Adobe Reader remembers where you last viewed part of a document

Posted on February 11, 2013 by E.A. Draffan

“I found it useful when revisiting lectures notes for exams to use Adobe Reader. It can remember the last view of a document and when I re-opened it I am able to start revising from where I left off without having to look for items or remember the particular slide or page again.”

To check you have set up the settings for this to happen

Go to Edit > Preferences.
Choose Documents.
Check the box marked, Restore last view settings when reopening documents.

The same is possible if you are using Foxit Reader Just select Edit > Preferences > General, and then enable Restore last view settings when reopening.

Free Dictionary on the iPad and Dictionary.com app

Posted on February 8, 2013 by E.A. Draffan

“I like the way on the iPad the dictionaries are available from different apps but I also use the free Dictionary.com and Thesaurus app as it works offline and gives me the pronunciation of words.” Andreas

There are advertisements supporting the free version of the app. These disappear if you pay £2.99 for the ad free version of the Dictionary. The iPad version also appears to work on an iPhone OS 6 as can be seen in the image and you can say the word using speech recognition.

Butterscotch.com have provided a YouTube video about the Dictionary.com app and mentions that you need to be online to use the audio pronunciation.

Wikipedia to help with writing

Posted on February 5, 2013 by E.A. Draffan

“I use Wikipedia before starting to write any reports or essays in order to have a broad idea that may relate to a specific topic. Then I start to look for references, websites, journals and conference papers.”

But as is commented on the page that we have linked to on Wikipedia “Do your research properly and wisely. Remember that any encyclopaedia is a starting point for research, not an ending point.” However, Wikipedia often provides references at the bottom of the topic page and can lead to other more academic resources and it even offers advice as to how Wikipedia should be used for researche

There is also a YouTube video describing the way Wikipedia can be used for Research

iPhone dictionary so easy to use.

Posted on December 15, 2012 by E.A. Draffan

“I like the iPhone’s dictionary – if you don’t know the meaning of a word on a website you just have to tap on it to get its meaning. So simple and easy.” Anibul

The dictionary was added for iOS 5 and it is important to just tap and hold on a single word to see the ‘Define‘ menu appear beside ‘Copy, Select All and Speak’. It does not work in all applications. In messages the complete message is highlighted on tap and hold but you can use Copy and use Speak.

Subtitles for translating video content – English not your first language?

Posted on December 11, 2012 by E.A. Draffan

“When you watch videos that are not in your first language – if there are subtitles turn these into your chosen language to help explain the content.”

YouTube has closed captioning or subtitles on some videos and the video called “How to extract YouTube Subtitles (Interactive Transcript) in 2 minutes [HD]” illustrates some of the difficulties that occur with automatic captioning – A Frenchman speaking in English and when you view the subtitles by selecting the small list icon on the bottom right of the video player you will see that some of the words do not match what has been said but you can also translate the words into your chosen language. The results will be variable! In this video you will see how you can take the transcript and improve the results.

Google Scholar for research material

Posted on December 11, 2012 by E.A. Draffan

“I use Google Scholar to search for materials and useful information for my studies and find this can lead to reading other papers as a result of the links to similar articles. It also helps when you want to cite a paper as it gives you the layout for the citation.” Katherine

Lexdis 2.0

Accessible technology for learning

Category Archives: Research