Windows shortcuts as an aid to the teacher

Most computer users are familiar with at least some keyboard shortcuts and what they do. Shortcuts are actions that can be performed either by pressing individual keys on the keyboard or by pressing two or more keys at the same time. 

The Windows key ​( Win ) is located between the left Control ( Ctrl ) and Alternate ( Alt ) keys. Next to the Windows key, there may also be a function key, which can be used to access media functions (play/pause, volume control, etc.) or to adjust the brightness of the screen. The Shift key is located above the Ctrl key.

The Windows and arrow keys make it easy to move windows around the screen. For example, you can place two browser windows next to each other or move a window to another screen. 

The use of side-by-side windows makes it easy to illustrate different stages of a phenomenon or compare different things. It's also handy for taking notes or doing tasks while viewing content.

Placing windows side by side

1. Drag and drop the tabs you want into their own windows.
2. With one window selected, press Win + ← (arrow left) or Win + → (arrow right), depending on whether you want the window on the left or right side of the screen. Alternatively, you can drag the window to the desired side of the screen and it will stick there.
3. When you release the Win key or the left mouse button, you can select the window that will be displayed on the other side of the screen.

Windows can also be moved around the screen using keyboard shortcuts. The desktop is divided into four sections. When a window is zoomed in to the left or right, the up and down arrow keys can be used to place the window in the top or bottom quadrant.

The window can be "freed" from the edge either by pressing Win + arrow in the opposite direction (if the window is on the right side, press arrow to the left) or by dragging the window from its title bar.

If you have two windows side-by-side, you can adjust the width of both windows at once by clicking and dragging the divider between them in the middle of the screen.

Moving a window to another screen

You can move a window to another screen with the keyboard command Win + Shift + ← / →.

Most computer users probably know that text, images and files can be copied using the Ctrl + C keyboard shortcut. Likewise, most people know that the Ctrl + V keyboard shortcut pastes the copied content into a new location. 

If you want to paste text from a website into another document (for example in Google Docs) but don't want the text formatting to be carried over, you can add a Shift key to the combination.

The keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + V therefore pastes the text without formatting.

In Microsoft Word, the keyboard shortcut doesn't work, but you can right-click where you want to paste text and choose from the paste options provided. The "Keep text only" option pastes the text without formatting.

The emoji keyboard can be made visible by pressing Win + . (dot). In the same menu you will also find various symbols.

e-Oppi's digital books have a built-in read aloud functionality. Sometimes, you may want your device to read you the contents of another page or even a PDF file that you have opened in your browser. Microsoft's Edge browser makes it easy to do so on both desktop and mobile devices.

From the browser menu, select More tools → Read aloud. The text-to-speech robot then begins reading the contents from the top of the page.

If you want the text to be read from a specific point, move the mouse cursor to the desired point, right-click and select the "Read aloud" option.

You can also paint the desired text with the mouse, in which case only the painted text will be read aloud (right-click → Read aloud selection).

When the read aloud function is on, you can click anywhere on the screen and the browser will continue reading from where you clicked. To stop the audio, click the buttons at the top of the screen. You can also use the buttons to skip to the next or previous paragraph.

The sound menu allows you to set the speed at which the text is read. You can also choose which voice reads the text. There are many English voices to choose from, while the number of voices available in other languages may vary.

Taking screenshots is a very versatile tool in a teacher's digital toolbox. They make it easy to add extra material to a lesson. Screenshots are also a great supplement to written notes. When made available to students, screenshots can be used for a wide range of activities.

The PrtScn button (Print Screen) takes a screenshot of the whole desktop. The screenshot is cached on your computer and you can paste the image into the application of your choice.

The Win + PrtScn keyboard shortcut saves a screenshot into your computer's Screenshots folder.

If you want to take a screenshot of only part of the screen and possibly make edits or annotations to it, this is easily done with the Snip & Sketch tool.

With the Snip & Sketch tool, you can take screenshots of a part of the screen. The tool can be launched from the Start menu, but the Win + Shift + S keyboard shortcut will get you there faster. Pressing the shortcut brings up a menu at the top of the screen where you can select the screenshot option that suits your needs. The default option is a rectangular capture. Other options include free-form, window or full-screen capture.

Once the tool is active, you can drag the mouse with the left button down to take a screenshot of the desired part of the screen. The captured image is stored in the computer's cache. From there, you can paste the image into the desired location (such as a Word or Google Docs document). After taking a screenshot, a notification of the captured image will appear on the screen. Click the notification to edit and annotate the image, or simply save it as a file on your computer.

Snip & Sketch lets you draw on an image with a variety of tools, including a highlighter pen. There are also a variety of rulers to help you draw straight lines and arcs. You can also crop the image.

Finally, you can save the image as a file or copy it to your computer's cache to paste it somewhere else (such as a Word or Google Docs document).

You can zoom in or out on a webpage by holding the Ctrl key and pressing the + key.

Zooming out is done with the Ctrl and - (hyphen) keys.

To return to the default zoom level, press the Ctrl and 0 (zero) keys.

Zooming can also be done by rotating the mouse scroll wheel while holding down the Ctrl key. Zooming can also be done manually from the browser menu.

When you zoom, a magnifying glass icon appears in the browser's address bar, with either - or + inside it, depending on how you've zoomed.

There's no need to rely on mouse clicks to rewind and pause videos. Players on the most popular video platforms (such as YouTube and Vimeo) can also be controlled using keyboard commands. For example, if you want to look at a phenomenon in detail, it's handy to go frame by frame. If you want to rewind a video, it's easier to tap a key on the keyboard a few times than to use the mouse to find the point you want to go back to.