3 Ed Tech Tools

I’ve come across a number of tech tools in the past year, and I wanted to highlight a few of my favourites. This list could be a lot longer, but I’ve gone with 3 tools that I think are essential for 21st century teaching and learning.

Whiteboard App - ExplainEverything, ShowMe

An indispensable tool for the 21st century classroom is a screencasting or interactive ‘whiteboard’ application. This transferable tool has potential use in a variety of subjects. I used this app repeatedly throughout my practicum teaching experiences.

Far from being a simple digital version of a whiteboard, students are able to draw, animate, film, type, record, as well as import and arrange media into an unlimited series of ‘whiteboard’ screens. This allows students the freedom to design their work however they feel it best suits the task at hand.

So, what does it look like in the classroom? I saw the best use of this app in math class, capturing each student’s thought process as they completed the assignment for the day. Students were able to take a picture of the problem, and import into their work. They were then able to draw and record their voice in real time as they solved the question. Sometimes students were able to simply take screenshots of their work, and submit those, without the need for voice. This saved on space and time. Since the app is compatible with a number of cloud storage apps (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.) students were able to import media and export their work easily.

Since this app provides opportunities for real time capture, I wondered if students would be able to use these apps, maybe in combination with video editing tools, to create their own videocasts. Whether for school, or about personal interests, students could produce videos that would make interesting additions to their blog and portfolios.

Brainstorming App - Popplet, Coggle

Say goodbye to boring pencil-and-paper mind maps! These brainstorming tools are excellent ways to create organized webs. These apps are free and easy to use for students, even those in Primary!

Students are able to record and arrange their ideas, images, videos, and freehand drawings. Keeping with 21st century skills, these tools also allow for collaboration across multiple devices, so students can work in groups. Some of these tools can even create presentations from the mind map, which is helpful for students explaining their ideas.

Students in my class used these tools in a number of subjects, for generating ideas for projects as well as saving and connecting information for review. Students designed webs before they started a perspective-taking journal in our social studies unit, so that they were better able to organize their ideas. Students also saved links, facts, and images about the topics they were studying for on-going review. These tools were particularly helpful for students with IEPs and ELLs, as they were able to use language (or more often images) and resources that were appropriate for their level.

Quiz apps - Kahoot, Socrative, Zaption

Whether for review or formal assessment, these tools make test taking fun! All of these tools offer the opportunity to input different media and create interactive quiz questions. Students are able to respond on devices, or on paper for low-tech options, which offers live updates on scores, and analytics on student performance. These results are great for formative feedback on student understanding, or as a summative mark. These quizzes can also be used to introduce units and assess prior knowledge.

Multiple choice, true or false, and open responses are all available. These tools also offer the ability to select premade quizzes from extensive libraries. I have also had students create their own questions in groups, which can be played as a class.

Kahoot offers fun colours, music and a simple design which students in Primary can use. I found this tool useful in creating some friendly competition in my class. This site is great for elementary, and is also more suited to non-summative quizzes. I consider Socrative to be it’s more ‘grown up’ relative; this site, and its corresponding app, are sleek and stylish.

Zaption is unique in that it operates primarily from videos, thus these quizzes add a more active element to watching a video or movie as a class.

A consideration when using these tools, is that they do operate best when students have 1-1 technology. For the best analytics, student should sign into their own account so that their individual results can be tracked. On a more positive note, students would be able to access these tools on their own devices however, so they would work just as well in a BYOD format.