Through eLearning, there’s been a surge in the use of PDFs for assignments and quizzes. Educators naturally turn to Google Classroom to manage these resources. One educator posted to the Google Classroom forum with this question—a question everyone is asking:
“When I create an assignment and attach a PDF, is there a way to make the students simply fill it out on screen instead of printing it (and wasting paper)? I was hoping they could simply fill it out and then turn it in.”
The answer may surprise you. Google doesn’t have tools to mark up, or annotate, a PDF.
PDFs are a reliable and usable staple of modern education, functioning independently of operating systems and web browsers. When you open one, you know without question that all text and images will appear as the document’s creator intended.
But there’s good news after all. There is a tool that adds annotation tools to Google so students can fill out those PDFs, and then print or turn them in. All it takes is the Snap&Read extension. If you’re unfamiliar with Snap&Read, the student’s personal reading toolkit, you can read up on it here and start your free trial if it sounds useful.
If you already have Snap&Read, then keep scrolling. You’re about to learn how to annotate PDFs in Google Chrome, which means your students are too.