Choose a digital tool to use in your classroom or professional situation. You are free to select any app or tool you would like to share with your peers. Add your entry as a comment below. Please include the following in your entry:
1. Name of the tool
2. Platform(s) on which it works (web-based, iOS, Android, etc.)
3. What it does
4. One way it could be used in your situation (classroom, PD, etc.) Be specific with your ideas!
5. At which level of SAMR your example activity falls
Educreations is an app for the iPads. Students can use this app has a personal white board. I began using it for simple drawings, diagrams, and concept maps/ organizers. I could walk around and easily access student understanding. Recently, I created a project that take the Educreations app higher on the SAMR model (M). In the Chemical Bond project, students choose from a number of options (storybook, song/rap, or pamplet) and can choose their app. Some of the students are using Educreations and creating a book or song/rap by taking their created images, diagrams, etc. and adding their recorded words or songs/raps to each page. The students are engaged and I am looking forward to seeing their final projects!
ReplyDeleteDesmos (https://www.desmos.com/) is an online graphing calculator. You can graph functions, create data tables, find best fit lines to model data, explore transformation on functions, create math art, and many other graphing applications. It is easy to use and can be used on any tablet or computer. It does not require any downloads.
ReplyDeleteI can use Desmos to have students create "polar art". Students would use polar equations to create a piece of art work. They can explore how changing the signs and numbers in the polar equations affect the graphs. This would fall under the modification level of the SAMR model. Students could graph polar equations on regular graph paper with pencils, but using the graphing technology allows them to instantly explore how transformations affect the graphs. For example, they can instantly see what happens if they change from sine to cosine or if they add a negative to the front or to the angle. Desmos allows student to fully explore the graphs and get a deeper understanding of how the equations and graphs are related.
Although well-known, I did want to draw attention to the online website-builder, Weebly. Even though most of you are somewhat familiar with this tool, I have recently discovered through happenstance how much this tool has changed in the last few years. I remember using the tool in college. At the time, I found it to be adequate, but several of its restrictions frustrated me. I am pleased to say that several of these limitations have been resolved. Everything from formatting to capabilities has been enhanced, and it is now more versatile and user-friendly than ever. You can do anything from polls to RSVPs, surveys to bookings, forums to embedding documents, hyperlinks to youtube videos. The basic package is still free and can be used on any platform that has Internet capabilities.
ReplyDeleteI think that this tool is particularly helpful because students could use it as an alternative to either the traditional powerpoint presentation or the word processor. Not only could they use this tool to share their ideas and report information on any given topic, but they can do so in a more innovative way that means more to them. Knowing that their information could reach a more widespread audience would allow them to have more of a vested interest. Even more than that, this tool can provide the students with a tool (the forum) to be able to include their input. This allows the opportunity for a continued discourse to extend outside of the classroom.
Depending on how the tool is used, I would place it in the Augmentation or Modification sections of the SAMR model.
Here is a post that Barb Runyon is unable to post: "Nearpod is a web-based presentation tool that allows for student participation with an IOS device. I created a presentation on naming ionic compounds for my ICP class. Students use a PIN that will allow them to access the presentation that I control with my IPad. The presentation can include slides, quiz questions, polls, and the drawing feature. I used a couple of slides to introduce the topic and the drawing feature so they could name the compounds in the presentation today. What I like about Nearpod is that it allows me to see student work in real time and I can tell, immediately, if 100% of the class is participating. In addition, I can send to the student IPads examples of other student work to discuss correct or even incorrect solutions to the ionic compound name. I would place Nearpod on the Augmentation level of SAMR. It is a presentation tool that allows me real time student answers with 100% participation."
ReplyDeleteThe tool I use the most in my classroom is Khan Academy. It is a website, but there is also a Khan Academy app that can be downloaded on the iPad. Khan Academy contains videos and practice questions on various math concepts. I use the website in my class when introducing a new math concept. Khan Academy would be used at the augmentation level of the SAMR model.
ReplyDeleteA tool that I discovered that I would consider using in my classroom is called "Haiku Deck." Haiku Deck is a presentation tool that is available on both the web and iOS. (I am not sure at this time whether or not it has an Android counterpart.) The tool allows users to create beautiful presentations that are built around the design principles of beauty, simplicity, and fun. Haiku Deck simplifies the tools at your disposal and even limits the number of words you can use on a "slide" in order to help you let the slides enhance your presentation rather than simply serve as a list of every word you plan to say. It also has a built-in image search to help you find high-quality images. Haiku Deck has integrated the advice of presentation experts that help the user create high quality presentations that are simple, elegant, and, yes, informative. I often give small lectures to my students throughout my courses and this could replace my word-filled, static PowerPoints that I had been using previously. This tool would fall under the substitution level of the SAMR model.
ReplyDeleteI honestly do not use any tool on a regular basis. My students do not have a device yet, so we don't have the capabilities to use an app every day. With that being said, I have used iMovie in my classroom this year. My students absolutely loved it. We read a book about September 11, 2001, and then my students completed a project over the book. Some groups chose to use iMovie; they interviewed teachers and administrators, and they also found pictures and history to add into their assignment. I cannot wait for them to have a device so we can do this regularly. It was very easy to use, and my students definitely enjoyed it. This tool would fall under the Modification level of the SAMR Model. Also, it works on Apple devices.
ReplyDeleteA tool we are currently using at AMS is MY Big Campus. As my students do not have access to a computer everyday, but will have next year, something I would like to link to My Big Campus is multiple news-related podcasts. This may not really count as a tool, but I have been trying to think of a way that my students could become more knowledgeable and involved in current world events. Our students live in such a tiny impoverished world that most often they have no concept of the larger world around them. Next year, when each of my students has an IPad, I would like to have them explore the different news podcasts available for a middle school audience. I think if we linked the different sources to our class on My Big Campus, we would then easily be able to create discussions about the current events. This would be something they could access at home or school with their devices or computers. I am hoping these discussions will lead to individual exploration of those topics that they find most interesting.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if this would be much more than Augmentation on the SAMR Ladder, but I think it would be a great start.
I apologize that this will be brief and to the point (as this is my third time typing it in) - so please do not take my answer as being disinterested in the assignment.
ReplyDeleteI noticed another cohort member uses the same tool - Khan Academy. It is available on all platforms in application form or web based (we use web based since we do not have 1:1 devices). Khan Academy is a great academic support system that allows students to review concepts taught in class, get numerous extra practice, watch thousands of videos on multiple subject matters, and then even track the progress, transmit the information to the teacher, student, and/or parent. We use it mainly as a remediation tool right now, but I regularly incorporate the videos in my homework assignments and class discussions to show them where more resources are available for help. Depending how you use Khan Academy, it could fall under the S, A, and M levels of SAMR. Depending if you use the videos just as to replace your lecture, use it as a self-guided learning method, as remediation, or as a discover further for advanced students, there are numerous ways to reach the SAMR levels.
Duolingo is an app that I have been using this year. It can be an app from iOS and Android, or it can be used on the web. It is like a free version of Rosetta Stone. It teaches language by using pictures, words, and listening. I use the Spanish version of it. I have used it in my classroom to help students learn and refresh on the basics of Spanish. It also gives the students an opportunity to learn the basics in a different manner. I use Duolingo as a warm-up activity and also as an activity for students who finish early. The students like Duolingo because they can advance through the levels at their own pace. They not only review what we have already learned, but they also learn new vocab and grammar. They actually have used vocab in class that they learned on Duolingo that I have not taught them. It's a great app. I feel like it is on the Augmentation level of SAMR.
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