Exactly a year ago, nations bid goodbye to most social activities. Schools were one of the firsts to transition online during the pandemic, forcing students and educators to meet in a virtual academic facility. However, the shift was not smooth, especially on the side of the educators who are mostly in their 40s.
Due to remote schooling, teachers need to know how to make their materials available online. Most of these papers are scanned and turned into PDFs. Although PDFs are one of the most commonly used file formats, they can be annoying and frustrating, hence being a common problem for those who are teaching from home.
That said, if you are an online educator or simply a teacher who is working from home and is tired of struggling with PDFs, we have curated five essential PDF hacks using tools from PDFBear for you.
Turn your PDF to editable word files
Most forms are generally sent in PDF format. If you are a teacher, chances are, you have to personalize these forms according to your class sections and dates. The problem is that you cannot directly add your information in the required fields. The solution? Convert your PDF to Word online.
Converting your PDF into an editable word file using PDFBear is easy. You just need to upload your document to the website by selecting the file from your drive or dragging it directly to the website.
You can choose your preferred conversion type. You can either convert it to a Word file with the pages appearing as images or convert it with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to make it an editable document. After that, all you have to do is wait until the conversion is finished before downloading the file.
Merge and split PDF files
Another good technique to know as a teacher working from home is how to organize your PDF files. No, it does not mean renaming your files by date or what, and most definitely not about putting all your files in one folder.
Organizing a PDF file means editing the structure of your document. For example, you want to add a PowerPoint presentation saved as a PDF to your module file. The easiest way to do this is by uploading both files in PDFBear.
You are then prompted with two options. PDFBear lets you choose whether you want to arrange and combine the PDFs anyway you like or let their software do it for you.
Aside from that, you can also split a PDF file. This is helpful for those times when you want to send your students a reference from a few pages of a book or divide each chapter into their PDF file. This will make it easier for you and your students to navigate through your references faster and in a more orderly fashion.
Reduce the file size of your PDF
Believe it or not, but the file size of your PDF matters, especially if you are a teacher. Some students do not have the fastest internet connection and will undoubtedly have trouble saving or downloading large files. Do them a favor and reduce the size of your PDF with the help of PDFBear.
Reducing the size of your file is not only beneficial for your students. It is also advantageous on your end. Think of it this way: as a teacher you have a notable number of references and documents you need to save and having big file size for a single PDF can be detrimental to the health of your hard drive. As a result, your computer will slow down and it will be more difficult for you to work. That said, keep your file sizes at the minimum to keep your workflow smooth.
Put a watermark on your PDF
As a teacher, it is important to protect your content, especially that you are making it available online. After all, some students can be quite devious. They can easily alter the documents to their liking to get a better grade if you do not put a watermark on your materials.
Thankfully, adding a unique and personalized mark on your files is simple. Upload your file on PDFBear’s website, type in your watermark, wait for the software to place the watermark on all of the pages, then click download to save.
Secure your PDF with a password
As a teacher, you must ensure that your students do not discuss sensitive class information with other sections. Doing so is already hard in a traditional, face-to-face setting, all the more when you are remotely teaching kids to who you cannot give full supervision.
To avoid sharing information, you can make multiple PDF files with similar contents for different student sections. Using PDFBear’s security tools, you can encrypt each one of these documents with unique passwords.
Also, putting passwords on your PDF files makes sure that no one can open that document without your permission. Hence, you can upload materials before the date of discussion and none of your students can cheat their way by opening it anytime they want.
Takeaway
Being an educator in a time of a pandemic is hard. You cannot fully supervise your students, making it more difficult to know whether they are learning enough or if they are cheating their way through periods. That is why learning your way through the technicalities of online education and familiarizing yourself with PDF hacks is an advantage you would not want to miss.
With these PDF hacks, you can confidently manage your documents to efficiently provide the right materials for your students. And thanks to PDFBear’s remote nature, you can easily access these tools whenever and wherever you like as long as you have an internet connection.
Transitioning to a virtual platform may be overwhelming. However, remember that modern technology was designed to make lives more convenient. Utilize the tools available within your reach to make your online experience more manageable. Only when you do so can you fully enjoy the benefits of the virtual world.
