I have started taking my Graduate Courses at the University of Houston for Curriculum and Instruction. One of my classes has focused on technology and I have learned of a few new tools that I will be using this school year. I also wanted to share them with you!
Here is my happy dance because THEY ARE ALL FREE!
1st: VoiceThread
VoiceThread is an awesome tool for collaboration. The teacher can post a question and share the link leading to the question. Students can then go to the link and choose one of three options: responding with a written response, responding with a voice recording, or responding with a video recording. Once the post has been made other students are able to reply to it with the same three options. Students can also view all of the original posts and responses to gain new insights and continue collaborating.
CLICK HERE to view an example from my Graduate course that shows all of the above.
2nd: FlipGrid
FlipGrid is another tool used for collaboration. I have already seen a few Vanguard teachers tweeting about it! Teachers can create a discussion thread on FlipGrid that has the question typed out for students. The teacher can then share the link to the thread so that students can collaborate and respond. The difference between FlipGrid and VoiceThread is that students can only respond through video. Students are also limited to 2 minutes for their response. At the end of creating their video response students are asked to take a cover picture for their response. It allows for emoji's and stickers to be added to the picture and then students hit submit. Other students can watch the responses submitted and respond through video if they would like to. It can definitely be fun to use in the classroom!
CLICK HERE to view an example from my Graduate course that shows all of the above.
3rd: Screen-Cast-O-Matic
Screen-Cast-O-Matic is a great tool for creating screencasts. Spring Branch ISD has done a great job of including Camtasia on the teacher computers. However, I really loved learning about Screen-Cast-O-Matic because it is a free tool that students can use on their computers. My goal as a teacher is for students to produce final products and this tool allows that to happen. You have three options when recording: displaying the screen, displaying the presenter through the computer camera, or displaying both the screen and presenter. Once the recording has been made students/teachers have different forms of saving their recording: saving it as a local file on the computer, saving it to your screen-cast-o-matic account, or saving it on your youtube account. It is extremely easy to use and beneficial for student presentations.
View how you use screen-cast-o- matics.
You can view me using it to explain the importance of 21st century teaching and learning with the video below.
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