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)
My cool tool is not a new tool and probably one that most of you use; however, that doesn't mean it shouldn't be praised. In my job I use Google Apps EVERYDAY, ALL DAY LONG. For me, Google Apps for Education is my ULTIMATE tool. It's both web and iOS based (Google Drive app rocks!). As a member of the technology department and because I get to work with teachers, administrators, and everyone else in the corporation, I love Docs and the calendar for collaboration. It also allows me to communicate with other professionals outside of my corporation. We also use My Big Campus which allows for all of the above as well (communication, collaboration, organization, etc).
ReplyDeleteI would be interested to hear more about how you use Google Apps. I have only used it minimally, and only personally. However, our school is switching over to using Google instead of Novell, so I definitely want to become more familiar.
DeleteI LOVE Google Docs. It's been a huge time saver for me when I post anything to Moodle or Edmodo (et al.) because I can edit at will without having to repost. I also have students using it to share notes and to comment on each others' essay drafts. I know it's not new, but most people I work with don't use it yet.
DeleteI also use Google Apps everyday with my students. I have my students complete their assignments with Google and then submit on moodle for easy grading all in one place with a grade book built in.
DeleteSounds like I need to look into this more...it has been on my list to do just have not gotten to it. I like the idea of student interaction with one another.
DeleteMath XL For School
ReplyDeleteWeb-Based program that uses Flash, therefore it is not compatible for iOS.
Subscription cost - $12 per student
Math XL allows the teacher to assign skills to get the students to master a concept. They are given problems to work out for homework and are tested on those concepts. Throughout their homework, they can ask for an example, or watch a video to get extra help. The resources available are similar to Kahn Academy but the teacher is able to have more control of what the students are learning and follow their progress. Some classrooms are allowing students to work at their own pace and it has became more individualized learning and now the teacher takes on the role of a facilitator.
Our Math teachers tell other school when they come visit, "if you don't have Math XL yet, beg your administrators to purchase it because you want Math XL." I heard them say this frequently. Most of them were reluctant to do Math on the computer, but after they got comfortable, the teachers and students both would never go back to textbooks.
Do you know if there is a free trial period for Math XL...seems interesting but I would like to see it in action before the school makes that kind of purchase.
DeleteI was wondering if Math XL could be purchased at a building site price. Some of my teachers said it could be purchased per teacher. I heard it was great and feel the need to check into it further for our staff.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSocrative.com: Engaging Students in a Variety of Ways Using the Same Tool
ReplyDeleteI have always liked starting my class with what many people call bellwork; however, what I don’t like about it is not knowing exactly what my students’ knowledge on the topic was before I go over the answers. This has all changed since discovering Socrative.com. This website allows me to not only give bellwork but also allows me to do so much more.
I will start by mentioning that this is a free website. The teacher is the only one who has to set up an account and a “room number”. Students only have to go to the website to login and then type in the “room number” created by the teacher and click “Join”. It is a simple website for teachers and students to use and it works on all devices, laptops, ipads, mobiles, etc.
One of the options of socrative is the use of creating quizzes. The quizzes can have true/false, multiple choice, or open-ended questions. I use the quiz portion of this website to create my bellwork. After creating the bellwork/quizzes, they are able to be saved and edited for a later date. Also once a quiz is created, teachers only have to select begin quiz. Beginning a quiz, allows students to join the classroom and take the quiz. The quiz answers can be randomized and there are live results that can be viewed while students are in the middle of taking the quiz. Once a teacher noticed that all students have completed a quiz, the results are able to be downloaded and saved for a teacher to have immediately feedback on each student’s knowledge on each question. I love the immediate feedback that is given because before I knew that students were reviewing topics but I didn’t know if they actually knew the topic already or they really did need to work on the topic again.
A second option with socrative is class discussion. A teacher can pose an open-ended question that students can respond to all at the same time. Teachers can view the responses before displaying the comments made by students and delete any inappropriate comments as well. When starting a project based learning activity, I like to use this portion of the site because students can help compile the list of “need to know” items.
Lastly, I have used the site for exit slips. The student logs in quickly and then the student is given 4 quick questions. One, what is your name? Two a multiple choice item, how well did you understand today’s material? Three an open-ended question, what did you learn today? Lastly, solve the problem on the board. This is a 5 minute activity that can be used to get information about how each student is feeling and doing with the topic of the day.
We use My Big Campus at my school, which seems similar. I am going to check out this site and see if I like it better. One issue we have had is that students are overwhelmed with the number of sites and tools we have. What are you suggestions for alleviating their anxiety/ our problems with this?
DeleteJessica, I hear your concern. So many sites... In my experience, it's not so much the students but the teacher who feel overwhelmed with the options (and so many choose none). Right now, the students are okay because they're given specific tasks at a specific time to do on a specific site, plus, not a lot of teachers are integrating much technology. The links are in one place for them. (We use Moodle and/or Edmodo.)
DeleteI understand what you are saying what the good news about this site is that students do not have to remember a log in or sign up for an account at all. This should eliminate some of the anxiety.
DeleteI look forward to checking out this site as well. Check for understanding is critical and you give great examples for using Socrative.com throughout a class period depending on the need.
DeleteA word of caution about Socrative: If your building/corporation doesn't have very solid WiFi, Socrative gets a little squirrely. We had it skip questions for kids or not record their answers, which was pretty frustrating for everyone involved. I know other schools have used it without any problems, though. I recommend doing a trial run before planning on using it for "real" data collection (if you choose to do that).
DeletePOPPLET - a POPULAR thing to do!
ReplyDeleteI walk into my teacher's classrooms and I sometimes hear the children sigh or they roll their eyes. Yes, they are bored with the same old graphic organizers and brainstorming techniques. The best thing they've seen lately in some classrooms are the the teachers' drawings on their latest and greatest anchor charts. Well, help is on the way! I am going to introduce Popplet! It seems to be the popular thing to do with students who need more than paper and pencils! The options seem limitless!
Popplet is an online mapping tool that will help students visualize and share their ideas. The students will be able to create "popples" or boxes or balloons for text, photos, videos, YouTube clips, and much more. Students and teachers can make graphic organizers and timelines and present them to others. Users sign up and can develop projects for FREE. They just double click on the canvas and can even import from Facebook, Flickr, YouTube or from saved files.
Popplet can be used as a collaborative tool that is teacher or student-directed. I can see it now, Mrs. Jones will have her students using it to make storyboards and Mr. Savage will use it to make a timeline. Most teachers will have the students begin using Popplet to make graphic organizers to go with the books they are reading. History projects would come to life!
Since we have computers, lap tops and iPads, our teachers will be thrilled with the use of Popplet on all of these devices. My teachers will love it because the projects can be shared on social networks or through email. They can be exported as .jpg or .pdf files. Others can join in to add to the popplets which allows for group or partner work. Printed versions can be hung in the classroom as well.
Yes, I can see it now! I have practiced making my own popples, so now it's time to let it loose in the building! It's time to allow students the opportunities to design their own picture galleries. It's time to see creativity that goes beyond the hand-made circles we call "webs." The world will be at the students' fingertips and now it's time to share this ever-popular POPPLET! For more information, visit http://popplet.com/.
I love that Popplet can be used for collaboration amongst students (or staff!) I think it would be really interesting to challenge different courses to generate a combined popple, showing all those cross-curricular connections we always want them to make!
DeleteI use many different tools that involve technology in my classroom. Many of them are simply assessment programs, but there are a few that really help engage students. One tool I have had success with is Prezi, an online presentation program. I get really tired of viewing Power Point presentations- almost to the point where I will not allow students to create them for their projects or presentations. Prezi has been a great way to get them show me what they want to show without just listing every fact about the topic. I also like how students can change the look of the Prezi easily and how they either focus on one part of the topic at a time- much like one can with slides on Power Point. However, to me this is much more user friendly as far as inserting links, videos, and photos. My students always use this on their PCs usually using Chrome, but I have also used it via IOS.
ReplyDeleteAnother tool I use either I use in my classroom is an AP called Splashtop. It is not so much a learning tool for students as it is a teaching tool for me. This allows me to connect to my computer from my Ipad from anywhere in the room. This way, I can operate a presentation, notes, game, etc. from anywhere and not be stuck at my desk (pet peeve of mine). I also allow the students to use my Ipad so they can use it to participate in making corrections on editing, answer questions for bell-ringers or test prep, or demonstrate something.
I had my students use Prezi for the first time in my AP class last week. I thought it would be good for me, and for them, to challenge ourselves to use a medium other than PowerPoint for presenting! My class is small and three of the students have notebook computers as part of our pilot program for 1 to 1 next year. The only challenge I ran into was that they were unable to use Prezi on their computers because their Flash was not up to date (and they don't have access to updating their machines). It definitely brought up a good point to me, what will we do about updating software when every student has a device next year?
DeleteOh, I love finding out about the different tools people are using. I have been playing around with Prezi since I saw it on here and have shared it with teachers. I especially love the template with the light bulb! Thanks for sharing! I will be using these in my meetings.
DeleteI have just recently downloaded Splashtop on my computer and my iPad. I am anxious to try it. I currently use a wireless Airliner with my Smart Board which I love. As you stated, it allows you to move around the room.
DeleteMy "cool tool" that I use in my classroom is my Apple TV. The Apple TV is a device that allows me to sync any Apple device such as IPADS, Macbooks, and Ipods. This device allows each student to sync their own device to the TV so we can look at their work infront of the class. Another nice thing about this device is it allows me to play all of my application off of my Ipad and onto my TV. I can pull up any type of powerpoint, IMOVIE, pages, numbers, and other apples documents. I also use my Apple TV for centers during my daily five stations. The students really enjoy this device. I am still learning about this device. Our goal as a building is to soon have one TV in each classroom when we go 1:1 with Ipad.
ReplyDeleteSuch a cool technology! It also allows you to stay mobile and teach from various locations throughout your room. I am interested to hear more examples of how you use it in your classroom. I am looking at buying one for myself to begin exploring usability in the classroom setting.
DeleteWe are hooking up our Apple TVs now. We have two installed. The students love seeing what is on the iPAD on the Smart Board. Our PTO helped us to purchase them. It is a great device!
DeleteI introduced VoiceThread for use in junior English classes. We have implemented Common Core Standards and wanted a unique way to assess speaking and listening. It is a free, user-friendly app, and works well on an iPhone.
ReplyDeleteVoiceThread is similar to PhotoStory; however, students can all go to a single slide and add spoken or written comments that surround the slide. These then play automatically as the slides advance.
We had students do a "verbal essay" and speak about connections between characters in "Death of a Salesman" and personality types in our informational text "The Tipping Point." I made a demo model of one using "The Great Gatsby" that I made to convince my colleagues it could work. They enjoyed grading these as a change of pace from traditional written work.
Here is a link to my model: https://voicethread.com/share/3943931/
I also introduced it to a friend who teaches AP. She used it for group collaborations of discussions of complex textual analysis. She was quite pleased with the results too.
We all found that it forced students to think differently as they were presenting material because a naturally spoken discussion shouldn't sound like an essay read off of the page.
My World History students just finished making videos about the weapons and trench warfare of World War 1. We use wevideo.com for the video editing. If you are already using Google Apps for Education in your school your students have a wevideo account. The students like making the videos, but love showing the finished projects in class. We have HP netbooks in class, but some of the students worked at home on their Apple devices also. I have also had my Psychology students make videos on child development stages.
ReplyDeleteVideo construction is a great way to motive students to do research on a specific topic or event.
Paula, I agree with your valuation of using video as a motivator. Every year my Advanced Marketing students make videos to submit to Six Flag's for their Marketing Education Day Video Contest. It's great that the contest specifies the theme and and target audience for the project. This is how it happens in real life. We just submitted our entries; next I'm going to have them make a video of "Behind the Six Flags Video" including outtakes. I can see where this will be a great intro for next years Six Flag Assignment. Lots
DeleteWordle is such a fun site to create some neat word clouds! Some of our students will copy and paste their entire essays/papers and see what words are the most used. It is pretty interesting.
ReplyDeleteOne cool tool that I've started using this year is todaysmeet.com. It doesn't require a login, you just go to the site and you can create a "room" of your own. Students can enter the room using the webaddress you create (todaysmeet.com/YourRoomName) and you can have discussions on the site just like a chat room. I've used this in several ways, one of which was for review. I would type a question into todaysmeet and the students would all respond with what they remembered about the topic I asked about. At the end of the review students could then look back at the discussion in the todaysmeet log, or even go home and look at the site later that night to review what we talked about! One of the more unusual ways we used todaysmeet was as a forum for discussion during a video clip we were watching in class. While we were watching the 15 minute video, I encouraged the students to type any questions they thought of into todaysmeet. I then was able to answer questions while the students were watching the video, which they then could read. I'm not sure if I would use the site again in this particular way (some students struggled to focus on multiple things), but I will definitely continue to use it for class discussions and review!
ReplyDeleteThe digital tool that I have chosen to use in my classroom is LiveBinders. Although the first version came out in 2007, I am just learning about it through our course.
ReplyDeleteLiveBinders is a 3-ring binder for the web. It is a way to share and organize classroom resources that are gathered on the web. You can place web pages, videos, pdf files and images to support your topic. As you are browsing the web, you can “LiveBinder It” to a tab or subtab. Information can be edited and updated automatically.
LiveBinders can be shared with your students, your students’ parents, colleagues, or anyone. I always have my students keep a physical 3-ring binder, but the contents are my handouts and their homework. I would use the electronic binder to not only share written or video lessons, but to find sites where students could work interactively to understand mathematical concepts. In addition to LiveBinders being a boundless tool for teachers, students could create their own binder as well. Students could take a more active role in gathering the needed information for content knowledge and eliminate papers in their textbook for those who need help with organization. What a great way to go paperless in our schools!
Mary Ellen, As I am able to increase the amount of work both the students and I do using technolgy, we will need a method of organizing the inputs and outputs for classes. LiveBinder sounds like it is definitely worth considering.There seem to be so many good features; I especially like the thought of parents having access to their students work (or lack there of). My youngest son sure was lucky we didn't have that sort access when he was in school - really, he was probably unlucky. :-) Thanks Lots
DeleteOH this sounds very interesting, I will have to look into it! I use binders to an extent for some classes and this could be a much more interesting take on it! Thank you for sharing!
DeleteThis tool seems to have a lot of potential as place for students to keep their resources for a research project. Submitting their binder to their teachers.
DeleteI was introduced to Symbaloo through this course at about the same time I started teaching "Discovery Period - Musical Eras of the United States." First of all "Discovery Period" is a once a week class that the students get to explore an area of their interest; I've also taught Ballroom Dancing, Buying and Selling Online (hopefully you get the picture). Anyway, in Music Eras I ask the students to send me YouTube clips related to the topic for next week (i.e.Rockabilly). While the class is not taken for a grade, I have several students that send me clips; I then create a Symbaloo Tile for their clips I select. As I fill in the rest of the week's material, I can easily rearrange them or add new clips as the arrive. The kids get super excited about seeing their clips as apart of the lesson.
ReplyDeleteI have used Quizlet with Flashcard Elite for a few activities. The students have really seemed to like it. You can enter your questions into quizlet and then create a new "deck" in FlashCard Elite and it makes a deck of Flashcards for the kids to work through and learn from. This could be used with lots of different curriculum material.
ReplyDeleteAs teachers, how we assess student learning is a difficult process to master. When I first began teaching, I created my own assessments to give the students and then would pour over them for hours on weekends grading. Then I switched to using scantron sheets for the multiple choice / true false / and matching portions of my tests. This fell into the substitution level of the SAMR model. All it did was save me time as the teacher in grading student assessments.
ReplyDeleteAt our last textbook adoption, I selected a new "tech package" to add to our texts. It is called Class Performance Systems. This company offers hardware and software through textbook adoptions. I was given a set of "classroom clickers" to use in my classroom. They are kind of like a small cell phone where students can digitally insert their answers to an assessment and I can track them "in real time" from my computer to monitor progress. Students simply "text" their answers to me and I see them pop up on my screen. I can see how well the class as a whole is responding, or if individual students are struggling. The clickers work for most of the assessment except the extended writing portions.
The students love taking their tests using the clickers! I feel like they have moved the assessments I give in my class from the "substitution" level from the scantron sheets to at least the "augmentation" or possibly even the "modification" level. The ability to track the students performance using real time data allows me to see where I have erred in their instruction. This allows me to change my teaching for upcoming units. It also lets me see where I may have placed poorly worded questions into the tests. It's not always the students' fault when they miss an item. If the entire class falls below a certain percentage on a test item, I will often try to point them back to that question and provide clarification or allow them to ask questions about it.
The CPS system can also be integrated into PowerPoint presentations to create a mini quiz for instant teacher feedback and informal assessment data. After a few slides you can have a few questions that students respond to using their clickers. I can create pretests to see what information my students know prior to starting a unit. The system allows me to give reports to each student on their performance and study guides showing them incorrect answers, so that they may prepare for the final summative assessment.
I know I don't use CPS to its fullest potential. There is still so much more that I haven't used or discovered. So far though, I have enjoyed not only the time it saves me as a teacher, but the interactivity it has created with my students in what can otherwise be a very dull circumstance (test taking).
I use a very similar technology in my class called Activ Expressions. They are slightly more detailed than the CPS units but essentially do the same function. I often do impromptu questions within a lecture or textbook reading just see if I need to go back to the previous slide or page. Sometimes I offer the class rewards for 100% of the class getting answers correct. I love this because it keeps every student engaged.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSometimes making history and geography come alive for students seems impossible for a social studies teacher. Not to mention this one in particular. I teach 7th grade which really is a sub culture in it's own right. Furthermore, we are learning about the eastern hemisphere. Most of the places we talk about in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East my students have no desire of ever visiting let alone learn about. To them every place seems so distant and really almost non existent. That is until I introduced them to the wonders of Google Earth. Google Earth is a Social Studies teacher's dream. It is a tool with endless possibilities. This isn't your father's pull down map and point to some random place on a piece of paper. Google Earth functions on just about any platform. Although, I have not had a chance to operate it on any Android devices.
ReplyDeleteNo matter where I take my class Google Earth is able to assist us. It is one thing to be able to talk about the Sahara Desert it's another to take the class there and be able to show them literally thousands of picture describing the places that we are talking about. When discussing the landscape of modern China or Japan I can show my students 3D models depicting the massive skyscrapers and be able to show just how densely populated each place must be. Another great feature is historical imagery I can show my students what once stood at famous battle sites rather than what exists today. Lastly, I think one of Google Earth's most fantastic features are it's layers. A textbook could be written on how to use the layers within Google Earth. I can take my students to the Great Wall of China and pull up a panoramic image and we can literally walk the wall step by step without ever leaving the comfort of our classroom. For just about every important location on earth I can pull up a fascinating Wikipedia entry. I know that many teachers shy away from Wikipedia but within the confines of Google Earth I am completely fine with pulling up an entry and learning about the Taj Mahal in India or the Three Gorges Dam. I think it is a great starting point and from there we can pull up other information. My students often spend a day simply exploring a country that will be talking about. The possibilities are endless.
One of the best projects that I do is using the tour feature of Google Earth. My students pick a location/country that we have learned about through the year and record a tour of the country and it's most famous sites. Within Google Earth they record their movements within Google Earth moving from each location that they have chosen. The final step is to record the project with their voices telling about each site and it's importance to their country. The students then present their finished project for the class. My administrators have been absolutely astonished by some of the projects and the students ability to create such a well done piece.
If you are a Social Studies teacher and you have not yet jumped on the Google Earth train you need to do so quickly. It will change your teaching forever. In addition your students will love their new found ability to travel the world with ease.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFLEvidéo.com - A tool for learning French through video
ReplyDeleteFLEvidéo.com is a website designed for learning French. FLE stands for Français Langue Etrangère (French as a Foreign Language).
This website embeds videos from YouTube and users (such as teachers or students) can create a quiz about the content. Students will have both the video and the quiz on the same webpage and they can watch the videos and respond to the questions at their own pace. It is free to use and anyone can sign up or view videos on it.
In my classroom, I can use this tool for many different situations. Most importantly, I can use this website to put my students in more contact with both authentic and ‘made for students’ French videos. Thanks to the quiz section of the website, it requires more active listening and it can help improve their listening skills. I could also use it for uploading my own content to YouTube, then creating my own quiz for students on the FLEvidéo.
The video is on the left and a text box is on the right. In the text box, one has the option to choose the quiz questions over the video, the transcription of the text (if available) and remarks made by the author of the quiz (if available). There is also an image that shows how many people liked the video/quiz and how many people did not like the quiz. You can also favorite the videos.
After taking the quiz, you will see the corrections to the quiz with the percentage of correct answers.
I think that this website is off to the right start but it is far from being perfect. My biggest suggestion is that they work more on the aesthetics of the website. It needs a better look to keep students attention. In addition, there should be a way for a teacher to require students to take a quiz and not allow those students to retake the quiz as many times as they would like. The results should show up on the teacher’s page.
One of the tools I like that is web-based is sumopaint.com. It is works well as a way to create digital art and also to do photo-editing. In my business classes, I have used sumopaint to have students create advertisements and also come up with company logos for their own business plans.
ReplyDeleteXtranormal (http://www.xtranormal.com/)
ReplyDeletePlatform: Web-based
Description: Xtranoral allows you to create characters and digital movies by choosing from a menu of predesigned characters and sets and the user can script their own dialogue.
Classroom uses:
A way for a teacher to present an assignment/instructions
Student story-telling
Student-designed autobiographies, personal narratives, or story telling
Student presentations
Allow students to experiment with the scripting feature to explore grammar/punctuation