Easy Ways to Integrate Technology in Class

 

A. "Useful Tips to Help You Integrate Technology in Your Class" (post) provides an infographic that lists "10 Easy Ways to Integrate Teachnology in Your Class," X of which are included below.

1. Caveats

"Every time you want to digitize a teaching task ask yourself the following  questions":

• "[W]hat are the added advantages of integrating technology in this task?"

• "[W]hat are the alternative plans if things did not go as planned?"

2. Some Other In-Class Uses of Technology to Consider

• Digital timelines (and timeline tools)

• Digital Storytelling

• Social annotation (Hypothes.is, Perusall)

• Social bookmarking, Social citations, Social libraries

• Animations/Whiteboards

• Storyboarding/Comics/Graphic Texts

• Online games for study/review (StudyStack, Quizlet,  ProProfs, Jeopardy Labs, Kahoot!, etc.)

• Simulations

• Multimedia assignments

• Grading paperlessly (use the D2L grading app)

• ePortfolios

• Collaborative/peer editing

• Group critiques

• Wikis

• See also "25 Easy Ways to Use Technology in the Classroom" (doc).

3. See also the many ideas and tools listed through "DiRT: DIgital Research Tools."

B. The Suggestions

1. "Run a Virtual Field Trip"

• "If a location is out of reach due to logistaical issues, ... simulate a visual trip by using a wide variety of augmented reality apps."

• Some tools: Google Earth VR, [Google Expeditions, Discovery Education, Skype Virtual Field Trips, Google Arts and Culture]

2. "Quiet a Noisy Classroom"

• "To make it easier to give lessons and presentations, use a tool that tracks and displays noise."

• Some Tools: Too Noisy, [Classcraft's Volume Meter, BouncyBalls]

3. "Use Videos for Mini-Lessons"

• "[B]olster your lesson plans by using videos as stand-alone overviews for some topics."

• Some tools: Teacher Tube, TedEd, [Crash Course], [EdPuzzle for clipping and inserting questions into videos]

4. "Co-ordinate Live Video"

• Whether it's a contact from another school or a seasoned lecturer you reach out to, bringing an expert into your classroom will expose your students to new ideas and can lighten your workload."

• Some tools: Skype, Google Hangouts, [Zoom]

5. "Add Multimedia Elements to Presentations"

• "[S]lideshow presentations made entirely up of text can disengage students."

• "[O]nes with multimedia elements can effectively hold their attention by varying content delivery."

• Some Tools: Haiku, Google Slides

6. "Use Digital Exit Tickets"

• "Exit tickets can help students process ideas, reflect on what they have learned, and share their thoughts and feedback."

• Some Tools: Plickers, Google Forms

7. "Study, Review, and Critique Content on Web Pages"

• "[A] technology-focused spin on notetaking"

• "Find a webpage with content reflecting or related to your lessons, and get students to male notes directly on the page."

• Some tools: [Hypothes.is], Google Docs

8. "Use Online Mind Maps for a Class Brainstorm"

• "[B]rainstorm ideas as a way to reinforce lessons or launch a problem-based learning exercise."

• Some tools: MindMeister, Bubbl.us

9. "Gather Student Feedback"

• "[C]reate and distirubte surveys."

• Some tools: Socrative, Poll Everywhere

10. "Launch a Wiki Page or Blog for a Collaborative Assignment"

• "[S]tudents must contribute their own content to the page, editing and refining each other's work."

• Some tools: Edublogs, Blogger