Image by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano- http://www.langwitches.org/blog based on image (CC) by Alec Couros- educationaltechnology.ca/couros/799
We live in a connected world. It is often said that our students are “digital natives,” plugged in and turned on all the time. Technology is no longer a gimmick, it is a learning tool that enriches and extends classroom learning. Here are some of the latest tools that educators are using in their classrooms.
Audio
- Online Audio Cutter Convert or cut from mp3 or video files
- Vocaroo Online voice recorder; file can be easily downloaded
- Audiopal Provides an embed code to add sound to your website. Record message by mic or phone, upload music or voice.
Bookmarking Tools
- Diigo is a multi-use program. Bookmark and tag sites by category, and use the Diigo toolbar to highlight pages, annotate paragraphs or save a sticky note with your ideas. These annotations will be visible across platforms (computer, phone, tablet).
- Learnist is a tool to create your own pages to share bookmarks with explanations for each site. See the video that explains its use in education.
- Live Binders groups your websites together by topic or theme. They give examples of how you can use this in education. For example, have a binder for substitutes, for parents, and for student projects.
- Pearltrees allows you to bookmark your favorite sites and organize them as a tree, connecting one site to another. Trees can be shared and collaborated on.
- Symbaloo presents bookmarks as tiles that can be rearranged as desired. Click on a tile to open up the website you have saved. See the video of its use in a 7th gr. classroom.
Document Sharing
- Review of various file sharing sites
- Box Online file sharing in the “cloud”
- Dropbox Another tool for online file sharing. Both of these are great ways for having students share files that are too large to email, such as projects, and videos.
- We Transfer allows you to share files that are too large for email or Dropbox
Google Tools
- Excellent resources from Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers
- Google Apps for Learning: 9 Best Practices Explore how to use Google Apps for classroom collaboration and to give immediate feedback to students
- GoogleBooks Millions of books have been digitized by Google. Great tool for student and teacher research.
- Google Scholar Search engine for scholarly articles, books and journals.
- Google Custom Search allows you to create a search engine for students to search only the sites you have provided for them.
- Google Search Literacy Lessons Lesson plans for developing search skills
- Thinkb4u Buy Lively site on digital citizenship for students, parents and educators
- Did you know that you can add voice comments to GoogleDocs? Watch a video tutorial to see how.
Infographics
Infographics are a quick and clever way to share and illustrate information. This School Library Journal video demonstrates how to create infographics.
Some sites for creating infographics include:
Microsoft Tools
Eric Ligman, Microsoft Senior Sales Excellence Manager, has shared more than 130 free eBooks to many of Microsoft’s most popular products. These include: Windows (8, 8.1), Office, OneNote and more.
See also Microsoft’s Education Page for k-12 resources, professional development opportunities and more.
Mind Mapping
Online tools for visually graphing ideas. Most of these tools are collaborative, since they exist in the cloud.
- LucidChart
- Mind Maple download product for Windows or iPad; more of a project management system
- Popplet online tool for mapping and creating presentations. See article atTeachingHistory and this example of a presentation on Napoleon at Popplet
- SpiderScribe See a 2012 review of this product
- Text2MindMap Simple online tool: outline, draw, share, save
Presentation Sharing Tools
- Animoto Create video from still images enhanced by music, voice, and other features.
- Conceptboard Instant white board to brainstorm ideas with others
- Edcanvas Another tool to share information; offers a special school account
- Glogster Students can create online “posters.” Free subscription for teachers
- Jing Great for screencasting and video creation
- MightyBell a social learning place that allows for both private and public spaces. Could be used for group discussions, threaded conversations, and collaborative work.
- Museum Box is a fun and interesting tool for presenting research on a historical event or figure
- Narrable Record voice narration for photos to create narrated slide show which can be uploaded to share
- Padlet previously known as Wallwisher. A simple communication tool in the cloud.
- Prezi Animated presentation software – PowerPoint comes to life
- Realtime Board Cloud based white board, for creating and sharing projects
- Screencast-O-Matic allows you to record narration over a PowerPoint presentation and more
- Voicethread Upload photos, videos, and images to the thread. Students can comment in writing or by voice on each other’s uploads, or on what the teacher has posted.
Social Media
- 35 Interest Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom
- 20 Twitter Hashtags Every Teacher Should Know About
Timelines
Simple Timeline Generators
Programs that Integrate Photos and Video
Timers
- Online Stopwatch (Also see the ad-free version of Online Stopwatch)
- Online Egg Timer
Video
- Camtasia Studio Video creation tool
- GoAnimate Create animated videos, educator’s discount
- KeepVid Video downloader
- Knomia offers a vast video lesson library and tools to create your own
- Photoshop offers tutorials for using its software to edit photos as well as videos.
- Snagit clip and save screencast and create video
- ThingLink Embed images with text, video and audio to make them interactive
- Vimeo Video School offers lessons and tutorials on making videos
- WeVideo Video editing tool; collaborative, integrates into social media; free for up to 5GB
- Wideo allows you to create an animated video presentation using their templates and editor. You can also import your own images and logos.
- Wistia(learning center videos about making videos)
- YouTube Tutorials: Videos that guide you to making better videos
- Zaption allows you to insert questions into breaks inside videos. Use videos from their library or upload your own.
Wikis
- 5 Ways You Can Use Wikis With Students (from Free Technology for Teachers)
- Wikispaces
Did you know?
Online classes, workshops and webinars are a great way to learn the tech tools you want to bring into your classroom. Check out the latest offerings on our Professional Development page.
Suggestions?
Do you have a technology tool that you like to use that is not on this page? Please send it to us so we can include it here.