Getting friendly with Printfriendly #blogjune

So I have decided to take on #blogjune . For those unaware, it is a project that challenges participants to blog every day during the month of June; hence the question ‘am I mad?’ which is floating around in my head. I have no idea how I will go, particularly over weekends, which are typically my time away from the desk, but I will do my utmost!

What to blog about? Those of you who have encountered my blog before will know that I am a full time doctoral student, previously librarian, previously teacher, who is studying how teachers experience professional learning via personal learning networks. Fortunately I am fascinated by the potential of PLNs and how much learning can occur through the connections one can make online. Unfortunately writing my thesis does not consist of sitting all day on Twitter and Facebook (although I sometimes wish it did!).

I am very lucky though that my study is made that little bit easier by a range of different tools that I have come across during the years, which take just some of the grind out of ceaseless days of typing text. So during #blogjune, when I am not sharing updates on my research, I will be sharing tips about tools that I have found useful as a teacher, learner and general online denizen.

The first tool I’d like to introduce is PrintFriendly.

Basically this tool turns any webpage into a printable PDF, which you can either print physically,  save as a PDF or email from within the site. This is fantastic if you have found an article on a website which you want to add to an app like Endnote, or if you wish to capture and save an online newspaper article that will invariably disappear. It also makes the process of capturing the relevant information easy, as with a click, you can delete any extraneous advertising, unnecessary footer information etc prior to printing. Here’s a quick video that shows you all the cool features of this free tool.

What makes it even easier to use is the bookmarklet, which sits up in your toolbar and makes the entire process one simple click away. It speeds up the process of getting information off a webpage and formatted into a usable document extremely quick and easy.

I use Printfriendly all the time as a student. It allows me to capture blog posts, website articles and more so quick and easy. It’s also fantastic if a site has a ‘print version’ button that doesn’t work (I’m looking at you, online bank websites!). Saving online bank statements and capturing evidence of online transactions is just a click away.

So head on over to Printfriendly and get your button today, speed up your processes and give yourself a little more time to spend on Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube or whatever your online poison may be!