Tech Tidbits: Quizalize

It's becoming increasingly important that using formative assessments in the classroom helps teachers determine which students need help in understanding what is being taught and in what areas.  The accessibility of technology tools to help with these assessments are more varied than ever.  Quizalize is a free webtool that allows teacher to create interactive quizzes that can be used for informal formative assessments as well as great review activities.  

Quizalize allows the teacher to create multiple choice questions and designate which answer is correct and which answers are incorrect.  You are able to provide information that explains why an answer is the correct answer or why the incorrect answers are wrong.  You can include a picture for each question, and you can select whether each quiz can be done in class or as homework. The teacher can also determine whether the students are allowed only 1 try or can try additional times.  You can also determine how long the quiz is available, anywhere from 1 hour to 1 year.  

Once a quiz is published, a code is generated that allows students to join the activity.  Students can enter the code at a specified URL and play the game.  The quiz keeps track of the participants as well as the scores.  This helps the teacher go back and see how well the students did in the quiz and how many attempts they made. 

Best of all, Quizalize is free.  You can also import question sets from Quizlet to create a Quizalize activity, instead of making it from scratch.  You can also browse Quizalize activities made by other users.  Unfortunately, Quizalize is not available as an app for downloading, but that could change in time.  

Tech Tidbits: Google Keep

Teachers have so much to keep up with, what with school responsibilities, as well as clubs and kids and personal commitments...it's so hard to keep everything straight!  Not to mention all of the passwords and codes to remember when logging into 50 different accounts.  The last thing you want to do is keep a bunch of sticky notes all over your laptop that anyone can read. Google Keep allows you a place to keep all your information, whether it's your laptop, your phone, or your tablet.  

Google Keep is available through the Google Apps suite, including all WCPSS teachers.  It allows you to create notes when attending meetings or conferences, add URL links, upload pictures, and share with other people in the Google network, just like in Google Drive.  You can also change the colors of the notes for sorting purposes.  You can also make a copy of a note in Google Keep into your Google Drive account. 

You can also use Google Keep to create reminders to alert you of tasks to complete.  Choose whether you want the reminder in the morning, afternoon, or evening, and you can change the default times for each reminder as well. You can also create a customized time for your reminder if you'd like.

Google Keep is a great alternative to other online note storage sites, such as Evernote, whose free plan allows you access only on 2 devices.  Since Google Keep is part of the Google Apps suite, you can use it to access files with in your Google account.  If you have a need to keep all of your notes, lists, and reminders organized online, give Google Keep a try!

Tech Tidbit: theLearnia.com

As classrooms become more student-oriented rather than teacher-oriented, it's becoming more necessary for teacher to provide instructions for student activities that aren't reliant on lecture and repetitive explanation.  Teachers that create content that explains concepts or instructions that enable students to work on their own are more able to facilitate learning.  The site theLearnia.com provides teachers with a platform of creating their own video lesson either by uploading a PowerPoint presentation and narrating the presentation or by creating one on their own from scratch.

When you create your own presentation in theLearnia, you can add text boxes, background images, lines, shapes, and other media to your presentation. Record your narration to go along with your presentation, and then publish to social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and more.  You can also e-mail the link to your presentation or embed it on your class website. These instructional videos that you create are ideal for linking to a Google Classroom course or another Learning Management System course. 

Tech Tidbits: Export Media Files from Google Drive app onto your iPad

In this Tech Tidbits tutorial video, I demonstrate how to export media files from your Google Drive app onto your iPad.  As students use iPads to create presentations and projects, they might have the need to access photos, video files, or audio files on their iPad that are not already available.  

This tutorial video demonstrates how to export picture and video files from Google Drive on their iPad's Camera Roll.  It also demonstrates how to export audio files, such as mp3 files, from Google Drive into iMovie to be used as a soundtrack in a video.  

Tech Tidbits: PollEverywhere

One area of instruction that teachers throughout Wake County public schools are trying to increase in their lessons is the use of technology to engage students and provide authentic feedback.  The increased availabilty of laptops, tablets, and students' phones (in the case of BYOD schools) has made this more possible.  

One webtool that has enabled an audience to participate in surveys or polls using these devices for years is PollEverywhere.  The site has continued to improve its features, and it is the focus of this tutorial. PollEverywhere enables you to create questions using 5 different formats: Multiple Choice, Open Answer; Question & Answer; Ranking; and Clickable Image.  

Once the poll is created, you can have participants join the poll in 2 ways: by going to a unique URL generated by the site (Ex: pollev.com/YourNameHere);
or by sending a text to the poll creator using a unique number and code. 
Participants can then submit answers to the poll as the poll creator pushes out each question.  The poll creator will see the results of the poll questions in real time as they are submitted. 

For more information about PollEverywhere, please watch the tutorial video below!

Tech Tidbits: Reflector2

Hello!  I am back from an extended summer hiatus, and I am happy to say that I am working at a new school, Sanderson High School in Raleigh, NC!  I have received a warm welcome at SHS, and I look forward to working with the staff and students here!

Today's Tech Tidbit focuses on a new application that Wake County Public Schools have made available to staff, the "Reflector 2" app.  Downloading and installing the app on your laptop allows you to use your iPad's AirPlay feature to synchronize with the Reflector 2 signature and mirror your iPad screen to your laptop screen.  Connect your laptop to a projector and you are free to walk around the room with the iPad and share information with your students without being limited to being near your laptop and projector.

There are numerous ways that you can utilize Reflector 2 to impact your lessons.  For example, instead of having a student come up to the front of the class to demonstrate how to solve a math problem, the teacher could hand the student the iPad that is mirrored to the laptop and projector.  The student could use the iPad Camera app to show how they solve the problem while the rest of the class watches.  You could also record the demonstration for playback later. This is in addition to displaying apps, etc. while monitoring students around the room.  Hopefully many teachers in the county will take advantage of using this handy app!

Tech Tidbits: ZooBurst

ZooBurst is a cute site that enables students to write stories and insert characters and objects into a 3D storybook setting that "pops up" when the page is turned.  When inserting objects into the story, you can resize them, change the rotation angle as well as the angle that it "pops up" when the page is turned.  You can enter text for the story, as well as text for the word balloons that you can read when you click on them in the story.  

In upgraded accounts, you can record voiceovers for the characters' speech bubbles or upload your own sound effects.  When your story is completed, you can share it via a unique URL address, send it to others via e-mail, or embed it. It's a fun way for younger students to practice writing stories while experiencing their story in a 3D pop-up book style.  

Tech Tidbits Triple-Play: Geopedia; Instagrok; tlk.io

For this edition of Tech Tidbits, I'm spotlighting 3 different tech tools that can be implemented into your instruction:  Geopedia; Instagrok; and tlk.io.

Geopedia is a site that combines concept-mapping with Wikipedia.  You can search for a particular location (such as London, UK or Moscow) and pull up the map.  Landmarks and important sites have numbered markers, which, when clicked on, list a 1-paragraph summary from Wikipedia on the right side of the screen.  You can also view the entries in multiple languages in addition to English.  Geopedia enables users to view a physical location of an important site as well as relevant information at the same time. 

Geopedia

Instagrok combines concept mapping with a search engine.  Search for a particular topic and see the results represented as a concept map with multimedia links to relevant websites, images, videos, and more.  Each concept has its own movable dialogue box with tabs for Key Facts, Websites, Videos, Images, Concepts, as well as a place to take notes.  There is a Journal tab where users can take notes on the topic based on the search results, and there is also a bibliography that is provided for each of the search results.  

Instagrok

tlk.io creates a temporary chatroom for users to chat with each other without the need for a log-in or to register for an account.  Simply enter a unique name for the temporary chatroom (For example: tlk.io/techtidbits) and share the unique URL with others for them to join the chat.  Teachers can use this tool in class to have students participate in a backchannel discussion or to communicate with each other if they can't communicate face-to-face. 

tlk.io

Tech Tidbits: WeVideo

For this edition of Tech Tidbits, I wanted to spotlight on WeVideo, an online video editing site that enables you to edit and publish videos from any computer once you have uploaded the video clips and/or pictures you want to use.  It's convenient to use because you don't have to use the same computer or device each time you want to access and edit a project, unlike programs such as Windows Movie Maker or iMovie.  Its platform is easy to manuever and utilize, and you can apply many editing features that aren't available in other video editors.

WeVideo features a main video editing track, as well as an additional video track where you can add text boxes or subtitles.  There are 2 audio tracks that allow you to add more than one music or sound effects track to your video project. There are multiple transitions that you can add between pictures and video clips in your project.  There are 400 music tracks/sound effects that are available for use in the WeVideo editor.  When you have finished your project and are ready to publish the video, the video can be downloaded and can also be shared on Facebook; Twitter; via a unique URL link; or it can be embedded into a website or blog.  

A basic WeVideo account is free and allows you to publish up to 5 minutes of footage per month and up to 1GB of online storage space for media files.  The free account also adds a WeVideo watermark to your video.  To remove the watermark and increase your available publishing time and storage space, you can upgrade to a Flex account or higher.  Upgrading from a basic account also unlocks more editing options.  The terms of use for WeVideo allow users 13 years and older to create an account without supervision from an adult.  It is recommended that students who sign up for a WeVideo account for school purposes do so using their WCPSS-issued e-mail account.

Tech Tidbits: Vialogues.com

I've come across a really cool site that allows your students to post comments or answer questions on videos that you post. The site, Vialogues, enables the user to upload videos they have created; access videos that are already posted on the site; or link to videos from YouTube or Vimeo.  Vialogues allows viewers (in this case, students) to post comments on the video, or respond to questions at certain points in the video.  These Vialogue posts can then be shared via URL link, Facebook, Twitter, or Google Plus, as well as through e-mail.  The posts from Vialogue can also be embedded on a teacher's website.  You can also link to the posting in Canvas by creating an active URL link to the posting.

Vialogues can be used as an assignment tool for students to check comprehension when watching videos.  Students can be required to post comments on videos to gauge their participation in online discussion.  Teachers can also post questions for students to answer with multiple-choice, "all answers that apply", and open answer formats.

NCTIES 2016: The Forge Initiative

During the NCTIES 2016 Instructional Technology Conference, I came across students who represented The Forge Initiative, a nonprofit organization designed to empower students K-12 as well as adults to collaborate and explore, learn, and lead through the use of technology.  In the Forge Initiative, students and adults (including families) learn how to engage in critical thinking in order to solve problems involving technology and engineering.  In this video, these students are demonstrating the use of a robotic kit that uses artificial intelligence to listen to a participant's questions and create a response.  

The Forge Initiative is located in Cary, North Carolina, and frequently holds open events encouraging local residents to participate in their brainstorming activities.

Tech Tidbits Video: Nearpod.com

My newest Tech Tidbits video is actually due to a special request made by my aunt, who is a middle school social studies teacher.  She was asking for suggestions for teachers and students for interactive presentation tools, and I thought of Nearpod, but I hadn't made a demonstration video to show to her so she could learn how to use it.  I wouldn't be able to see her in person anytime soon, so I decided to focus on this tool as the subject of my next video.


Nearpod allows you to create interactive presentations, including slides; videos; audio; as well as activities such as open-ended questions, polls, and quizzes. These presentations can be shown directly, or they can be shared with others via e-mail, social media (Facebook, Twitter, or Google Plus) so they can participate. When the presentations are shared, a unique "Join Session" PIN is created for others to enter at Nearpod's site (or in the app) so they can participate in the interactive activities.

 

The Silver account (aka the "free account") allows you to use the basic features when creating a Nearpod presentation. However, in order to make full use of all the features that the site has to offer, you will need to upgrade to a Gold, School, or District account.  The features for each type of account are available under the "Pricing" tab on the site's menu.
Nearpod is also available as a free app from the iOS App Store or the Google Play store. 

Tech Tidbits video: Buncee

Hello again!  It's been some time since I've posted, I know!  Welcome to 2016, I hope you have had a great year so far, and the rest of the year is even better for you!

In today's Tech Tidbits video, I demonstrate the use of Buncee, which allows you to create an interactive presentation that can be used by teachers, students, and school administrators.  The basic account is free with limited features, but you can sign up for a 30-day free trial for the Plus account, with no credit card required.  The Plus account has many more features to offer.  This video only provides a brief summary of how to use Buncee with a free basic account.

The display format is very similar to PowerPoint, with the "slides" you create on the left and the graphics interface in the center of the screen.  You are able to add text boxes and format them much as you would in PowerPoint, as well.  You can also insert images that are saved on your computer, from the internet, etc. You can add stickers, YouTube and Vimeo videos, and link them to internet sites.  

Once you have created your Buncee presentation, you can download them as a jpeg image (in the basic account), or send out the link in an email.  You are also able to embed the presentation on a website.  You are also able to share the presentation on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. 

Buncee provides teachers and students with another webtool for presentation purposes, announcements, and more.  It is extremely user friendly and easy to navigate.