Vialogues
How it Works:
After creating an account, a teacher can create a vialogue by first uploading a video from a file, a video that exists in Vialogues' library, or from YouTube/Vimeo. The teacher will then set sharing permissions as public, meaning anyone can find it in the website's library or with a link, or as selective, meaning the teacher invites viewers by email or username. Don't worry, Vialogues has a groups feature that allows you to create a class for quicker selective sharing. As the moderator, the teacher can first add time-stamped questions or annotations to the video. Students will then access the video to add their own time-stamped annotations and view those of their classmates.
Why You Should Use it:
Videos are a great format for delivering content knowledge. Vialogues takes that content delivery and adds a pedagogical move to it, the core practice of discussions. If there is depth to the content, then students will be able to take on the task of making meaning through multiple video views, annotating, and learning from classmates' annotations.
Actively Learn
Actively Learn is a freemium tool that encourages students to become active readers through collaborative annotation, questioning, teacher guidance, and engaging content.
How it Works:
Teachers and students can log-in with Actively Learn-specific accounts, or Google accounts. The teacher can create a class and then find or create assignments to share with the class. The student will join a class and complete the teacher's assignments. When creating an assignment, the teacher can use and/or modify one of the many readings already present on Actively Learn. The teacher also has the option of adding their own text and starting a new assignment. During creation/modification, Actively Learn will let you know when you interrupt reading flow with too many questions/annotations. In a further attempt to bolster ease of reading, Actively Learn transforms the font and spacing into a dyslexic-friendly formatting. The teacher can add annotations, instructions, and questions. The questions can be a variety of formats and can be linked to a particular standard. There is also the option of adding multimedia to annotations, instructions, and questions. When students complete an assignment, they can add their own annotations that can be made visible to the entire class if that setting is chosen by the teacher. The students will also answer any questions and can flag text segments as "I Don't Understand!" Students can highlight text to be defined or to hear the audio of the text. When students complete the assignment, teachers can grade their work and see data on question proficiency, conversations, and "I Don't Understand!" flags.
Pros:
The theory behind this tool is really what makes it great. It treats reading as an active process, not a passive task where students are mindlessly answering inane questions. The user interface is quite attractive and should decrease the amount of "I don't like reading on my computer" complaints. It is also relatively quick and easy to create classes and assignments, plus I love the meter at the top of the assignment creation page that tracks over-questioning.Cons:
I can't see every student loving this for reading an entire novel, and most of the texts in the catalog are over 100 pages. There are also some limits to free accounts, like the inability to upload Google Docs as assignments (however, there are workarounds). Many of the texts in the catalog also require you to purchase a license per student.Imagine Easy Scholar
Imagine Easy Scholar is a research tool that allows students to create note cards, source cards, citations, and outlines from web sources. It also allows teachers to monitor and analyze data about student research.
How it Works:
A teacher creates a research project for students with a description (links, videos, text, etc.) and then creates an assignment code. Students log in to their accounts (Google single sign-on!) and enter the assignment code, and voila! they have now connected to the teacher's assignment. From here, students can explore web resources, and using the Chrome plug-in, highlight text in an article and automatically create a note card. But that is only the beginning. Note cards come with the option of direct quotes, paraphrases, or unique ideas, so students can vary the ways they use their resources. The note cards can also be categorized and color-coded by main ideas. When students create a note card from a particular source, a citation is automatically created and stored in a bibliography. Students can access the Imagine Easy Scholar website and organize their note cards into an outline. They can also re-visit sources they have previously used and review their highlighting on that source.
As the students complete the research process, the teacher can analyze data in a number of ways. The teacher can see how many note cards and sources each student has at any point in time. The teacher can see how many sources are websites or journal articles for the class as a whole or for each student. Additionally, the teacher can see an overview of note cards and analyze how many note cards are direct quotes, paraphrases, or synthesis, or view individual note cards. Finally, the teacher can see how many note cards have been completed with citations and without citations.
Pros:
This FREE tool is an organizational blessing for students and teachers. Students will benefit from the ease of use, intuitive interface, and the ability to organize different research projects at once. They will also love the digital cloud storage as they will no longer have to worry about lost note cards or not remembering what websites they have visited. Teachers will love using the data to intervene where students are struggling.
Cons:
The only downfall I have come across at this time is that students cannot highlight PDFs to automatically create note cards. A work-around would be to create a note card and copy and paste text onto it.Pear Deck
Pear Deck is a freemium interactive presentation tool, similar in many ways to Nearpod.
How it Works:
A teacher can create a slide presentation or upload a PowerPoint, Google Slides, or PDF presentation. In the free version, the teacher can integrate interactive slides that solicit multiple choice, short response, or number-based answers from students. In the premium version, teachers can also integrate slides where students are asked to draw or drag items on their screen. When the teacher begins the presentation, Pear Deck generates a join code that the students input on their devices to connect. The teacher and the students then concurrently view the slides. At interactive slides, students input their responses that are only viewable on their screens. The teacher can then display data such as the number of responses for each multiple choice option. In the premium version, the teacher can also view a dashboard to screen responses.
Pros:
If you need to lecture, this is the way to do it. By virtue of the interactive slides, students are more engaged in this type of presentation than a standard slides presentation. Pear Deck is fully integrated with Google so students will not need to create a unique log-in as long as they have a Google account. Any presentations created by the teacher will automatically be saved to Google Drive, and the teacher will also receive a Google spreadsheet of student responses.Cons:
Many of the great features seem to be available only through a subscription to premium content. And the subscription cost is pretty hefty. During a whole class presentation, some slides were delayed in loading on some students screens.
Ideas in a Blended Classroom:
This app seems to be best used in a teacher-led station. Because it offers a simultaneous presentation, Pear Deck might allow you to move the teacher-led station away from a a projector and board. The teacher will also receive instant feedback on any interactive slides, so re-teaching can be immediate and purposeful.
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