Actively Learn is an ereader that allows teachers to keep track of how students are reading and lets students take more of an active role. "Actively Learn is a reading platform for the web where students can highlight, annotate, and discuss text as they read" (Kievlan). Tons of texts are available through the platform, but teachers can also upload their own tests and media. Students can read on their own, in small groups, or as a class. They can share notes and annotations, and key words and questions can come up organically and in the moment rather than waiting until the next meeting time. This leads to deeper thinking as well as deeper connection between the readers.
Actively Learn was founded by two people looking to make a different in how students learn and read. While the program didn't launch until 2012, it was years in the making before that. Acively Learn was a 2019 Codie winner and 2019 Common Sense Media Top Pick for Learning.
There are a lot of features that make this great for the general classroom like scaffolds, choices in reading speed, a read aloud feature, definitions, and more. I can see how this would be extremely useful in a collaboration setting with ELA, Social Studies, or even LOTA teachers.
One of the things I liked most was after signing up, you are given a reading experience from the student's perspective. This made it easy for the educator to understand how this program could help a student engage more with what they are reading. It helped to sell me on trying this with my own students. I also found that you can switch the student mode at any time, which I think is really helpful. Many times we are finding work around to see how something looks or works from the student end, so having that built into a program is really helpful.
I'm planning to propose this program to a few teachers as a collaboration, and perhaps they will find it useful and will want to continue with it. I believe it can be a great tool to help students read and write better, which is the foundation of education.
Kievlan, P. M. (2019, February). Actively Learn Review for Teachers. Retrieved July 27, 2019, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/website/actively-learn
Team at Actively Learn. (n.d.). Retrieved July 28, 2019, from https://www.activelylearn.com/about-us
Sunday, July 28, 2019
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Flipgrid
Flipgrid is a site that hosts videos and allows people to share them in a grid that is accessible to the people you select. Educators can select a topic for a grid. Topics can include parameters for the videos, resources, and instructions. Students can record short videos that appear in the grid, and can then comment and reply to one another's videos. The teacher has moderation control over the videos and replies to keep everything on track.
When either the educator or student record, they have the option to use sticky notes to keep track of what they want to say in the video. This helps keep the user on track and prevents having to stop and restart multiple times. One other neat feature is the Gridpals options. A teacher can search for another educator looking to connect their classroom. You could potentially connect with someone in another country and give the kids exposure to other traditions, languages, and new friends. They also recently launched FlipgridAR, which allows you to add Flipgrid videos anywhere around you with a Flipgrid code.
I can see using Flipgrid in many different ways. What a fun way to record introductions! Then if a new students came in part of the way through the year, they could be added to the grid and would be able to get to know their fellow classmates. It would also be interesting as either a station or a weekly check in where the educator could post thought provoking questions or questions that require problem solving and higher order thinking. Flipgrid offers a library of topics to choose from of you can create your own. I also plan to utilize Flipgrid in our Professional Development assignment as a way for teachers to share book talks with one another, and also to check back in with one another to follow up after the PD.
Flipgrid is free for educators. Educators create grids and then invite students to the grid with a code. That code allows them access only to the grid the code is good for, so it is an easy way to keep different classes or sections separate. You get 50 videos free per month, which seems like plenty for regular use. Flipgrid became part of Microsoft about a year ago, and did away with their paid accounts, so now all educators have access for free. It is available on multiple platforms, including Chromebooks, iPhones and iPads, PCs, and Android devices.
Flipgrid. Ignite Classroom Discussion. (n.d.). Retrieved July 20, 2019, from https://flipgrid.com/
When either the educator or student record, they have the option to use sticky notes to keep track of what they want to say in the video. This helps keep the user on track and prevents having to stop and restart multiple times. One other neat feature is the Gridpals options. A teacher can search for another educator looking to connect their classroom. You could potentially connect with someone in another country and give the kids exposure to other traditions, languages, and new friends. They also recently launched FlipgridAR, which allows you to add Flipgrid videos anywhere around you with a Flipgrid code.
I can see using Flipgrid in many different ways. What a fun way to record introductions! Then if a new students came in part of the way through the year, they could be added to the grid and would be able to get to know their fellow classmates. It would also be interesting as either a station or a weekly check in where the educator could post thought provoking questions or questions that require problem solving and higher order thinking. Flipgrid offers a library of topics to choose from of you can create your own. I also plan to utilize Flipgrid in our Professional Development assignment as a way for teachers to share book talks with one another, and also to check back in with one another to follow up after the PD.
Flipgrid is free for educators. Educators create grids and then invite students to the grid with a code. That code allows them access only to the grid the code is good for, so it is an easy way to keep different classes or sections separate. You get 50 videos free per month, which seems like plenty for regular use. Flipgrid became part of Microsoft about a year ago, and did away with their paid accounts, so now all educators have access for free. It is available on multiple platforms, including Chromebooks, iPhones and iPads, PCs, and Android devices.
Flipgrid. Ignite Classroom Discussion. (n.d.). Retrieved July 20, 2019, from https://flipgrid.com/
Sunday, July 14, 2019
Canva
Canva is an internet based design platform that offers both free and professional accounts to design almost anything you could think of. Canva was started in Sydney, Australia in 2012. Founder Melanie Perkins taught people how to use programs like Photoshop and InDesign in college, and discovered that they were complex and difficult to learn. She and cofounder Cliff Obrecht first launched Fusion books, a program aimed at yearbook creation. Knowing that more people could benefit from the technology, they partnered with former Googler Cameron Adams and created and launched Canva.
Canva is easy to use. I signed in with my google account and was working in a document within minutes. I would highly recommend watching the tutorial video as it was a great launching point and gave you the essential information to get working right away. I love that they have the option to start a project from scratch or browse templates to get a hand with your design. I can see this having unlimited potential in a school. Educators can make posters for events, lesson plans, yearbooks, invitations, planners, and more. The designs and templates are fresh and appealing without being too trendy. I can see a lot of options for things I would use. I have used Canva to make an infographic for a class before, and almost used it for this week's assignment, but I wanted to try out Venngage.
I would also use this site for students. I think it is easy enough for them to learn to use within one class period, and it would be a great tool to many different subjects. It would appeal to students who are more artistic and creative and allow them to apply learned skills in a tangible way. It would also be a useful thing for them to learn for personal design needs such as invitations, blogs, and social media posts.
I can't find a lot of downsides to Canva. It is a fairly basic program compared to the more complex applications like Photoshop, but since it is free an more accessible I don't consider this strictly a negative. However, for the student or educator who might be trained in that type of program they might find Canva to be too basic for their needs. Overall I highly recommend Canva and I plan to use it at the middle grade and high school level this coming school year.
References
Kievlan, P. M. (2019, July 14). Canva - Photo Editor & Design Review for Teachers. Retrieved July 14, 2019, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/app/canva
Our Story. (N.D.). Retrieved July 14, 2019, from https://about.canva.com/story/
Canva is easy to use. I signed in with my google account and was working in a document within minutes. I would highly recommend watching the tutorial video as it was a great launching point and gave you the essential information to get working right away. I love that they have the option to start a project from scratch or browse templates to get a hand with your design. I can see this having unlimited potential in a school. Educators can make posters for events, lesson plans, yearbooks, invitations, planners, and more. The designs and templates are fresh and appealing without being too trendy. I can see a lot of options for things I would use. I have used Canva to make an infographic for a class before, and almost used it for this week's assignment, but I wanted to try out Venngage.
I would also use this site for students. I think it is easy enough for them to learn to use within one class period, and it would be a great tool to many different subjects. It would appeal to students who are more artistic and creative and allow them to apply learned skills in a tangible way. It would also be a useful thing for them to learn for personal design needs such as invitations, blogs, and social media posts.
I can't find a lot of downsides to Canva. It is a fairly basic program compared to the more complex applications like Photoshop, but since it is free an more accessible I don't consider this strictly a negative. However, for the student or educator who might be trained in that type of program they might find Canva to be too basic for their needs. Overall I highly recommend Canva and I plan to use it at the middle grade and high school level this coming school year.
References
Kievlan, P. M. (2019, July 14). Canva - Photo Editor & Design Review for Teachers. Retrieved July 14, 2019, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/app/canva
Our Story. (N.D.). Retrieved July 14, 2019, from https://about.canva.com/story/
Sunday, July 7, 2019
Insert Learning
Our discussion this week in class is about information literacy and how using online sources is a mixed bag with varying results. There was an article linked that detailed how people read online, and it said that we tend to read very little of the content we are clicking on or that we skim it. In light of that, I was looking for a resource that might help students engage more with the online content they use.
I discovered Insert Learning through Common Sense, and I believe that this is a tool that can help. The description from the website is "InsertLearning was founded by two high school teachers who wanted to create a richer learning experience for their students. Our mission is to help teachers turn the Internet into an interactive learning experience" (www.InsertLearning.com).
Insert Learning is a Chrome Extension that teachers can use to create lessons using reliable online sources. It allows the teacher to add all kinds of things to the content that the students can interact with. They mention on the website that this can be a way to differentiate learning for students with things such as videos to support text, links to other sources, or asking the students targeted questions. I especially liked that students can add to the discussion, making it possible for kids to work together and collaborate virtually.
I feel that this tool would be especially useful in middle school classrooms of all content areas and in the library. I can see myself using this with kids when teaching about Media Literacy, finding good sources for research, finding the different parts of sources for citations, and checking for understanding as a lesson progresses. I would recommend this to any teacher who wants to use online sources in their classroom but isn't sure how much the students are interacting with the material.
While individual accounts are free, you are restricted to 5 lessons. A teacher can purchase an account for $40 per year and get unlimited lessons and unlimited number of students. They also have quotes for schools looking to purchase use. I feel that this is a good deal for a tool I would use multiple times throughout the year. As a librarian, sometimes it can be difficult to use things that are made only for classroom teachers as I see many more students. I would pay the $40 to have access to this tool for all my classes, and I would highly recommend other educators to take a look at what it was to offer.
InsertLearning. (n.d.). Retrieved July 7, 2019, from https://insertlearning.com/
Manjoo, F. (2013, June 06). You Won't Finish This Article. Retrieved July 5, 2019, from https://slate.com/technology/2013/06/how-people-read-online-why-you-wont-finish-this-article.html
I discovered Insert Learning through Common Sense, and I believe that this is a tool that can help. The description from the website is "InsertLearning was founded by two high school teachers who wanted to create a richer learning experience for their students. Our mission is to help teachers turn the Internet into an interactive learning experience" (www.InsertLearning.com).
Insert Learning is a Chrome Extension that teachers can use to create lessons using reliable online sources. It allows the teacher to add all kinds of things to the content that the students can interact with. They mention on the website that this can be a way to differentiate learning for students with things such as videos to support text, links to other sources, or asking the students targeted questions. I especially liked that students can add to the discussion, making it possible for kids to work together and collaborate virtually.
I feel that this tool would be especially useful in middle school classrooms of all content areas and in the library. I can see myself using this with kids when teaching about Media Literacy, finding good sources for research, finding the different parts of sources for citations, and checking for understanding as a lesson progresses. I would recommend this to any teacher who wants to use online sources in their classroom but isn't sure how much the students are interacting with the material.
While individual accounts are free, you are restricted to 5 lessons. A teacher can purchase an account for $40 per year and get unlimited lessons and unlimited number of students. They also have quotes for schools looking to purchase use. I feel that this is a good deal for a tool I would use multiple times throughout the year. As a librarian, sometimes it can be difficult to use things that are made only for classroom teachers as I see many more students. I would pay the $40 to have access to this tool for all my classes, and I would highly recommend other educators to take a look at what it was to offer.
InsertLearning. (n.d.). Retrieved July 7, 2019, from https://insertlearning.com/
Manjoo, F. (2013, June 06). You Won't Finish This Article. Retrieved July 5, 2019, from https://slate.com/technology/2013/06/how-people-read-online-why-you-wont-finish-this-article.html
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