the responses of 1,461 virtual learning academy participants—pre-K to 12 teachers and administrators—to survey questions on impactful tools that I conducted from May to December 2020, and over 70 webinars and virtual learning sessions, these are the top teacher-tested tech tools I have identified.
Four teachers share their favorite online tools to use during this unusual year, including sites for educational games and others for collaborative work. #EWOpinionhttps://t.co/yihTiS100e
Looking for different ways for students to share their knowledge. I’ve done Jamboard, Google Slides, Discussion posts, padlet…I just want something different and am not able to come up with any great ideas here. Anyone come up with anything else fun or interesting? This is for an asynchronous course.
I’m looking for a tool that will allow students to collaboratively create an “exhibit” at the end of an online class. Each student will be responsible for curating a selection of objects (art, photographs, music clips, and text quotes) with short explanations that we’ll put together in an exhibit on our class topic. I’ve thought of various formats—including possibly TimelineJS (I’m a historian)—but I wanted to see if anyone else had experience with this kind of assignment and recommendations of tools. My students have different levels of technology access and literacy, so my priority is simplicity and ease of use. Thank you very much for any suggestions you might have!
Flipgrid is a free service that you can use to post prompts for your students to respond to with short videos that they record through their laptops, Chromebooks, iPads, or phones. Your prompts and your students’ replies can be kept private or you can make them public. a complete set of Flipgrid tutorial videos available here.
My Note: synchronous vs asynchronous; Adobe Connect vs Zoom. Also Flipgrid for asynchronous videochats.
From: EDUCAUSE Listserv <BLEND-ONLINE@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> on behalf of Celine Greene <celine.greene@JHU.EDU> Reply-To: EDUCAUSE Listserv <BLEND-ONLINE@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> Date: Tuesday, April 23, 2019 at 2:38 PM To: EDUCAUSE Listserv <BLEND-ONLINE@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> Subject: [BLEND-ONLINE] Advice for Synchronous Online Classes Using Zoom Meetings?
Our school is transitioning from using Adobe Connect to using Zoom Meetings for synchronous online class sessions, of which most of our online courses schedule at least a few times each term. So after years of “controlling the user experience” with the Adobe Connect layouts and relying primarily on text chat, we are heading in the direction of screen sharing with the enhanced social and community-building experience of video “taking over” chat. Some people are very excited about this move, given the popularity and ease-of-use of the Zoom platforms. Other people are a little more wary – especially when it comes to large (e.g., 40 to 200+ students) classes.
Please share your thoughts and experiences on what faculty and students should be aware of when using Zoom Meetings (not the webinar) for a synchronous class session. Here’s some of the things I was curious about…
Do you have a set of “instructions” or recommendations for students — e.g. so they see the chat as it happens?
Are there any best practices in terms of meetings set-up that you recommend for your faculty? (Mute participants upon entry, always show meeting control bar, etc.)
Have there been some scenarios that have been fantastic or some that have been horrible for using Zoom?
Is there a class size where the number of participants starts negatively impacting the learning opportunity? (i.e., I realize Breakout rooms are an option but also not appropriate for all situations, such as having a guest speaker come in to have an interactive Q & A or having a software demonstration.)
Are there any major “fails” you’ve learned from or, alternately, success stories?
Are your students required to have Zoom accounts?
Do you have a method for tracking attendance?
…
Thanks for your input! – celine Celine Greene Instructional Technologist Center for Teaching and Learning, JHSPH http://ctl.jhsph.edu
DataSense, a data management platform developed by Brightbytes.
DataSense is a set of professional services that work with K-12 districts to collect data from different data systems, translate them into unified formats and aggregate that information into a unified dashboard for reporting purposes.
DataSense traces its origins to Authentica Solutions, an education data management company founded in 2013.
A month later, BrightBytes acquired Authentica. The deal was hailed as a “major milestone in the industry” and appeared to be a complement to BrightBytes’ flagship offering, Clarity, a suite of data analytics tools that help educators understand the impact of technology spending and usage on student outcomes.
Of the “Big Five” technology giants, Microsoft has become the most acqui-hungry as of late in the learning and training space. In recent years it purchased several consumer brand names whose services reach into education, including LinkedIn (which owns Lynda.com, now a part of the LinkedIn Learning suite), Minecraft (which has been adapted for use in the classroom) and Github (which released an education bundle).
Last year, Microsoft also acquired a couple of smaller education tools, including Flipgrid, a video-discussion platform popular among teachers, and Chalkup, whose services have been rolled into Microsoft Teams, its competitor to Slack.