Flipgrid is a web-based digital tool to help students connect in virtual classrooms and engage with content more deeply. It can also be used in face-to-face classrooms to increase collaboration. Students can record videos of their work, presentations, or projects to share with their peers. They are then able to post a video response in Flipgrid under originally posted videos.

Flipgrid can also be integrated into existing online school management systems such as Schoology, Canvas, or Google Classroom to supplement blending learning practices in school districts across the country. Teachers can post assignments using Flipgrid and ensure that all students have the opportunities to engage with content and their peers. This is especially helpful for those students who may be introverts and struggle with presentations or interacting with peers.

Fresh Ideas for Using Flipgrid

Flipgrid can be used for to present student projects, daily assignments, or research studies by posting videos of their presentations for peers to respond to.

Classroom Discussions

Flipgrid can also be used to host classroom discussions about historical and current events and to address students’ social-emotional needs. This approach can help educators and students better manage conversations with students regarding cultural sensitivity. However, it’s important also to ensure all instructional content is aligned to state standards and the school district’s curriculum to prevent unwanted controversy.

Formative Assessments

Flipgrid can also be used for formative assessments. The data allows teachers to gauge their students’ level of understanding of learning standards. Formative assessment data from Flipgrid can be used to determine the timeframes for reteaching and reassessments. The data can also be used to adjust instruction for students.

Integrating self and peer assessments with Flipgrid in content areas allows students to provide each other or themselves with feedback that promotes student ownership of learning. Students can then use the data to set goals to work towards their overall academic achievement, and teachers can formulate small group instruction sessions and host parent conferences to meet the needs of their students better.

Enhancing Instructional Delivery

Bartlett (2018) acknowledged that Flipgrid increases students’ connectedness in virtual classes by helping students feel more comfortable when engaging with peers in an online setting. Flipgrid can also increase accountable talk amongst students and allow teachers to collect observational data to inform instruction better. Content from Flipgrid can be used to design lessons that enhance students’ learning and expand their depth of knowledge of concepts. The use of Flipgrid can also enhance the language development of English language learners (ELLs). The more opportunities students have to speak and converse with peers, the better chances they have of performing well on district and state assessments regarding speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

At-risk and special education students would also benefit from using Flipgrid to help them articulate their thoughts and ideas, especially if they struggle with writing or have deficits in reading and responding to grade-level content. The use of technology as an accommodation would greatly benefit students needing scaffolded support from their teachers.

Flipgrid affords educators the ability to differentiate instruction for all students. Using the tool in small group instruction, learning stations, and working independently would be beneficial to students at various levels. Also, allowing students to work at their own pace would foster a sense of ownership and pride upon completing tasks.

Boosting Student Achievement

Flipgrid allows for student achievement to be enriched when students have the opportunity to learn in ways that deeply engage them during instruction (Alaniz & Wilson, 2019). Also, students’ communication and interpersonal skills improve when using interactive tools such as Flipgrid (Lee, 2020). Language skills are further developed, and students are more likely to feel comfortable with public speaking skills. Flipgrid may also boost students’ self-confidence and self-esteem regarding their academic content. Having self-efficacy and belief in one’s learning abilities directly impacts overall academic performance.

Maximizing Technology-Use

Most districts are already equipped with digital devices to support learning for primary and secondary students, but Flipgrid can be used to further inform students how to be good digital citizens.

Tablets, laptops, and desktops computers are useful tools when it comes to using an online platform like this. Some districts also have a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. It is very important for school districts to share the technology specifications with parents before purchasing devices for their child at the beginning of the school year if this is the case.

Acceptable-use policies will need to be reviewed with students in advance before using Flipgrid. Establishing social and proper norms for posting videos will help teachers avoid possible bullying, peer conflict, etc. and be used to help teach kindness and empathy. Educators must ensure students are well informed of the appropriate use of Flipgrid and monitor submissions for age-appropriate content.

Educators have embraced the power of technology and continue to better prepare students for global competition using digital tools. Flipgrid is one of those tools that can foster deeper social connections, better understand grade level content, and challenge students to perform at higher levels. Looking ahead, one can’t help but wonder how technology will evolve into the 22nd century.

The post New Ideas on How to Use Flipgrid with Your Students appeared first on TeachHUB.

To this day, I use this story as an example of how student choice can help students get involved. Fast forward to the 21st century, add some technology, and that is what a digital choice board can bring to a classroom.

What is a Digital Choice Board and What Benefits Does it Provide?

According to Dr. Catlin Tucker, the goal of digital choice boards is to allow students an opportunity to select the activities they will complete to practice a skill or demonstrate understanding. The differentiated side of this can be that you can give a range of assignments that have different rigor levels to them and the students can choose what level or levels they want to work at. Not to mention, the assignments can accommodate the different learning levels and learning styles in your classroom.

Remember those teachers that gave you a rubric that clearly set how much work and depth was required to earn a 70 percent, 80 percent, etc.? Digital choice boards allow you to do the same thing.

Let’s use an assignment from the American Revolution for example: the students could be required to choose a general from each side of the war or an important battle from the list given to them. On the same board teachers could then give the student different ways to show what they learned through a quick vlog, an essay, or a poster.

Students can choose what they learn and how to show the teacher what they learned. Let your imagination run with what grade levels digital choice board can be appropriate for: elementary students could choose books from the library, solar system topics, math problems, etc. High school students could do projects from American History, different body systems, and more.

Creating a Digital Choice Board

Digital choice boards can be made in Google Slides, webpages, and with other digital technology means. The most common I found on the internet are with Google Slides. There are different choice board templates as well.

For example, take a Google Slide and imagine it divided up like a Jeopardy board. The top row could be the days of the week. Under each day of the week could be five or six different assignments with different values that in some way or another make sure the students discover important information on the people, culture, traditions, food, and geographic features for a country. Each square can be linked hyperlinked to an assignment to fill out, video, PDF, webpage, etc., which also brings technology into the classroom. All a student has to do is click their choice and be taken to where the teacher wants them to go.

Using a Digital Choice Board in Your Class

Consider the following when setting up a digital choice board for your class:

Make sure the goals and activities match the learning you want to see.

What activities will align to the goals and objectives you want your students to achieve?  How best can the students show you they learned the geographic traits of Rwanda or what are the most popular foods in Spain?

Include in student choices what your students can and can’t do.

How advanced are they with technology? What accommodations do your students need to be successful? What are the learning styles that predominate in your class? What technology do you have available for students to demonstrate learning on? Do you want them to give presentations, create their own quick lessons, Google slides, etc.? 

Think about depth.

What activities will you design that raise the rigor of the assignment?  How can they evaluate or debate something you want them to learn?  Can they create something that will demonstrate the objective you want them to learn?

What resources will be connected to the choice board? 

What websites or videos or information will teach what you want it to teach and be connected to each choice on the board?

There is a lot of front-end work for the teacher when designing a digital choice board. In the end, the teacher has set the table for students to learn the way they choose and demonstrate their learning in a way that allows them to have fun with what they learned.

The post How to Use a Digital Choice Board in Your Class appeared first on TeachHUB.

Grades are also categorized by major, minor, and other category assignments in many school districts. Whether schools mandate standards-based grading or the traditional grading approach, educators are always looking for ways to make the grading process functional and efficient. Teachers are already faced with obstacles related to COVID-19 pandemic mitigations, planning, parent conferences, the social-emotional needs of students, and new district mandates regarding instructional expectations for recovering students who may have experienced learning losses due to the pandemic.

Technology has afforded teachers with the opportunity to work smarter and not harder when it comes to grading despite challenges. Currently, computer and mobile applications are available to help teachers with the grading process. Some of the most common grading applications are:

• Socrative Teacher
• Google Classroom
• Numbers
• GradeBook Pro
• Think Wave Gradebook
• ZipGrade
• Groovy Grader
• Showbie
• Teacher Aide Pro
• iGrade
• QuickKey

The applications help teachers to better manage grading for students and are used as viable tools to focus on data driven instruction. With many technology applications, there are pros and cons that educators must consider when choosing which app would be conducive to the grading process.

Pros of using Grading Apps

The aforementioned apps allow teachers to grade work assignments, which can also sync with learning management systems. Data from the grading apps can also be exported for data analysis to help teachers make better informed instructional decisions to support students. Instant access to data also allows for quicker and more efficient feedback to students. Therefore, teachers do not have to spend daunting hours grading individual assignments when technology-based platforms can collect scores with automaticity if assignments are placed in learning management systems. Grading apps also empower students to track their progress, which gives them data to set learning goals in order to meet instructional targets.

Learning management systems such as Schoology, Canvas, and Google Classroom also have built in grading systems to help teachers track students’ progress along with instructional tools to help support blended learning. Learning management systems allow for students and parents to have access to grading, which promotes a proactive approach to student progress rather than reactive, especially when students are struggling academically. Parents, teachers, and students can all have access to grading patterns, which helps students to self-monitor progress.

Cons of Grading Apps

Educators must be tech savvy to use grading apps. However, the apps must also be user-friendly to make the process as easy as possible. There may also be technical challenges for students of poverty who may not have sufficient access to devices to access their assignments and grades. Connectivity issues may be challenging for students and teachers, because in some rural communities, internet service may be insufficient or nonexistent.

For teachers, professional development regarding the use of grading apps can be expensive and many grading application programs may require technical support to ensure the apps work efficiently over time, especially when large amounts of data are collected and stored. It’s also important to ensure teachers and students are not spending extensive amounts of time navigating through the structures of the grading apps but using the apps to quickly collect and retrieve data to positively impact instruction and academic progress.

According to Livingston (2011), taking too many steps to navigate through grading apps may be challenging and discouraging for students. School leaders must make sure all schools have the necessary resources for technology to be used effectively.

Grading apps can be beneficial to help students meet their academic goals and helpful for teachers to better assess and monitor students’ performance. Despite challenges, school districts must ensure that grading apps are aligned with the vision for reporting and assessing students’ performance and that information is easily extractable and user-friendly, which would allow for teachers to make sound instructional decisions to better support students.

School districts have a plethora of grading applications on the market to choose from. It could be ideal to have teachers pilot a variety of grading applications and determine the pros and cons of each product before choosing which grading application would be of best use in a school district. Obtaining feedback from students and parents would be beneficial as well.

Grading applications are one of the best tools that educators can have to make more efficient use of time, so we can focus on the importance of educating our students and not spend countless hours on hand-grading assignments. Grading apps are a part of the new age of educational practices that will continuously be refined for years to come.

The post Worthwhile Grading Apps for Teachers appeared first on TeachHUB.

What is the Arduino Science Journal?

The Arduino Science Journal, formerly the Google Science Journal, is a science lab that you can fit into your pocket! This is an application that you can download and use on your smartphone which allows you to gather data in the world around you while creating experiments and organizing observations. There are various ways to add observations into your experiment including text notes, sensor recordings, and photographs.

The accompanying Science Journal website online offers different “Getting Started” activities which help students to learn how to navigate the site and utilize the tools that are available on the app. This includes how to set up experiments, as well as how to add additional external sensors to increase the ability to collect different types of data. There are also four different learning modules offered on the website: light, motion, sound, and electricity.

Each of these modules includes various activities and lesson plans that teachers can use and target different grade levels and age groups. Another feature on the website is a glossary with various terms to help students further understand the lessons and activities. One common thread between all the resources on the website is that the Arduino Science Journal app is utilized in them all!

Which Students is Arduino Science Journal Appropriate For?

The Arduino Science Journal can be used for any age of students, but the target ages are 10 to 18. This age range is your upper elementary school students in fifth grade to your seniors in high school. This app is aligned with the NGSS, so it can be used to support learning in the science classroom. The app can be used to support learning in a variety of subject areas such as physics, math, chemistry, biology, and engineering design.

Over the past year and a half, students, as well as educators, have become more technologically savvy, so this app gives all students the ability to study science in more depth and in the real world, whether it be for their own experiments and inquiries or for class assignments. Although it is recommended for an older grade band, it can still be utilized at any age.

What are the Benefits of an Arduino Science Journal?

One of the major benefits is that you can collect data and record observations in real time. As teachers, we are constantly letting students know how lessons are applicable to the real world. What better way to do so than actually studying real life happenings. Exploration and inquiry are encouraged versus direct instruction. A teacher lecturing students about a topic is far less interesting than figuring it out through personal investigation.

Student choice is important in activities and there is much of that within the Arduino Science Journal. Students are in control of the data they collect, the sensors utilized, and the way to document observations. The app is very user friendly and it is also compatible with Chromebooks which makes it even easier to use in class.

The fact that this can fit right into your pocket and is easy to transport is another benefit of the app. Instead of having to trek outside with a big clipboard, pencil, and tools, it is all with you in your pocket, making it easier for students to explore and gather information and data.

Ways to Use the Arduino Science Journal in Class

The first thing that pops into mind is the scientific method; as teachers, the scientific method has been taught for many years, and it can get very boring for the students. You can spice up your instruction and science activities by incorporating the use of Arduino Science Journal into your plans as students can collect data and view results in real-time, and then extend their learning by analyzing the results. The scientific method is woven throughout science, so developing a strong understanding of it is important in helping students to succeed.

Another way to utilize the Arduino Science Journal is to simply enhance your lesson with it! Since this app is housed on your cell phone, you can bring it with you everywhere and use the app to store and collect observations instead of paper or pencil and be more like a “real scientist.” This allows students to be creative and explore the world around them.

A great way to use this app in class is to have students compare their results with one another. When students take ownership of their learning and investigation, it makes it more appealing to them to discuss findings and results with their peers. This type of collaboration is great in preparing students for the real world and group projects with classmates and even co-workers.

The possibilities are endless, and the more you delve into using the Arduino Science Journal, the more knowledge you can pass onto your students about it. This is a great way to supplement your science instruction and get students excited about learning. The past year and a half has been so difficult, and so many students are thirsty to learn.

As Jonah Lehrer stated, “Every brilliant experiment, like every great work of art, starts with an act of imagination.” The Arduino Science Journal allows students to embrace their imagination and put their theories and hypotheses to the test!

The post How to Use Arduino Science Journal in Your Class appeared first on TeachHUB.

What is SplashLearn and Why Use It?

SplashLearn’s makers had the vision of transforming K-12 learning by making their program fun and personalized for every child. By teaching skills that would prepare students for the 21st century, SplashLearn is transforming the way elementary school children in grades K-5 practice math and reading skills.

How it works is that teachers create an account (completely free for educators) that then generates a class code and passwords for students. When a student logs in (on an iPad, desktop, etc.), they find their icon and begin. The teacher can assign specific assignments that the students will find under, “From My Teacher.” Or, students can choose to practice various math facts. If they chose the math fact route, they can select from a menu of fact options. By choosing either addition, subtraction, multiplication or division, the students can then select the numbers they want involved in their equations as well as the number of questions. Users can also choose if they want their questions timed via elapsed time or count down.

One exciting feature for students is that for every question they answer they earn coins. These coins accumulate and allow students to later spend them in the digital store. Students can choose between the Jungle and the Aquarium. In the Jungle, children can earn cool animals like Giraffes, lions, elephants, etc. and then play with those animals in their jungle. Similarly with the Aquarium, children can earn cool splashes like crabs, angelfish, or squid and then play with those earned animals in their own personal aquarium. This K-5 program that is curriculum aligned keeps students engaged, curious, and confident whether they are using it during in-person or for remote learning.

Ways to Use SplashLearn in your Class

After hearing all the great features of SplashLearn, you may now be wondering how to implement it into your classroom. Here are several ideas to get you and your students started today.

Another Tool to Connect School and Home

Splashlearn is a great way to increase parent involvement in their child’s learning. Reports can be shared with parents so they are kept informed about students’ progress. Because SplashLearn can be used at home, parents can also familiarize themselves with the program as they assist their children.

Center Time

SplashLearn is a great tool to use in centers. Teachers can assign their students lessons that directly correlate with their current units. Once students finish their assignment, they can further review under the Math Facts tab. Watch how excited your students are as they earn more and more coins and spend them at the store!

Review for a Test

Another great way to check in on students’ understanding of the material is by using the built in assessment features. SplashLearn has both formative and summative assessments that can be used throughout your current units, as a review for a test, or as another way to showcase to parents students academic progress.

Homework

Not all technology tools allow for home access, but Splashlearn does! With another school year upon us and uncertainties about the pandemic, Splashlearn is a great tool to familiarize students with so you won’t run into any problems if their learning pivots to remote or in-person. This also makes SplashLearn great for assigning homework as well. Make it open ended by telling students to practice math facts for 20 minutes or read from their built in decodable readers. Or, assign students specific lessons that meet their current learning goals.

Educators are always  on the lookout for educational tools that get their learners excited and engaged, and that further their learning. Splashlearn does just that. A tool that supports both reading and math, teachers appreciate the ability to differentiate their instruction, provide continuous practice in math facts, and easily connect home and school. There are many ways to use SplashLearn in the classroom or at home. Check it out and watch students learning build and grow.

The post How to Use SplashLearn in Your Class appeared first on TeachHUB.

Tech Resources for Teaching Empathy

One Globe Kids is a website as well as an app that lets kids travel virtually around the world. Users click on a friend to visit and then learn about them along the way. Each story accompanies activities that are designed to create feelings and relationships between the user and their “new friend” (though the stories are all pre-recorded and while they are interactive, there is no actual back and forth conversation in real time). Users can practice speaking other languages, see real photos of kids from different countries, and learn what their day-to-day lives are like. One Globe Kids helps students foster an appreciation for different cultures and costumes, build global knowledge, and develop culturally open attitudes. As an added bonus, there are free ELA Common Core lessons available to be used online and offline.

Who Am I: Race Awareness Game – Awarded as one of the top 100 products for parents, teachers, and kids, Who Am I: Race Awareness Game is a fun and educational two-player game. It teaches kids to think responsibly and openly about race and diversity through open dialogues about human physical and racial identification. How it works is that player 1 selects a target picture and player 2 asks ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions to try to figure out who player 1 is thinking of. The goal of Who Am I is to bring to life some of the fascinating anthropological, historical, and psychological insights about race. It sheds light on how race developed, how race is historically changing, and how race affects the everyday lives of people. Because children are learning about race from a very young age, it is critical that parents and teachers talk and educate about race. And Who Am I is a good place to start.

Step In—Step Out—Step Back is another great resource to foster empathy. Created by Harvard Graduate School of Education, Step In-Step Out-Step Back is a routine designed for nurturing a disposition to take social and cultural perspective responsibly. Students examine a person in a particular situation. They then try stepping into their shoes to imagine what they are experiencing. They step back out in order to identify what they need to learn to understand the person’s experience. Finally they step back into their shoes to observe their own reaction. Reflecting on what they notice during this activity, students learn what it involves to take on another’s point of view and see things from another lense.

Middle School Confidential – This graphic novel app may be just what you are looking for if you teach grades 5-8. It helps students learn to identify emotions, reflect on personal strengths or areas of weakness, learn to see different viewpoints, and put their own troubles into perspective. One idea for using this in the classroom is by placing students into groups where they can write alternative endings to the scenarios they explore on the app. Additionally, the end of the chapter quizzes are great opportunities to further discuss with your class the hardships of navigating through middle school.

Avokiddo Emotions – Preschool and Kindergarteners are sure to love this entertaining and educational app. Students learn to identify emotions by looking at facial expressions and reacting to stimuli. Users choose various props and change the backgrounds of their scenes. They then make predictions about how characters will respond to those changes. This app helps students grow empathy by looking at emotional cues and being aware of how others may be feeling in a given environment. To take this app a step further and bring it to life, have your students use classroom props and design their own backgrounds. Then, act out how others feel when they come into their different scenes.

Spent is a website aimed at grades 7-12. It has a text-based, choose-your-own adventure design. How it works is that players begin reading sentences that pop up on the screen saying that 14 Million Americans are unemployed….now imagine you’re one of them…you’re down to your last 1,000…can you make it through the next month? Users then decide on a job based on pay and desire. They then have to take into account childcare experiences, where you choose to live, transportation, etc. The goal is to survive a month within their budget. By learning about tough choices adults need to make, students build empathy for their parents and their community and begin thinking more broadly about life choices they will need to make.

Empathy is a way of connecting with other people that shows you understand they are experiencing something significant even if you don’t understand how that feels. It is an important concept to teach students so they can broaden their perspective about other people’s circumstances, behaviors, and hardships. By incorporating some of the above websites and apps, teachers can help their students start building empathy and, in return, better relate to their friends and members of their community.

The post Tech Resources for Teaching Empathy appeared first on TeachHUB.

1. Extend Learning

One of the best ways to use Twitter in the classroom is to extend learning beyond the classroom walls. Twitter can be used to encourage further learning by empowering students to learn from others on Twitter or even share their knowledge with a global community.

2. As a Research Tool

Twitter can be utilized as a research tool by having students use the search bar. Students can follow relevant hashtags, search for people, topics, and keywords, or even subscribe to a list to learn more information about a specific topic they are researching and learning in school.

3. Get Feedback from Students

If you want an easy way to survey your students and get feedback about your teaching or topics you are teaching, then Twitter is a great tool to use. Students can either tweet you questions or comments or you can tweet a link to a survey for students to complete.

4. As a Reminder for Student Assignments

There is no better way to remind students of an upcoming assignment, project, or field trip than posting it on social media. Long gone are the days that a student can make up an excuse that they didn’t know when an assignment was due because students can keep up-to-date on all educational information by simply checking their Twitter account newsfeed.

5. Connect with other Classrooms

Teachers can now motivate their students to collaborate with other students by using Twitter. You can even take it a step further by creating your own classroom twitter handle to tweet back and forth with students from across the globe.

6. Keep Parents in the Loop

Today’s parents are busy, and if you want to keep them in the loop about their child’s education, the best way to do so can be as easy as tweeting them. If you ask parents to put on their “message alerts,” then you can even privately message them in real-time and speak with them immediately via social media.

7. Help Students Summarize Information

Twitter has a rule that you may not use more than 280 characters in your tweet. This rule is a great way to challenge students to summarize what they learned because it forces them to condense their thoughts into 280 characters or less.

8. Subscribe to Hashtags

Twitter hashtags are keywords or phrases that users use to direct people to the content they are looking for. All you have to do is use the # symbol before your phrase. These hashtags are clickable and direct people to related material about that phrase. You can use hashtags in your classroom by having students search relevant hashtags about what they are learning in the classroom, such as #solarsystem.

9. Create a Classroom Hashtag

Create a classroom hashtag. For example, #mrscoxclass or #C13math. Students and parents can follow this hashtag to keep up-to-date on what’s going on in the classroom. It’s also a great way to find and join groups. Just be sure if you are creating a private group to only give it out to those you want in the group.

10. Keep up with Trends

Twitter in the classroom is a great way to help students keep up with current events and trends. If you find an interesting article, you can share it on Twitter with your students. This can also go for your colleagues as well. It’s a great way to keep your fellow teachers up-to-date on what’s trending.

These are 10 of the most popular ways teachers like to use Twitter in the classroom. Writing a Twitter haiku, tweeting as a historic figure, or editing celebrity tweets are a just a few more ways you can utilize Twitter in the classroom. The options are endless. How will you use Twitter in your classroom?

The post How Can Twitter Be Used in the Classroom? appeared first on TeachHUB.

Not All Students are the Same

Every student that walks into the classroom is unique. They bring different background experiences, different perspectives, and different interests. Not to mention they have different learning styles and different educational needs. That is why selecting one technology tool, app, or gadget does not work. In order to be a more effective teacher in the digital age, educators need to get to know their students to find out what they are interested in, how they like to learn, and what kinds of technology they have experience with.

Just as teachers give pretests to find out what students know about material before they start teaching, so too do educators need to figure out what types of technology students are familiar with. This helps with planning appropriate tools to use in the classroom to meet educational learning goals. Not all students are going to use the same tool to reach the learning objective. Some students will be able to show their learning in one way, and another student may take an entirely different approach. That is the beauty of technology; it gives teachers a gamut of tools to choose from to personalize learning. After all, true equity for students isn’t about everyone in the room having or using the same thing, but every student in the room having what it is they need to learn best.

How to Choose the Right EdTech Tools for Your Students

With over 100,000 apps labeled “education” in the app store, there are many things to consider when choosing the right edtech tools for students. The first is thinking about the learning outcome you want for your students and the means to get there. The SAMR model can be helpful for educators to use as a guide for how to best implement technology. Educators can ask themselves, “Is technology being used simply as a substitute for something else, or is it being used to modify or redefine learning?” If a technology tool redefines a traditional task in a way that would not have otherwise been possible, a student’s learning experience is transformed and enhanced. This is the ultimate goal of technology use and necessary to think about when implementing it.

The second thing to consider when using technology is social use. Because learning is socially constructed, it is important that teachers choose tools that allow students to engage together. Tools like Google Docs allow students to work together and collaborate on assignments. Prodigy is an interactive math game that uses gamification to engage students as they simultaneously work on answering math questions correctly. Students battle each other to earn badges and pets, creating a fun and competitive shared experience with classmates.

Lastly, the third thing to look for when choosing the right edtech tools for students is the possibilities for differentiation. Are teachers able to scaffold based on students’ learning levels or needs? Can teachers assign different content or program the tech tool to meet students at the level they are at? Apps like TeachMonster, Lalilo, or TweenTribune allow for teachers to adjust based on student needs. These are the types of apps that are easy to implement and effective to use for monitoring student progress.

Great EdTech Tools to Consider

The amount of edtech tools out there can make it overwhelming when teachers need to weed through them all for one that redefines learning, creates a socially constructed experience, and has the capability for differentiation. That is why it can feel relieving when teachers find one that fits just that.

EDpuzzle and Edij do all of these things. EDpuzzle is a website that allows teachers to find a video, add questions throughout it, and assign it to either individual students or the entire class. As the students watch the video, the clip has the abiliti to pause at various points so students will have to answer a question. This keeps students engaged and ensures that they watch the entirety of the clip. It also provides teachers with feedback on student understanding or allows students to pose a question they might have after watching.

Edij is another great edtech tool to consider. Edij is an application that provides a platform where students can read and analyze text, images, or PDFs. Students interact by highlighting text, adding tags, or commenting with audio clips or even emojis. Teachers can add open-ended questions to the activity that students answer. Additionally, there is a ‘Heat Vision’ that allows teachers to make all student comments visible to one another. Students can then respond to classmates’ comments or answer each other’s questions. This tool is interactive, collaborative, and engaging.

Conclusion

When it comes to educational technology tools, one size does not fit all. Teachers need to take this into consideration when planning appropriate tech tools to support student learning. Technology tools should redefine learning, be socially constructed, and have the capabilities of personalization in order to meet each individual student’s needs. This ensures that every student in the room has the tools they need for success.

The post Finding the Right EdTech to Meet Students Needs appeared first on TeachHUB.