This app provides web-based games and videos to engage students, grades 3-5, in independent learning and digital citizenship. It is a great way to introduce lessons in web safety, respect, and community to young students, to prepare them for integrating technology in future classrooms.
This site is great for student assessment and benchmarking, as it allows the teacher to create and collect assessment data to prepare for testing.This form of targeted assessment allows for focused attention to areas that students may need extra practice in. Teachers can monitor student activity and assignment completion. I like this tool specifically for student intervention or lesson review.
Designing a lesson around Google Scholar will help a high school classroom understand how to navigate through scholarly sources, along with the comprehension of what makes a credible source. Using the search engine, discuss the difference between a keyword search and a normal google search. Have students provide examples of appropriate keywords for a particular search.Allow each student to choose a topic they wish to explore, browse scholarly sources and practice choosing an article and writing an annotation for a bibliography. Examine aspects of a source that display credibility and discuss ways of sifting through sources to find the most relevant and reliable options.
The ability to create and navigate in a virtual world requires real-life problem solving and inquiry-learning, while keeping students engaged and interested. Minecraft would be a great tool in STEM classes, as the engineering aspect of the simulator works on skills in design, collaboration, and systems thinking. Makers of the game argue its relevance in social learning and cultivating 21st century skills, with an emphasis on communication, collaboration, and creativity. This tool could be used as a great team-building project for co-learning and group work, as students can create and think critically together, in order to sustain a "real world" with practical obstacles in economics, mathematics, and socialization.
he app WDWDT is a mobile resource that is used for student-teacher, and parent-teacher communication. The acronym, for "What Did We Do Today?" invites students and parents to stay updated on classroom activity on a private messaging service, convenient on their mobile phone. On the teacher side, the app is more than just a Communication Tool, as you can create surveys, volunteer/donation requests from parents, and schedule meetings with students or parents.
http://www.baiboard.com/index.html In a classroom where students have IPads available, this resource could be a great tool for student collaboration, and group learning. It provides a message board, and an "interactive whiteboard" where students, and teachers, can share ideas.
https://storybird.com/create/ Storybird is a great tool to allow student writing to become more interactive, interesting, creative, and tech-rooted. The site provides illustrations to which a student can create their own story. A story or poem can be published in no time, and the site is a great tool for classrooms of all age groups.