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.  

The Significance of Failure in Defining Success

One of the great misunderstandings of the learning process is that one must expect perfection or a lack of mistake-making when trying something new. Learning from one's failures and improving upon them is essential in becoming better at what you do.  This video of a student who has designed a way to "trap" a monster using a Rube Goldberg machine is a wonderful illustration of this. 

Tech Tidbits: Quizizz--Interactive Quiz Generator

One of the important tasks that teachers must do during the course of instruction is to informally assess students in order to measure their comprehension of what is being taught.  This enables the instructor to determine how best to modify their instructional techniques in order to best address a students' needs.  A fun way that teachers can assess students' comprehension of a topic is through the use of Quizizz, an interactive quiz generator that allows you to create your own interactive multiple choice game, or use a quiz created by other users.  

Quizizz does not require you to sign up for an free account if you want to use other users' quizzes with your students, but if you want to create your own quiz, you will need to register for an account.  Creating a quiz is a very simple process, and once a quiz is published, it generates a unique numeric code that you can share with your students in order to join the quiz.  Students go to join.quizizz.com and enter the 5-digit code in order to join the quiz.  Each student can then answer the questions to the quiz.  The teacher determines the amount of time students are given to answer each question, from 5 seconds to 5 minutes. 

As students progress through the quiz, they are awarded a varying amount of points based on whether they answered the question correctly and how quickly the question was answered. Zero points are awarded for incorrect answers. Teachers can see how students are answering questions on their screen and track the progress of each student.  Once the quiz is completed by all students, the teacher can download an Excel file that displays the information from the quiz, including the students who participated, which questions they answered, and how they answered the questions.  Teachers can use this data as an informal assessment to see which students are struggling with the information, and which students are comprehending the content.

Tech Tidbits: Wolfram Alpha

Research is an important facet of academic learning on all levels of education, including elementary school, all the way through high school, and it is important for learners to be able to locate and evaluate research results that are trustworthy, responsibly sourced, and accurate.  You can't always guarantee that with a Google search!  One online search engine that provides accurate and responsibly sourced results for information searches is Wolfram Alpha, which refers to itself as a "computational knowledge engine".

  

Wolfram Alpha provides search results on almost any topic you can imagine, without results that offer opinions or bias.  The results are presented as data, which can proven as factual, as opposed to other search engines that provide top results based on popularity or relevance.  It allows you to perform searches on topics based on a large variety of categories, including mathematics; words & linguistics; people & history; chemistry; physics; music; astronomy; art & design; places & geography; and many more. 

You can also search for information on two different people or areas in order to provide results that compare the two search topics with each other.  For example, you can search for "George Washington" and "Abraham Lincoln" at the same time, and the results will create a data table comparing the birthdates, places born, dates of death, and places of death of the two people.  A similar search can be done for different towns or cities, which can be used to explore objectives in Social Studies.  

Feel free to explore the different categories provided to see what other types of searches you can conduct!  There are entirely too many to list here, so explore what Wolfram Alpha has to offer!  

Tech Tidbit: NewseumEd.org

A major issue in American politics today is the ability for one to exercise their1st Amendment rights, providing the freedom of self-expression.  History and/or Social Studies teachers who discuss the Constitution with their students can use the digital resources provided by NewseumEd to explore how the 1st Amendment has been an important part of American history.  

NewseumEd is an extension of the original Newseum site, and does require you to register for a free account to make use of its resources.  You can filter your results in the EdTools section by type of tool, topic, theme, century, and more.  You can also for resources by a certain topic related to the 1st Amendment, such as "Civil Rights", "National Security", or "Supreme Court", for example.  The EdCollections section allows you to explore topics related to the 1st Amendment more in-depth with a variety of interactive learning tools, multimedia primary resources, and digital artifacts.  In the EdIdeas section, there are a number of tips, suggestions from other NewseumEd users, and current event resources that are regularly updated.  Finally, in the EdCommunity section, you can read testimonials of how other teachers have successfully utilized NewseumEd in their classroom.  You can submit your own testimonial as well!

 

Tech Tidbit: SmartyPins

It's time for another Tech Tidbits video, after my track-out session!  This time I am demonstrating the use of SmartyPins, a fun and free website that combines Google Maps with trivia questions on a variety of topics, including Arts & Culture; Science & Geography; Sports & Games; Entertainment; and History & Current Events. 

Smarty Pins

Once the game starts, the user is provided with a maximum of 1000 miles and is provided with a series of trivia questions based on the selected category. Based on the clues provided, the user is directed to place the pin on the location on the map as close as possible to where they think the location is.  Once the answer is submitted, the actual location is revealed with the distance in miles from the submitted location. 

If there is a differential between the provided answer and the actual location, that number of miles is subtracted from the running total.  The game ends when you run out of miles!  If you answer 5 questions correctly without running out of miles, you can choose to start a new game, or continue the game.

 

Smarty Pins could be used as a formative evaluation tool to test students' knowledge of geography combined with science and/or history, or just a fun way to sharpen students' critical thinking skills.  This site could be used to test students' geography knowledge in a fun, low-pressure context that students (and teachers) should enjoy!