We’re really missing spending time with our grandchildren. Zoom has made it more possible to connect with them.
On this page …
Reading children stories
This is me sharing my screen (with a ‘scanned’ storybook) with my grandson …
Simply …
- Take photos of (or scan) the storybook pages
- Upload to computer
- Open first page in a ‘photo view’ app
- Use Zoom’s ‘Share’ feature to display it on your child’s/grandchild’s screen
And here are the steps in detail …
Preparation beforehand … |
Tips |
| Use your camera (or scanner) to take pictures of each page | Get someone else to turn the pages – its much quicker! |
| Move all the pictures into a separate folder on your computer | |
| Edit the pictures – to make sure they are all the right way up | |
| Choose the program to open your pictures | Ideally the arrow keys will let you move page to page. Windows ‘Photos’ works well |
Just before the call … |
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| Double click the first picture to open it in a photo viewing program | “Zoom” in so the picture takes up all the screen |
Reading the story … |
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| Start your Zoom call | Works best if child is using a large screen (laptop / computer) |
| When you’re ready, share your screen | Click here for how to share your screen – from Zoom |
| Read the story 🙂 |
ENJOY!
Notes:
- Remember, books are copyright and the source of income for the authors. So do NOT share/send the images to other people.
- I am unclear whether this use breaches copyright law. I have searched, but cannot find a clear answer. We are not making physical copies. We own the books. We are not distributing the copies. We are using them for strictly personal use. If anyone can help with this please send me an email.
Drawing together
Simply …
- Find a picture and display it on your computer
- Open Zoom with the child
- Share your screen
- Use Zoom’s ‘Annotate’ feature to both draw on the picture
These instructions assume a Windows PC or laptop – if you have a Mac or tablet they should be similar.
A phone is probably going to have just too small a screen for this.
- Find a picture from somewhere (a photo uploaded to your computer or do a Google search and click on ‘Images’ – and then right-click and Save)
- Open the picture using any program (on a PC, ‘Photos’ will do … or double-click on the picture will probably work)
- Then, in Zoom …
- Click the ‘Share Screen’ button (usually green and at the bottom of the Zoom screen)
- Choose the Picture you’ve just opened and click on ‘Share’
- Finally, click on ‘Annotate’ (usually at the top of your screen)
- The most useful tools to start are
- Stamp (once you’ve chosen a shape, it just needs the child to click on the screen)
- Draw (needs click-and-drag skills)
- Format – you can choose colour and pen size
- You can even ‘Save’ the picture at the end and email it to them
ENJOY!
Here is our masterpiece 🙂
Ideas for games using this coming soon
