play Store.
Follow these simple steps:
- Open the Google Play Store.
- Search for the Office program you want to download and select it.
- Click Install.
- Once the app is done downloading, open the Chrome launcher to open the app.
- Sign into your Microsoft Account or Office 365 subscription account.
Click on the links below to download specific apps:
More:The most useful Chromebook shortcuts and gestures
Microsoft Office for Chromebook: Office Online
If your Chromebook only has access to the Chrome Web Store, you unfortunately can’t download the various Office apps. You’re not out of luck, though. It’s possible to use Office Online.
Also:The best Android apps for Chromebooks
With the online version, you’ll be able to work on, edit, and share Office files directly in your browser. You need to be connected to the internet to use Microsoft Office on Chromebook, which may not be ideal, but it means you have an alternative to Drive.
The best part is that you can access OneDrive and Microsoft Office web apps with a free account. You get more benefits and extra services if you pay for an Office 365 account, but it’s not necessary just to use Microsoft Office apps online.
Stream from your PC
If you don’t want to use Android apps (or can’t), another option is to run Microsoft Office on a PC and stream it to your Chromebook. This might be beneficial because you get the option to run the full desktop version made for PC. It will have all features and no compromises.
Before you start, make sure you have Microsoft Office and Google Chrome installed on your PC. Also, make sure you have a stable internet connection on both your PC and Chromebook.
How to stream Photoshop on Chromebook:
- Open the Chrome browser on your PC and visit the Chrome Remote Desktop website.
- Click the Set up remote access option.
- Install the Chrome Remote Desktop extension on your PC.
- Return to the original tab on your PC and name your computer.
- Click Next and create a PIN with at least six digits.
- If prompted, enter the PIN you created on your PC.
You could also use a PC cloud service like Shadow. This company offers Windows machines that can be accessed remotely through any compatible device. Supported operating systems include Windows, macOS, Ubuntu, Android, and iOS. You don’t see Chrome OS on the list, but remember Chromebooks can run Android apps! Once set up, you could install Photoshop on your remote Windows machine and stream it. Just keep in mind Shadow isn’t exactly cheap! It currently costs at least $11.99 per month.
Check out the links below to learn more about using Chromebooks and to figure out which ones are worth your money.