FTT - Notable PDF

From the Chrome Store

Notable PDF - Viewer and Annotation Tool for Google Drive

@joe_edtech

One of the hurdles teachers face as they start to integrate Google Apps into their classrooms (the substitution step on the SAMR ladder) is how to make their printed materials usable once they've been scanned. It is easy to read PDFs in Google Drive, but it isn't so easy to make PDFs interactive. Notable PDF, available from the Chrome Web Store, solves some of the problem.

The first step is to go the the Chrome Web Store and add Notable PDF to your browser. Once you've done that, you'll notice that you will have options when you want to open a PDF in Drive.

This is from the Preview screen in Drive

The first time you open a file with Notable PDF, you'll have the option to watch a brief tutorial on the functions of the product. When the document opens, it will open with a black border and a few "menu buttons" on the right hand side. They are pretty standard annotation functions (highlight, strikethrough, underline, comment, add text, and select text), but if you hover over any of the buttons, you'll get a mini pop up with a description of the functionality.

Annotated Document using Notable PDF

In the example to the left, I added text in the white space of the PDF using the "add text" tool (capital A). 

I also added a text comment. Similar to working in Drive, comments are linked to some portion of the text. So after clicking the "dialogue bubble" icon, click on the pertinent text and type your comment in the pop up box that appears on the right hand side of the screen.

If you look at the top menu bar, you'll notice there are a few more tools. Most of them are pretty standard, but perhaps the most useful for your classroom is the "share" icon:

The share icon allows your students to add you to their Notable PDF documents. Once you've been added, you can see their annotations, add your own, and reply to their comments.

The good news is that annotations you make and comments you make are automatically saved in Notable PDF. However, Notable PDF is not a panacea. Depending on how the PDF is made (scanned as a picture or saved as a PDF from your PC) you may or may not get full functionality from all of the annotation buttons. The "add text" tool and the "dialogue bubble" for adding comments will always work, though.

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Notable PDF is just one of the many options for working with PDFs online. If you have one that you've used and have had success with, please share it in the comments box below.