My Favorite Elgato Stream Deck Tips for Productivity and Workflow as a Chemistry Teacher
Teaching is a challenging yet rewarding profession, and chemistry teachers often find themselves juggling multiple tasks simultaneously. Fortunately, technology has evolved to assist educators in enhancing their productivity and workflow. One such tool, the Elgato stream deck, originally designed for live-streaming, has proven to be a valuable asset for chemistry teachers looking to optimize their workflow. In this blog post, I will share some of my favorite tips for using the Elgato stream deck to optimize my workflow as a chemistry teacher.
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Program Subscripts and Superscripts.
As chemistry teachers, we regularly need to be able to use subscripts and superscripts. But unfortunately, there are programs that do not natively support subscripts and superscripts. I love symbolsalad.com to copy and paste subscripts and superscripts, along with so many other symbols, into programs such as Google Sheets. But that does involve copying and pasting. Programming subscripts and superscripts into your Stream Deck means you only have to press the button on the stream deck, and the subscript or superscript will automatically paste wherever you are trying to paste it! Here’s how to set it up in your Stream Deck:
Pull up the stream deck software on your desktop. Decide where you would like the numbers and/or symbols to be located.
Click on the box where you want your first option to go.
Drag a text function from the right side into the desired location. This will now pop up the text settings at the bottom of the Stream Deck application software.
Copy and paste the desired text or symbol into the text box. I went to symbolsalad.com and copied and pasted from there. For example, for the superscript “1”, I copied the superscript “1” from symbolsalad, and then pasted it into the text field on the stream deck software.
You can customize the image you see on the stream deck itself. I purchased and downloaded a set of stream deck icons from etsy. I found the number “1” image in the icons I downloaded, and dropped that image into the image location in the stream deck software. This will then show that image on your Stream Deck.
I also chose to include the word “Superscript” on the button, which you can do by entering the desired text in the “title” section. That way, I knew I would be able to tell apart the subscripts and superscripts from each other.
I repeated the process for all numbers 0-9 in both superscript and subscript form. I also included a “+” and a “-” superscript option as well. P.S. You can add multiple pages to a profile, which is why I can have room for so many buttons on my 15 button Stream Deck.
Adding superscripts and subscripts to an Elgato Stream Deck is easy. Watch this video to learn how to program superscripts and subscripts to an Elgato stream deck for use in your chemistry classroom.
Program Common Feedback.
As chemistry teachers, we commonly use some phrases repeatedly when leaving feedback on assignments, labs, and CER conclusions, among others. While Google Classroom and other LMS might have the capability to program common phrases, you often have to type portions of that pre-saved comment before you can add it. If you want to save some time, program your common feedback phrases to the stream deck. Use the text option to enter a common phrase. You can program a button on the Stream deck, and at the push of a button, you can insert that piece of feedback into the Google DOC or feedback section of your LMS. You can set up a page, or pages, on your stream deck to contain all of those common pieces of feedback you regularly use. When you’re grading, display that page on your stream deck, and have access to numerous pieces of feedback that you can paste directly on the students’ work with just the push of a button.
Pull Up Regularly Used Apps, Files, and Folders.
If you have anything that you regularly use, you can program the stream deck to launch it at the push of a button. This can save you time from digging through folders and files. You can also program the Stream Deck to open up a webpage. If you come into your classroom every morning and open up the same webpages, you can have the Stream Deck launch those pages just by pressing a button on your Stream Deck. Instead of adding a “text” option in the software of the Stream Deck, choose either “open” for a program on your desktop, or “website” to open a website at the push of a button.
Initiate Keyboard Shortcuts.
There are numerous keyboard shortcuts that can be used to maximize your time. But let’s face it. They can be hard to remember. If you program a keyboard shortcut to your Elgato stream deck, you no longer have to remember those shortcuts. And if you add an image to the button on your stream deck, you can use that to help you remember which button is programmed for what keyboard shortcut. And when you need to use that shortcut, simply press the button on the stream desk, and it will do it for you. For example, let’s say you close a tab accidentally in Google Chrome. The shortcut ctrl + shift + T (or cmd + shift + T on a mac) will reopen that tab for you. If you struggle to remember that shortcut, you could program it with the Stream Deck software so that it is just a button on your Stream Deck. And then you won’t have to remember the shortcut.
Program Multi-Step Actions.
Sometimes there are things that need to be down in a specific sequence of steps. For example, when I make new pixel art assignments, I need to open a color picker to copy a color from an image I am using as a model. Then I need to paste that color code into the new pixel art assignment that I am creating. This is a cumbersome process. But I have programmed a button to open a color picker, copy the color where my cursor is located, wait a few seconds so that I can go to the conditional formatting in the new assignment, then paste the color code so that the color changes to what I want. It streamlines my process and saves time, all at the click of one button. If you have routines or multi-step processes that you complete regularly, the stream deck can save you time and effort.
My Favorite Stream Deck Tips for Productivity and Workflow as a Chemistry Teacher.
The Elgato stream deck will work best when educators have a pre-planned idea of how they are going to use this technology in their classroom. This tool can augment and enhance an educator’s classroom. But it will not do so directly out of the box. You will need to spend time optimizing the stream deck for you and your classroom. If you spend time, you can optimize your workflow by programming your stream deck to perform tasks you regularly use at a touch of a button. And the possibilities are endless. If you can imagine it, the Stream Deck can likely do it for you.
I hope you have learned how the Stream Deck can help improve your workflow and maximize productivity. Is there something you wish the Stream Deck could do for you? Let me know over on Instagram. Pin the image above to share with others! If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message via DM on Instagram or at rebecca.unbrokenbond@gmail.com. Happy Teaching!
