With devices for each student commonly becoming the reality in our education system, efficient and worthy tech tools are more of a necessity each day. Outside of Google, here are some of my favorites:
Learning can be organized and fun with Blendspace, the free and easy edtech tool that is made for lessons, projects, presentations, and more. It's a perfect tech tool for self guided lessons, center work, or if you have a substitute teacher.
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Padlet is basically an online posterboard - the user is given a blank space to add text, videos, pictures, links, and more. It's interactive, shareable, and easy to embed on a website. It's also a great tool for collaboration, and even a bell ringer or exit ticket activity where every student writes on the same board.
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Flipgrid is one of my new favorites! It allows the teacher to pose a question and the students submit video responses. It all happens in the same place, so students can watch each other's videos as well. The free version is good, but the next level up is $65 a year and might be worth it - you can send feedback via video as well, and students can comment and reply to one another. Great tool for assessing outside of the norm!
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If you are looking for a free, online video editing site, WeVideo is it. You can cut videos, mash them together, add music, effects, and more. With the Pro accounts (less than $5 a year per student), other features are available such as green screen editing, project collaboration, and Google Drive connectivity.
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If you're looking for a free program that acts as "facebook" for your classes, Seesaw is it. It's a great site that allows you to post videos, assignments, announcements, and students can reply back and post their own pictures and videos plus more! It's a good alternative to Google Classroom, and can even be used crossed-district which allows for some really cool collaboration.
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Do you need an easy way for students to review vocabulary? Quizlet is one of the best. The teachers creates a list of words and definitions, and Quizlet does the rest. Students can study flashcards, hear the words and definitions out loud, play individual games, take practice tests, and with the new Quizlet Live, an instant class review game is created.
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For formative assessments, Socrative is a teacher favorite. You instantly connect and assess students with different question types, and see the results instantly. It's a great tool to help you quickly decide where students need more instruction. It's also fun!
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Formative is a live assessment tool that is perfect for any technological setting; BYOD, 1:1, or partner responses. There are different question types to use, instant feedback is given to the students, and teachers can see what information needs to be retaught with just a few simple questions. It's great for whole class activities, individual classwork, or homework.
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EDpuzzle gives teachers the ability to turn any video into a formative assessment. Create your own, grab it from YouTube, or search videos that other teachers have already created. Preventing students from skipping ahead and embedding questions along the way are just two of the amazing features of this free tool.
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Screencast-O-Matic isn't made for Chromebooks, but it's a teacher's dream for screencasting on a PC or Mac. The user can choose the area of the screen that is recorded, and upload directly to YouTube or save to your device. Each recording can be up to 15 minutes in length in the free version. Want longer videos and more options? Try the Pro version for $15 a year (worth it in my opinion!).
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Kahoot is the student favorite - it's in intense, competitive review game that gets students out of their seats. Literally. It's great for 1:1 environments but can also be used in a BYOD setting or by partnering students together. It's VERY fast paced, and probably shouldn't be your only review activity or game. But the kids love the competition!
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Quizizz is a self-paced online review tool that teachers can use in class or assign for homework. Kids love it because of the easy interface and funny memes, and teachers love it because of the detailed data reports at the end of each session. It's a great alternative to Kahoot because it's individually paced, which means students actually take their time to answer the questions rather than focusing on speed.
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