5 Useful Technology Tools for any Teacher's Toolbox
Throughout the course of my Educational Technology Master's Degree program through the American College of Education (ACE), I have conducted in-depth research, completed numerous technology integrated unit plans and professional development plans, and participated in discussions with peers in my field. Through all these experiences, I have discovered many new technology tools that have helped to transform my teaching. In the following sections, I will discuss 5 different technology tools I have discovered over the past year that I feel have been particularly useful to myself, and that I believe any educator could bring into their classroom immediately to help improve student learning and engagement.
1) Nearpod
I learned about Nearpod over the past year through my program at ACE, and my school site ended up adopting it soon afterward. Nearpod is a presentation tool that allows educators to take presentations from various presentation softwares, such as PowerPoint or Google Slides, and convert them into engaging presentations. Nearpod provides educators with tools to integrate videos, quizzes, virtual field trips, collaboration boards, and games that can be used to present content, engage students, and assess them. The assessment tools, such as quizzes, open-ended questions, and polls allow educators to receive real-time feedback to see how well students are progressing towards their learning objectives. Receiving this feedback in real-time allows educators to adjust their teaching on the fly to meet the specific needs of their students in the moment. On top of this, Nearpod has numerous integrations including BBC Video and Flocabulary, which provide additional means by which to engage students. This tool can be used for both live presentations as well as student-paced presentations, so it provides a lot of flexibility in use, especially in the virtual learning environment. It is not a perfect tool, but I found it to be extremely useful, especially with learning being shifted to an entirely online environment due to Covid-19. Even though I am back to in-person teaching now, I still do plan to utilize this tool in class.
2) Canva
Canva is a tool that is not simply designed for education, but that can be utilized in a wide variety of fields. Canva can be utilized in numerous ways, but is primarily a tool for creating graphics, presentations, and videos. It is a visually appealing manner by which one can create presentations or infographics to be shared with students, coworkers or whoever else they would like to share important information with. This is not solely a tool for presenting information though, and could be a manner by which educators provide students an outlet to share what they have learned in a creative manner. Students can use this tool to create infographics comparing two ideas, a presentation demonstrating their understanding of a topic, or creating a video reflection on learning. This tool is great due to its versatility, and can be just one tool that teachers have in their toolbox to use for either themselves or their students.
3) Flipgrid
Flipgrid is a technology tool that provides educators with the ability to create discussion topics that students can respond to with short, video responses. Educators can create classes, assign topics, and respond to students within this tool. Flipgrid can be easily integrated into many learning management systems (LMS), including Canvas, so that students can easily access and respond to discussion topics. This tool provides many different benefits to educators. One major benefit is that it can be a great means by which to engage English learners, or students who may have lower English writing skills. Rather than respond to a discussion prompt in writing, Flipgrid can be used to have these students respond to prompts verbally, which can help bridge the gap between a student's language skills, and what they know about a particular topic. I also believe this tool can provide major benefits to online educators who are looking to build community. It can be difficult to build community in an entirely virtual environment, but Flipgrid can be a great way for students to discuss with, and actually see one another. I feel that this adds a little more personalization to discussion, and the classroom overall.
4) EdPuzzle
I think most educators have had an experience in which they tried to engage students by having them watch a video, only to see student's eyes glaze over as they barely focus on the video that is playing. EdPuzzle though, is a tool that educators can use to create videos that better engage students, and provide educators with useful assessment data. In EdPuzzle, educators can upload their own videos, or videos from places like YouTube and Khan Academy, and add stopping points with questions to help formatively assess their students. Educators can monitor the progress of their students through these videos to help them see if students are understanding the content they are learning. This tool is also very versatile, as it can be used for both in-person learning, or in the virtual learning environment as well. Overall, EdPuzzle is a great means by which to make video watching more active for students, while providing educators with useful data to guide future teaching.
5) Screencastify
With the abrupt switch to virtual learning last fall, most educators quickly had to figure out how to best engage students and teach them key content from afar. Screencastify was an excellent means by which for me to do this. I was able to use Screencastify to create screen sharing videos with my webcam embedded into it. This allowed me to deliver content to students, to explain assignments, and provide them with audio feedback on assignments as well. I also utilized this tool to create videos of me reading assignments to students, which helped increase the accessibility of my classroom. This tool is not solely useful for delivering content to students, but could also be used by students to create content themselves. Screencastify can be utilized in numerous different ways by students to demonstrate their learning. Students can create presentations, respond to other students, or reflect on their learning through videos created in Screencastify. This would be a particularly useful tool in the Virtual Learning environment, as it provides an easy means by which students can present their creations and learning to the class. Additionally, Screencastify is very intuitive and easy to learn, which is highly beneficial for students of all levels. Presenting learning is a key aspect of the classroom experience, and Screencastify can open the possibility for this to be done outside the physical walls of the classroom. Overall, I think Screencastify is an amazing tool that can be used by both teachers and students to expand learning.
It is my hope that this list is useful to other teachers out there looking for technology tools to utilize in their classroom to increase learning, engagement, and accessibility. It is important to remember though, that technology should be thoughtfully integrate into the curriculum in a manner that has purpose.
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