EdTech in the Classroom
I am sure that we are all familiar and use some sort of edtech in the classroom. Over the next three weeks, we will be presenting useful apps and websites that you can use in your classroom for all students.
The following six edtech tools can be used by all students. By incorporating these tools into the classroom, students will not only improve educationally, but will also build upon their digital literacy skills.
Below is an overview of each tool, however, for a full description of each, including the pros and cons and how teachers can use them in the classroom, view the full document here. Feel free to download the document and share with your colleagues.
Prezi is an online presentation maker that features a unique 3D zoom animation to move between slides. Teachers and students can turn ordinary slide presentations into more stylish and potentially more engaging experiences than those made with other presentation software. Prezi supports uploading Power Point slides or creating new presentations from scratch or templates. Account setup is simple, support tutorials are helpful and clear, and the end results are professional looking presentations. Teachers should note that Prezi's Terms of Use only allows use to minors 13 or older, and they must have the consent of a parent or teacher before setting up an account.
Mathjong is an engaging algebra game that allows students to earn points by building algebraic equations. Students earn points based on the complexity of their equation, allowing for differentiation within the game since students can build either a very basic or complex equation depending on their skills.
Natural Reader is a great tool for any student who struggles with reading, has a cognitive disability, or simply would benefit from having text read aloud. Natural Reader can read text aloud from a variety of digital sources. Through a floating toolbar, users can access Natural Reader in different applications to hear the text read aloud in a natural-sounding voice.
Voice Dream Reader - Text to Speech is an app that can read content in a variety of voices from a variety of sources. Students can import text from documents, websites, and DRM-free epub books. Students with dyslexia or auditory-processing or vision impairments would find Voice Dream Reader especially helpful.
Grammarly is a website geared toward helping writers craft their very best work. Writers of all ages can cut and paste or upload work they’d like to edit. Once uploaded, the site has a left navigation sidebar with a plagiarism checker and vocabulary enhancement tool as key features. On the right side of the screen, users can get feedback and suggestions with hints to understand why they should change or improve certain aspects of their writing. The bottom of the screen lists word count and how many critical issues the document has, and gives writers a score based on spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, style, vocabulary, and plagiarism checking.
Kahoot! Is a web-based software where the teacher can create quizzes for students to review content. The teacher first needs to sign up at https://kahoot.com/ where they can choose whether they want to create a quiz, survey or discussion. The teacher will then input questions and answers/discussion prompts into the activity. Once the activity is complete, the students will either open the app on their phone or on their computer. They will then input the code given to them by the teacher to access the activity, and the game will begin. The question will be displayed for about 5 seconds before the answers appear, in order to give all students time to read and comprehend the question. Once the answers appear, the students will choose the corresponding color/symbol on their device that matches the correct answer on the board. The computer automatically tallies the results and keeps track of the students’ scores.
Want more information? Download a complete overview of each edtech tool here.
Do you have a website or app that you think should be included in next week's blog? Are you interested in writing a blog post for us? Message us at: info@aquilaeducation.com
