d survey tool that provides for a small survey at no cost. Doodle, Polldaddy, and SurveyAnyplace, are a few other alternatives.
- Clickers: Also known as Student Response Systems, these devices make it really easy to gather student feedback. Click here to read a story about a contest winner we had on the site back in 2010 who used Clickers to help improve FCAT scores.
- Plickers: This is a relatively lo-tech, and highly affordable alternative to clickers that does not require students to have an electronic devices! Learn more here.
- More advanced, education-specific tools: Apps like Socrative are great examples of the maturing tool set available to educators.
- Twitter! Twitter is a unique, fun way to gather feedback when students have a way to tweet. Create a unique hashtag and have students use it in their tweets, to create a custom stream of student tweets. In this article, a College of Westchester teacher explains how Twitter helped engage her students in the course material.
Embedding Questions in Videos
Today’s students consume video like drinking water. As today’s teachers leverage this fact by using video for instructional purposes more than ever, free tools that enable educators to embed questions are powerful aid. When students are asked to consume video content outside of class, how can you help to ensure that they are really engaging with the content? Here’s an excellent approach.
- EduCanon: I recently created this ‘3 Minute Teaching with Technology’ Tutorial Video showing how easy it is to use EduCanon to do this.
- EdPuzzle (edpuzzle.com): I haven’t tried this one yet, but I heard about it at FlipCon14, and people seem to really like it!
- Ed.ted.com: This is a different approach – one that allows for the building of a quiz and other interactive content after the video is viewed.
This is a personal favorite of mine. Tech tools can be great for active learning in the classroom. Whether your preference is for Inquiry Based Learning, Constructivist Learning, Experiential Learning, or one of the various other labels for or sub-categories of Active Learning, there are applications and resources available to enable this teaching construct in your classroom. Here’s a few web based resources for further exploration:
- How can technology be used with inquiry-based learning?
- (Tips for Teachers) Experiential Learning with the Help of Technology
- Problem Based Learning Projects
- How does technology complement constructivism?
Bandura’s Social Learning Theory posits that “people learn from one another, via observation, imitation, and modeling”. Of course, the type of socialization that occurs via “social” computer tools is certainly different than face-to-face social interaction, but it still offers opportunities for social learning. Moreover, when it comes to blended and online learning, making an effort to bring social elements into the picture can truly help to fill one of the gaps that digital learning can have when contrasted with face-to-face learning.
Some resources to learn more:
- 7 Ways That Social Networking Tools Can Enable Social Learning in the Classroom
- 3 Benefits of [Digital] Social Learning
- Can Social Media Play A Role in Improving Retention in Higher Education? Research Says it Can.
Using Technology to Help to Ensure Engagement With Digital Content
As digital learning content becomes increasingly commonplace, one challenge we teachers are faced with is how to make sure that students are engaging with content they are consuming. Unlike the traditional textbook, digital content generally lends itself to much easier distraction.
One technique to help ensure that this type of content holds students’ attention is to make it interactive, requiring responses and actions during consumption. We’ve already looked at embedding questions in videos as one example. Other techniques can include clicking on simple response requests, embedding discussion forums in content, or using techniques like K-W-L or WSQ. Whatever approach you take, it’s worth considering some sort of measure to help ensure engagement.
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