Doing More With Less: A Reboot

This is  an edited repost from a blog I did around this time last year. 

So we’ve been asking you to integrate technology all year, and you’ve gotten pretty good at it. Transforming your lessons has become a norm and you are more excited than ever to adopt it in your instruction. As the end of the year quickly approaches, the ever impending “netbook retrieval” looms over us and some of you are frantically wondering what you’ll do without them.

Don’t worry! I have some suggestions!

  • Canvas – There is an app for any web connected device that students can download and login to their Canvas. There are some limited features, but you can still share content, keep students informed on lessons, they can submit discussions, and take quizzes.
  • Projectors – there are a plethora of interactive websites that don’t require students to have devices. Here are just a few.
    • Plickers– a powerfully simple tool that lets teachers collect real-time formative assessment data without the need for student devices
    • Google Earth, museum apps and more allow students to travel the globe from the comfort of their classroom desk. Today, you can zoom into any masterpiece housed in a museum with Google Art Project. Students not only can explore using Google Earth, but they can create their own experiences withGoogle Tour Builder, where they can add their own photos, texts and videos right over locations they find on the map.  The can play the addictive Google Earth game, GeoGuessr to explore and use context clues to guess different places around the world.
  • BYOD – Many of our students carry wifi enabled devices
    • Kahoot.it – A game-based classroom response system
    • VoiceThread – Can easily record and/or add text to a presentation
    • Flashcard Deluxe or Quizlet you can create study cards/kits for upcoming finals.
  • IPad – Even if you just have one, here’s a site with some interesting ideas on full class integration.Read Here
  • Provide classroom instruction using QR-codes. With generators like Kaywa QR-Code , you can provide links to educational content that students can access on their smart phone or tablet. But NOW with augmented reality apps like Aurasma or ColAR students don’t need to just link to content, they can bring it to life and interact with it.
  • Podcasts –  iTunes is not the only place that provides high quality educational podcasts for educators or students. Check out Edreach.us, BamRadio, Podomatic, Stitcher radio or AudioBoo. Podcasts are a very effective, easy, and fun way to share and consumer information. What’s more, listeners can move at their own pace through the podcast, replaying anything that may have been missed.
  • Videoconferencing in your Classroom – 2 years ago we would have to talk about about video conferencing with Guest Speakers or Pen Pals Students  using a laptop, today we say Google Hangout, using any device. They are a powerful tool that allows students to connect and collaborate. Google just announced Virtual Fieldtrips where full classrooms can connect with experts and see places that would not be thinkable on a typical school budget.

I would be more than happy to help you design a lesson around any of these. Please let me know what I can do to make the netbook-less days easier on you!

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