Because of the Covid 19 pandemic, our teachers have encountered new tech tools and ways of learning that, if properly utilized, can help strengthen remote and in-person education in the long run. Even video conferencing can be used in new ways; for example, sending a positive “video note,” conferencing with parents, or discussing social and educational issues with a group of students.
Our creative and innovative educators have discovered some effective sites and apps and ways to make them work:
Activity-based apps
DeltaMath
- for grades 6-12 math activity (free and paid version)
- Video that describes it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV5-1xZ9_ss
- Practice content for various concepts
EdPuzzle
- Make self-paced learning with interactive video lessons.
- Can add questions for students to answer while watching a video
- Tracks how students do with the video assignments
Flippity
- Integrates with various apps (free)
- Provides game templates online (scavenger hunt, quiz show, board game), word puzzles (to be printed), flashcards and other activities
- Provides demos of each and instructions on how to use the templates
Quizlet
- For vocabulary words and other knowledge-based content (free)
- Provides study flashcards
- Covers areas of science, foreign language, arts & humanities, math, social sciences and others.
- Examples
Organizational:
Clever
- A Chrome extension that enables students and teachers to log in to their applications.
- Can be used at home and at school
Google Classroom
- Integrates Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Gmail, and Google Calendar into a cohesive platform to manage student and teacher communication.
- Overview
- Can design assignments, grade them within the app, and send summaries to parents
Seesaw
- A learning platform for meaningful student engagement
- Student takes pictures of work to upload for teacher
- Student can record thoughts/explanations about work
- Teacher can share work with parents
- Video explanation
Interactive Assessment Tools:
Edulastic
- An interactive assessment tool that allows teachers to check for knowledge with premade questions.
- Access to 3,000 Edulastic assessments, 38,000 standard-tied questions, and 30 question types
- Integrates with Google Classroom, Clever, and several others
FlipGrid
- Video discussion platform to enable discussion between teachers and students.
- Can assign a question, give a due date, and students can record their answer, review their response, and post it to the grid. [Free and paid versions].
- Explanation
Kami
- A way to teach and give assignments online and where students can complete the work.
- Can turn PDF worksheets into interactive assignments.
- Saves paper
Mentimeter
- An interactive presentation software that can take polls and collect responses
- Students respond on phone and responses are collected from everyone immediately and displayed on screen if hooked up to the computer
- Can display one-word answers as a wordle or word cloud
PearDeck
- Works with Google Slides (free and paid versions)
- Provides interaction and formative assessment in conjunction with Google Slides
- Has training videos
Other apps can be found in Integrating Technology in the Third Culture Kid Classroom.