How did it get to be February?

Fun Technology Tools

Hi all,

So sorry for neglecting my blog so long.  Life just gets busy and this is the ball that seems to always get dropped.

I've been having great fun exploring some new, and not-so-new technology tools.  I thought I'd share a few of my favorites of late.

Tiny Tap

I have posted about Tiny Tap before.  This app continues to improve all the time.  It used to have a very early childhood look to it, but it now looks a little less baby-ish.  Students or teachers can use this app to create their own games or apps.  This can be a creative thing for students to do, or a great way for a teachers to present or review material. Some of the games my first graders made a few years ago, as well as a sample are listed on their website under my name here.

Kahoot

Kahoot is a very fun quiz/video game tool.  The teacher can create or use pre-created quizzes.  The students see the question on a projected screen and answer on whatever device they are using.  It's incredibly engaging and students keep begging for more.  

Students celebrate their correct answers on Kahoot!

Powtoon

Powtoon is a website that allows teachers and students to create great videos using several free templates.  The videos can then be uploaded to Youtube.  There's a few templates built specifically for education including meet the teacher and book reports.  It takes a short time to learn how all the tools work, but I felt it was time well spent because I can now teach it to my students and have them make awesome videos.  Below is a video I created in about 15 minutes.

Plickers

Plickers is a website where teachers and/or students can create quizzes.  The fun part about them is they are like clickers, but low-tech.  All you need is a paper copy of the plickers, available to print for free from their webpage, or to purchase from Amazon and a mobile device with a camera such as a smart phone or tablet.  The teacher controls the quiz using the app by selecting a question and then scanning student plickers as they hold them up according to their answer.  Click here for my quick reference sheet for plickers.

Students hold up their plickers to be scanned.

Who knows when I'll pick up my blogger ball again?!  Hopefully sooner rather than later.  I hope you enjoy some of these great technology tools!  Let me know if you have any questions, or if you've discovered a great tool you'd like me to share with others.

Joell