Short Description: economics-games.com allows students to run simulations and make decisions as a market participant. A student may elect to play a solo game or a multi-player game, selecting from a variety of economic topics such as fixed costs, monopoly, competition, and prisoner's dilemma (to name only a few). Depending on the game, students are initially presented with certain data/information and must submit decisions based on what is provided. Once the student (or each player) makes a decision, the student is directed to a results page which can then be discussed with the teacher and/or as a class.
Example of Uses: As an aspiring high school Social Studies teacher with a background in Economics, this seems like a great tool to use to supplement the introduction of economic/business terms and concepts. In the classroom, students can learn definitions and principles (i.e., the "Who", "What", "Where", "When"); in the simulations/games, students experience and demonstrate the practical application of such terms to understand the "How" and "Why". In this context, critical thinking skills are used to assess the information provided and arrive at a well-reasoned decision. Such skills are further developed as the students and teacher engage in a discussion about the rationale and impact of the choices of the student(s), without, of course, the pressure of real world economic consequences. With an often dry topic as Economics, this tech tool also seems like an effective way to keep a class interested and engaged with material. Perhaps bonus points could be offered to students who yield good results in their simulation and can support their decision-making with strong arguments.
The obvious limitation is that this particular tech tool is designed for one subject. However, similar simulations and educational role-playing games exist for other content areas. In any case, the simulation or game should present information to the s
Lauren MacDonald
Tool Name: TodaysMeet https://todaysmeet.com
Short Description: TodaysMeet is a backchannel virtual classroom tool used for communication and collaboration between students that occurs during a lesson, when students are at home, or even with students from other schools. TodaysMeet allows for the elimination of off topic comments and helps keep the classroom as a whole focused. Also, this tool allows for all students' voices to be heard and opens the conversation up for everyone to effectively collaborate. What is extremely helpful for students is that they can print out the conversations on TodaysMeet or re-enter the classroom while at home to refer to notes, instructions, or help on homework.
Examples of Uses: Students can access the virtual classroom on TodaysMeet anywhere and continue the conversation with classmates and teachers even after the lesson has ended. This is extremely helpful for teachers when they come across more challenging concepts or units in the curriculum because students can use each other to bounce ideas and questions off of rather than the teacher taking a whole class period to answer multiple questions from confused students.
As mobile learning becomes more and more prevalent, we must find effective ways to leverage mobile tools in the classroom. As always, the tool must fit the need. Mobile learning can create both the tool and the need. With safe and specific structures, mobile learning tools can harness the excitement of technology with the purpose of effective instruction.
Short Description: Symbaloo is a social bookmarking tool through which teachers can share their favorite web resources. In addition to organizing homework, lesson plans, and administrative paperwork all in one place (among other features), Symbaloo allows teachers to create "webmixes" consisting of links and sources for particular subjects and/or topics. For students, it's a useful tool for gathering content for research and maintaining that content in one common area, rather than searching all over the Web.
Examples of Uses: Teachers can use Symbaloo to organize websites and databases which are reliable and trustworthy for their students. Teachers can post links to sources of information which they deem credible and useful, thus saving time and energy for their students. Teachers can also review the websites that their students find and share to their own personalized learning spaces.
Visme is similar to Canva in the sense that it is more than just a tool for creating presentations. You can create charts, reports, infographics, and much more. The site offers a wide array of templates, all which are fully customizable to meet your needs. The software ties into other sites such as Flikr to offer millions of images, vector graphics, and icons to make your presentation stand out. Visme lives up to its "multi tool" label with its rich feature set and visually appealing design.
Discover an endless library of free books, picture books, & poetry or use simple tools to create books in minutes. Storybird is a creative community where readers & writers celebrate storytelling.
The Comic Creator invites students to compose their own comic strips for a variety of contexts (prewriting, pre- and postreading activities, response to literature, and so on). The organizers focus on the key elements of comic strips by allowing students to choose backgrounds, characters, and props, as well as to compose related dialogue (shown at left). This versatile tool can be used by students from kindergarten through high school, for purposes ranging from learning to write dialogue to an in-depth study of a formerly neglected genre. The tool is easy to use, made even easier with the Comic Strip Planning Sheet, a printable PDF that comic creators can use to draft and revise their work before creating and printing their final comics. After completing their comic, students have the ability to print out and illustrate their final versions for feedback and assessment.
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