Perhaps you can relate to this----let's pretend you have some great website bookmarks that you love to use in the classroom. One day, you are on a different computer and want to get to one of those bookmarks. But you can't!
Well you could, if you sign into Chrome. Or Firefox. Or...well those are really the only two browsers we use. But then you have to sign into a browser and there are a few reasons why you may not want to do that. Browser sign ins contain more than bookmarks. Plus, what if you use two browsers...which one is the one that has the bookmark you need? Did you import bookmarks into both browsers? Enter Symbaloo! We love Symbaloo! Once you make a free account, it lets you make your bookmarks in a cloud. You can easily organize your bookmarks, add pictures to them if you want so they are easy to identify, and you can make your Symbaloo private or public. Then all it takes it signing on to Symbaloo from any computer and *poof* all bookmarks present! Response systems allow you to immediately collect student responses, which makes them powerful when used as formative assessments throughout a lesson. Response systems not only tell you what your students do and do not know, but they can help you in modifying your instruction to meet student needs during instruction.
Here are some our (FREE) favorites! Plickers- Print out free Plicker response cards from their website (it's better if you print them on cardstock rather than just paper). Install the free Plickers app on your mobile device. Students hold up the printed Plickers cards to respond to a multiple choice question (A,B,C, or D) and all you need to do is just wave your mobile device in front of the cards. It captures footage of them and immediately gathers results. It is awesome! Kahoot- An awesome quiz show game that works on all kinds of devices! Teachers can make their free quizzes on getkahoot.com. After making your quiz, you can activate it. This will give a pin number so that students can join your quiz by visiting kahoot.it and typing in the pin number. Poll Everywhere- A great way to poll your students! This website not only does multiple choice but also allows participants to text in responses. Create your poll and it will walk you through the process! Opportunities for students to collaborate is essential, and there are so many instructional technology tools to look into that can help make this happen!
Two of our favorites below do more than just allow students to post. They also allow students to post pictures (either from the internet, camera phones, or illustrated) and GIFs! We are really big on GIFs so that's a huge deal to us. Padlet- As a teacher, you can make a padlet site and give the link to students to post. Students just double click to post a sticky anywhere! Students do not have to have an account to post, but you can turn Padlet on "approval only" if you want so that you can approve posts before they show up. Linoit- As a teacher, you can make a Linoit site and give a link to students to post. LinoIt is fancy in that it has different color sticky notes available and TONS of room to post all over the board (notice the navigation area in the bottom right). |
About This PageThis page features some of Pinky's favorite instructional technology websites, apps, online resources, response systems, and other tools. Please always read the terms and privacy policy of any technology tool that you plan to use in the classroom.
Disclosure? If we share a tool or website on this page, it's because we like it and find it useful. We don't have affiliate links on this blog. If we use affiliate links at any point on this blog, we will announce on the individual post. Topics
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