10 of the Most Engaging Uses of Instructional Technology (with Dozens of Resources and Tools)
Are you looking for ways to integration technology in your lesson plans and courses that provide for an engaging experience for you and your students? Fans of instructional technology know that it can be fun and inviting, and engaged students are far more likely to be learning. I believe that if you can get students involved and motivated effectively enough, you can improve their learning habits over the long term. With that in mind, here are 10 highly engaging uses of technology in the classroom, along with dozens of tools and resources for implementation. Most of these involve free web based tools, so that's an added bonus!
10 Free Tech Tools & Websites Every Teacher Should Know About
Confession: I was a late tech adopter. I didn’t own a computer until I was in college. I couldn’t record on the VCR, and I didn’t have a smartphone until about 2009. As a new teacher, I felt comfortable with PowerPoint and Word, yet I rarely explored any other tech tools.
How to Get Students Engaging with Each Other in Online or Blended Classes – Teaching in Higher Ed
This article originally appeared in Bonni Stachowiak's Toward Better Teaching: Office Hours Column on EdSurge. It is reposted here with permission. You can pose a question for a future column here. Dear Bonni: How can we make student-to-student interaction more personable and engaging in online learning? —Andrea Fuentes, Director of Online Learning, Doral College
Gamifying the Classroom with Minecraft – so Many Fun Possibilities!
Minecraft is showing up with increasing frequency in education technology related social media and blog content. The gamification of education is a hot topic, ripe with possibilities for increased engagement and learning, and Minecraft is a highly creative and flexible application that is well suited to classroom adoption. What is Minecraft?
Flipped Classroom: Engaging Students with EdPuzzle
The flipped classroom model is a blended learning strategy I use to present my vocabulary, writing, and grammar instruction online. Students watch videos at home where they can control the pace of their learning, then they come to class prepared to apply that information in collaborative student-centered activities. One thing I emphasize when I lead professional development for teachers is the importance of flipping and engaging. Instead of simply consuming information, I want students to think critically about that information.
101 Web 2.0 Teaching Tools
Online tools and resources have made it easier for teachers to instruct students, and for students to collaborate with those teachers and with other students and parents. These "Web 2.0" teaching tools aren't magical, but they may seem to defy definition at times since they save time, help you to stay organized, and often take up little space on a computer. Some of these applications are Web-based, which means that they can be accessed from any computer. The following list is filled with tools that will make a teacher's, or those enrolled in the best online education programs, life easier. The categories are listed in alphabetical order and the links to each tool are also listed alphabetically within those categories.
Career and Professional Development
The PROBLEM, ACTION, RESULT formula to capture accomplishment statements Problem: What was a problem or task that you were assigned at work? Action: What action did you take to solve the problem and complete the task? Result: After your action, what was the end result for your employer organization?
Lindsay Ann Learning Educational Blog
When I first started teaching, we had one computer in each office and each classroom, and I remember waiting in line to use it. We scheduled time in the LRC computer labs, but this was not guaranteed. We thought nothing of it.
(Tips for Teachers) Experiential Learning with the Help of Technology
About ETR Community EdTechReview (ETR) is a community of and for everyone involved in education technology to connect and collaborate both online and offline to discover, learn, utilize and share about the best ways technology can improve learning, teaching, and leading in the 21st century. EdTechReview spreads awareness on education technology and its role in 21st century education through best research and practices of using technology in education, and by facilitating events, training, professional development, and consultation in its adoption and implementation.
5 Tech Tools to Integrate Today
There is an old saying that begins, "If I had a nickel..." If I applied that saying to how often a teacher approached me for help but began with, "I have a stupid question,” I'd have a lot of nickels. The fact is, an overwhelming number of teachers don't feel confident in their ability to teach in a digital age, let alone establish a digital culture in their classrooms where students are makers and doers. This lack of confidence is problematic when we consider the direct impact on effectiveness. My remedy is an arsenal of fail-safe tools that will engage students in the curriculum and empower teachers to do more. Not only will teachers be encouraging digital learning opportunities among students -- they will score a personal High-5 for having effectively implemented the tools themselves.
Small Group Activities... Online - THE CENTER FOR TEACHING, LEARNING, AND ASSESSMENT @CGCC
Small group activities... online? Institutions of higher education around the world are providing their faculty with resources for online instruction that is active and engaging - read on for ideas, tips, tricks, and recommended practices. Here is a sample of some of the activities in this BU article - check this week's blog post for the full chart, as well as resources from other universities.
Installing Elgg on XAMPP — Elgg master documentation
These intructions are provided in case you want to test your Elgg installation on your local computer running Windows. Elgg is compatible with opcode caches and it is highly recommended that you enable a PHP opcode caching tool for a faster experience. XAMPP comes with support for eAccelerator out of the box, but unfortunately, the 1.7.4 build of XAMPP leaves out the DLL that’s required. To get eAccelerator working, follow these steps:
13 Ways to Use Canva in Your Classroom
No one disagrees with the importance of the visual in communicating. The problem usually is creating it. Most teachers aren’t adept at matching colors, picking fonts and font sizes, and then laying everything out artistically. It’s much easier to use text with a few pictures tossed in and leave the artistry for the art teacher. When Microsoft Publisher came out over twenty-five years ago, it was the first major desktop publishing effort to blend layout, colors, and multimedia that was accessible to everyone. Unfortunately, it was (and continues to be) an expensive piece of software not traditionally included in Microsoft’s Office Suite (though that changed with Office 365).
Leading Synchronous Online Discussions
By Heather N. Fedesco, Assistant Director, Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching After you’ve considered the advice offered in the Synchronous Meetings Overview section, you may now be ready to identify the different ways you can incorporate synchronous online discussions as a way to include interactional activities into your online course. In what follows, I provide suggestions for incorporating group discussions into your videoconferencing.
