TELL US ABOUT A COOL TOOL! ADD YOUR ENTRY AS A COMMENT BELOW. PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IN YOUR RESPONSE.
- name of the tool
- platform(s) on which it works (web-based, iOS, Android, etc.)
- what it does
- one way it could be used in your situation (classroom, PD, etc.): Be specific with your ideas!
- optional: screen shots of the tool in action
- optional: "testimonials" from users (i.e. students or staff)
DeAnne Mayfield (North Daviess)
ReplyDeleteI have been using Socrative in my classes. This is an assessment tool that works on any device: smartphones, laptops, anything that can access the internet. The only limit is that only 50 students can participate at a time. I use it for digital exit passes, quick checks for understanding, and small quizzes (3 to 5 questions). It is free and can be found at www.socrative.com. I can download reports of the responses and it also grades the assessment for you. We are 1:1 at our school and the students are allowed to have their phones (depending on teacher preference), so I just have the students get out whatever device they have handy and put the class password on the board. The students enjoy the variety and appreciate being able to use their tech devices.
If a student doesn't have a device, a nifty feature is that the first student can log out and the one without the device can borrow theirs for the activity. Also, it shows results in real time, so if you have a projector/screen, students can see results or they can play a game called Space Race, where the correct answers win. (I haven't tried that yet...don't have a mounted projector.) I have heard many positive comments about this application and like it for its efficiency and its easy data storage. I simply store the downloads in a folder and I can easily set up activities to show proof of growth in specific knowledge sets. I have run the activity from my phone, my tablet, my laptop, and my desktop -- I like to move around, so I'm usually running it on my phone or tablet.
DeAnne,
DeleteThanks for sharing this tool. I downloaded it after reading your post and I can't wait to try it out. I also liked your idea about sharing tech devices.
I have SMART Response clickers, but I plan to try this tool out next year.
DeleteThis year, we have several teachers getting their Masters. While taking a few courses, one came to me with the tool Prezi. I had never heard of Prezi before, but she was inspired. She said that I had to know about it, becuase my students would love it. She showed me some cool features that sets Prezi apart from other presentation tools (not that this one is better, just different).
ReplyDeleteI have plans to use this tool duing these last few weeks (Prezi) (www.prezi.com). This is a presentation tool that will work on a computer, laptop, iPad, or Smartphone. I personally like it best on a computer. Since I teach second grade, I plan on doing this activity with only my higher ability students (at least the first time). These students have already created a powerpoint presentation. We have also talked about presentations. (Why you would do a presentation?, What is a presentation?, How do you do a powerpoint? We talked about what a presentation should look like for various audiances.)
Over the last few weeks, we (higher ability) have been doing research projects. The students got to choose their topic. Something they would like to learn more about. I would like to help them take the information they found, and create a Prezi presentation.
Prezi is a fun way to be creative. It is a presentation tool where creativity can run wild. I like that the students can pick a theme (that reminds them of what they are presenting). I think it is a very simple way of creating a unique presention. Once learning the basics, it really is easy to create.
Cassondra,
DeleteI am having my students use Prezi next week. I found a few tutorials online on how to get started using the tool. I will be using it with my general students 9-10. Were there any problems that you encountered or any advice you could give about using Prezi?
Name: Socrative Teacher Clicker / Socrative Student Clicker
ReplyDeletePlatform: iOS (4.3 or later)
What it does: It is a clicker system that allows you to do educational activities/games, and it is a great CFU (check for understanding) tool. You can instantly ask your students short answer, true/false, or multiple choice questions. Additionally, you can quickly create exit tickets, short quizzes, or race games. All the teacher has to do is download the app and create a free account. All the students have to do is download the app and log into your classroom via your classroom number (which is display at the top of the app once you log on).
One way it could be used in the classroom: As part of our RISE evaluation this year, I have been working on using a variety of CFUs. At the end of a lesson or during our CUBS time (which is a time when all grade levels work on specific standards are shown as weaknesses on our Acuity results), I can quickly (in less than 30 seconds) have all my students log onto my classroom and answer a question. Moreover, I can have students tell me how well they understand a lesson or concept on a scale of 1-10 (if I choose a short answer question) or on a scale of A-E (if I choose a multiple choice question – which actually makes it much easier to see overall results of a rating scale). I know this is more of a Substitution level type of tool, but it is an excellent tool to have. It is just so quick and easy! CFUs are actually CFUs now – as in they don’t take 5 minutes of my day to complete…they take more like 30-45 seconds.
I just noticed that I am the second person to talk about Socrative, so I would like to suggest another tool:
ReplyDeleteName: Speech Journal
Platform: iOS (5.1 or higher)
What it does: This app allows students to create an audio type of journal. They can insert a picture and record themselves or others talking about the picture. Multiple picture can be added, and a type of presentation journal is created.
Ways that it could be used in the classroom: Students can use this simply to take notes. They can create review journals to study for a test. For our next social studies test, students are going to take pictures from our text or screen shots from other sources that remind them of trade and government. They will then record themselves talking about each picture and what item from the study guide it represents. It is also a great tool for children with IEPs. It can also be used to show autistic students (or other students who rely heavily on schedules) their schedule for the day.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy Big Campus: Bunting Bundling
ReplyDeleteFor most of my experience at DCHS, I have used the District’s School Fusion Page. This year our small learning community began the initiative to move towards 1:1 computing. The teachers in Quest and Inquiry were asked to begin exploring with My Big Campus. School Fusion is a powerful tool, yet MBC allows for better organization of units and schoolwork such as quizzes and assignments.
Initially, the students struggled with getting accounts, but technology superheroes were there to help. The students found it easy to navigate and explore the resources that were created and compiled for the Bundle (unit). I am also able to allow the students to continue at different rates. The quizzes and assignments can be set up to have a passing grade/mastery level, or the number of times to allow for retesting. I feel that I can create an environment that allows the students the avenues to explore.
The screenshot on the right shows the bundle for Africa. My Sophomore Honors English students are comparing Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart. This bundle provided information for the students to explore and familiarize themselves with some background information.
My learning curve is still in its infancy, hence the “Bunting” in the title, but the results so far have been positive. Students are able to access the information from our in class laptops, their own laptops, their smartphones/iPhones, basically they are able to access the class from any location and any device that has internet connection. Yay, MBC!
The link to my bundle: http://www.mybigcampus.com/bundles/explore-africa---141993
ReplyDelete•Name of the tool: Photo Story 3 for Windows
ReplyDelete•Platform(s) on which it works: Program supported by Windows.
•What it does: Photo story is an alternative to powerpoint. Essentially it is a montage of photos that you can select from the internet or ones that you have taken yourself. You can add text over the photos or you can play music or add a vioce-over. The program also enables the user to share their story with viewers.
•One way it could be used in your situation (classroom, PD, etc.): I have used this program in place of Powerpoint as a presentation device. The students had to research one piece of evidence that supports Darwin's theory of evolution. They then had to develop a narritive and find photos to compile into their photo story about evolution. I have used this project as an introduction to the evidence of evolution and will try it as a review after we have discussed the topic in class to see which I like best.
•"Testimonials": My students enjoyed this project. They liked that they could add their own flair to make the video interesting for their classmates. They also learned a lot about the evidence that they reaserched, more than I could tell them in a lecture.
Note: I did have technical difficulties when I tried to do this project with my students. The problem was with student profiles on our network at school. Some students had access to Photo Story others did not so they could not save their work or they could not make changes to their work after they had saved it once. So, I ended up having those students who had problems use powerpoint instead. You could definitly tell that the students who had to use powerpoint were not as engaged after they had their hearts set on making a "movie". I am going to try this project again next week but give the students the option of using Photo Story or Prezi. Maybe using different technology will be something that they will enjoy rather than using powerpoint.
NAME:
ReplyDeleteCamtasia Studio: TechSmith
PLATFORM:
TechSmith has developed software for both the PC and Mac environment.
WHAT IT DOES:
Camtasia Studio and Camtasia for Mac are software applications that allow the user to create video tutorials and presentations (screen capture). The exact screen area to be captured can be specified, and audio may be recorded simultaneously or added separately. One can use Camtasia to record your screen to capture presentation slides, demonstrations, and webpages. You can then edit your screen recordings and camera video by cutting, splicing, and combining clips with the video editor. You can import camera video, music, and pictures. You can customize your recordings and videos with animations, backgrounds, graphics, callouts, etc. You can place clickable links in the video. The videos can be shared.
WAY IT CAN BE USED IN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
I use Camtasia Studio to create short training videos for our staff. For example: Staff members that have access to our student information system need to reset their default year when returning from summer vacation. In years past, we would send out written documentation or the user would call our Help Desk for assistance with this minor task. We decided to create a short training video that captures the screen as we go through the process of setting the new default year. We then voice over the video with detailed instructions as the video is playing. We house this video on our LMS where staff members can access the video at any given time. This has proven to be a win-win situation for our district. The staff can access the video and actually see us move through the steps, they can then emulate what they saw in the video to reach the desired outcome. These short video snippets have saved our training staff and help desk employees from having to repeat the same thing over and over again.
WAY IT CAN BE USED IN THE CLASSROOM:
I no longer have a classroom per say; however, my own children use Camtasia to create collaborative projects in their own classrooms. I have known them to shoot raw video at school and bring it home to put into a commercial format, a PSA, or a short video movie clip. They are able to add callouts and other graphics to their work. They love using Camtasia because it is easy.
Brian Kehrt (New Palestine)
ReplyDeleteI started using Edmodo in my classes this year. It was an easy way for me to post our lesson plans electronically. Most of our staff is using Moodle, but our technology director thought I might like using Edmodo. I like it thus far because of the ease of use. I believe our kids like it better than Moodle because it has more of a social networking look to it. It is an internet tool that runs on several platforms and it allows for me to post daily assignments and has a calendar as well. It also gives me the ability to communicate with parents as there is a parent code that can be sent out so that they have access.
Many of our teachers have made the leap to online assessment through Moodle or Edmodo, but as of yet I have not. It is one of my goals to be able to post quizzes and give immediate feedback to the students. I am still working to expand the use of Edmodo in my classroom and hope to learn even more over the summer.
I am using My Big Campus for similar reasons. You might want to try it out some this summer as well. I really enjoy it! It is also a free platform. The app doesn't work very well, but they are working on that. I just access it via the Internet. I went to an all day training session for My Big Campus at the HECC conference last November. Most of the teachers there said they preferred My Big Campus to Edmodo, but that may have just been the group of teachers that were in the training session that day (teachers who preferred My Big Campus over Edmodo and/or Moodle and were, therefore, training to learn more about it).
DeletePersonally, I have never tried Edmodo or Moodle. I will have to check those out.
Christy Hartman
ReplyDeleteThere were many tools I wanted to choose from. A couple had already been picked. Many of the tools are difficult to use with my students at this time. My laptops have been taken out of my room for ISTEP and the computer lab is being used for ISTEP. I chose Google because I need to learn more about it and since my students will be using Chromebooks, Google will be the main source of manipulating the laptops.
Tool: Google (Docs, Drive, Search)
Platform: web-based
What it Does:
Google Docs is a freeware web-based office suite offered by Google within its Google Drive service. It also was a storage service but has since been replaced by Google Drive. It allows users to create and edit documents online while collaborating in real-time with other users. (Wikipedia.org)
How it Can be Used:
As a second grade teacher, maybe third grade next year, every student will have storage on the Google Drive. I want to facilitate/teach my students how to create folders and share saved files with each other. This tool would be great for a research project. I can send rubrics, graphic organizers, and many more files to my students through the Drive. Also, students can collaborate and share files between each other. Another great resource is the use of the web to gather information. Students could find websites related to their research project and save the web page to their Drive. Also, pictures, video, and audio files can be downloaded in their Drive. Teaching students the collaboration and organization of group projects can lead to reports using other technology tools.
My students do not currently have Google accounts. I wish they did. We use Google Docs for our technology committee at school, and it is very handy. Being able to edit shared documents synchronously and asynchronously is wonderful! I tried to do something similar to this in My Big Campus. We were working on creating a chapter outlines for science, and the students were separated into groups. I thought that each group could split up their chapter and work on one document at the same time. So...I created a document in My Big Campus and gave my students the ability to edit it. However, it saved all the changes made by individual users in one place. So, to see all the changes Student X made to the document, you had to click on Student X at the right. And, to see all the changes Student Y made to the document, you had to click on Student Y at the right. Google Docs would have been so much easier! I think you will enjoy using it.
DeleteI am very excited about my students using it next year. I have heard that every student will have a gmail account.
DeleteName of the Tool: ScootPad
ReplyDeleteScootpad is a web-based academic program that is for grades K-5. I first heard about it this past Christmas and started using it with my fifth grade daughter. After using her as a guinea pig the first few weeks with the program, there seemed to be a lot of potential in using it as a program to work on students’ academic standards.
There were a lot of pros to the program that made it something that teachers would use in the classroom and also have the students use at home. First off, the program WAS free. When I first started using it there was no cost, but now there is a free version and paid version. The paid version is $5.00 a month and well worth the cost. It gives you much more options. A school or district can also purchase the program at a discounted rate, but I haven’t explored those options yet. Also, Scootpad can be used on any platform and has an app for it in iTunes. The curriculum is based on the Common Core Standards and with the paid version you can assign whichever of the standards best meet your class’ needs. Since not every student is always on the same level, Scootpad allows you to create different assignments for your students. These assignments can also be on different grade levels.
Besides experimenting with my daughter using the program, I have not had a chance to use Scootpad in a classroom since I am not in a classroom. After using the program with my daughter, she showed her teacher and the next week they were using it as a class. It was nice getting the parent levels, receiving weekly reports, and seeing my daughter have the chance to be challenged in her work.
After seeing how well Scootpad was working, I decided to introduce it to the teachers in my district. Of the teachers who actually started using the program, they have loved it! The teachers have been using it in a variety of manners. They have all been using to assign work for the students, but some have used different options. Some teachers have given all the students the same assignment and a certain amount of time to complete it, while others have given different assignments to students based on the standards they are working on or are having trouble with mastering. Still others are allowing the students to work on any assignment that they want to choose.
One of the pieces that the teachers have agreed that has been most beneficial is the reward system within Scootpad. They have set up different rewards for the students when they reach a certain number of points. The points have been most successful in the lower grades (K-2).
Scootpad also has weekly rankings for that are both class, grade, and nation-wide. The success of this tool comes when I have teachers asking me to post students and their classes on our corporation Facebook page when they are in the top ten in the nation on certain weeks. We plan to offer more teachers training this summer on Scootpad in hopes of expanding on the success of these first teachers who began using the Scootpad.
Name of the Tool:
ReplyDeleteSumdog.com
Platform(s) on which it works:
This is a free webbased site.
What it Does:
This is a math game that provides skill practice for students in grades 1-6. Students log in and solve math problems ranging in levels and skills that they are ready for. Teachers can sign up their students and choose skills or allow for the program to set the skills based on their abilities.
One Way it Could be Used in Library:
I use this with a math group I have in the library. When students finish up on the lesson for the day, they can go onto the site for skill practice. My students love this site because they are competitive and they can play against one another or play the world. There have been times when I was teaching them, they would tell me "I had a problem similar to that on Sumdog!" Also, students get an avatar and for every game they play they earn coins to purchase clothing or various items to dress up their avatar. When my students get time to play this, they are very excited!!
Beginning in August 2013 all k-12 students in our school corporation will be equipped with iPads. There is a wide range of emotions in the staff from those who are uncomfortable and unsure of how they can incorporate technology in their curriculum to those who are so excited about the possibilities that they are beginning to research and pull together resources and, of course, the majority who are somewhere in the middle.
ReplyDeleteI am one of the excited. I see the unlimited possibilities for education. However, I teach composition and literature, and I don’t want to substitute technology for pen and paper or textbooks. I want to fully integrate technology, so where do I begin?
While exploring websites and apps that can be incorporated into my curriculum, I discovered “bubbl.us.” This is a free web-based graphic organizer used to create bubble diagrams. These diagrams can be shared by me with the class, or by students with one another, or they can be used individually.
As a language arts teacher this I could find several uses for this tool. It is easy to use, taking only 5 minutes for me to figure out with virtually no directions or tutorial. I could post an idea and share it with all of my students allowing them to add their own bubbles. For example, I could begin a bubble diagram for a short story and students could add their own bubbles listing themes, characters, and conflict—students building upon one another’s ideas. I could also ask students to begin a bubble diagram of their own to brainstorm before beginning an essay or research project.
I have not yet had the opportunity to use this in the classroom, but I will certainly keep it on my list of tools when updating my lesson plans.
(I have a screen shot saved to my blogger account; please see:
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=855270218314686606#editor/target=post;postID=2150569482298605386;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=0;src=postname
Class presentations are important learning opportunities for students of all ages. It is important for students to articulate their ideas and information to others in a meaningful way. While each student or group presents information, it can be challenging to maintain the focus of those who are listening (or not) to the group work. I found a new online service that not only kept observing students engaged, but added quality content to the assessment and discussion of the projects afterwards.
ReplyDeleteToday's Meet (www.todaysmeet.com) is an online tool that allows commenting in real-time without requiring each individual to have an account. By logging on to the individual web address created by the moderator or meeting facilitator, comments about presentations or opinions about statements can be seen and trending opinions can be monitored. It works similar to the Twitterfall used originally by British newspapers.
Students creating presentations can give their presentation while the rest of the class can post statements agreeing with the presentation, adding additional information or facts, disagreeing or asking questions about the presentation. These can also create a real time peer assessment or review of the presentation. My students present positions on issues and the observing students love being able to add their comments without waiting until either the presentation is over or all have had a turn. It has also changed presentations of groups waiting to deliver their projects--as they see the trends of the comments, they have made adjustments.
The quality of the discussions after presentations has improved as students listen more intently in order to make strong, substantive statements, which they all want to do! It is listening and talking all at once with a positive learning outcome!
Clickers are in great demand and are shared. I am planning to use them for practice and having fun for the end of the year celebration.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteVoicethread.com.
ReplyDeleteweb based tool
I use voicethread for many different things from interactive discussion boards to posting of summative assessments. Students can upload their work for an authentic audience. There are many different ways to collaborate with this tool (you can type a posting, record your voice, video, text, phone). The best way to experience this great collaborative tool is to dive in and use it. I have used it K-adult. Last year I worked with a kindergarten teacher who wanted to implement a digital project so we designed and built recycled robots after reading a lot of text both fiction and non-fiction. After the students designed their robots they had to write a story. I uploaded pictures into voicethread of their robots and then we recorded the students reading their work. We then shared the voicethread with staff and parents for comments. It was a big hit. This year the same teacher received an ipad grant for several units so we will be continuing our work with voicethreads and other tools. Love all the ideas.