6 Great Tools and Resources for Increasing Student Engagement

Edmodo

The first educational resource that we are reviewing is called Edmodo.  Edmodo is a social learning website that attempts to connect teachers, students and parents from around the world in a safe and collaborative platform.  The creators of the website envision this resource as the Facebook for schools.  Similar to Facebook this tools requires user to register a username, which allows them access to the various resource available on the site.  What we thought was particularly useful about this website is that is allows the classroom teacher a create class page, that students and parents can join, in the same way they would join a Facebook group.  What we really liked about the idea of a group dedicated to a classroom is that the website allows users to post comments or link interesting or helpful articles to the page for the other users to view.  The teacher also has the ability to create and upload assignments or quizzes to the page for students to complete.  This is a great function for a teacher who is interested in creating a blended classroom, as it allows students to access assignments from remote locations and upload their completed work to the page.  The group page is also a great way to keep parents informed on what is happening in the class because teachers or students can easily communicate about what happened in class that day or any upcoming events events that may be pertinent to them.        

The website also has a “Discover” option which we thought of as Pinterest for education.  Users from around the globe can upload lessons or units on any subject and topic and have them available for other users to use.  Teachers and students can also upload these resources to the group page for other members of the group to browse.  

VoiceThread

Another great Web 2.0 tool that gets students involved in the learning process and makes them active participants in their education is VoiceThread.  VoiceThread is an interactive collaborative website that allows users to upload images, videos or text documents.  Although there are other websites with based on a similar concept, what we thought made VoiceThread unique was its ability to allow other users to comment on or add voice, text or audio to previously uploaded content.  In a similar review of this tool the New Jersey Education association noted that VoiceThread is a great way for students with hearing impairment to comment using sign language and webcam commenting.  The other great thing about VoiceThread is that the sites allows the users to control who is able to view their videos, so students using this tool for a class project can choose to share their work with just their classmates if they do not feel comfortable making their video completely public.  

Here are some great examples of how VoiceThread is being used in classrooms around the world. http://ed.voicethread.com/myvoice/#browse

Bubbl.us

Bubbl.us is a Web 2.0 tool that allows its users to create brainstorming and mind mapping diagrams right on the website.  We think this tool would be very useful in a classroom to help students organize their thoughts.  Furthermore, it also provides the teacher with a simple visual that allows them to determine if students are on the right path prior to undertaking a research project.   For example, using the Bubbl.us mind map below, a teacher could determine if a student has included all of the important information for research into Thanksgiving before he or she actually starts the project, and if something is committed it can easily be edited into the mind map.  

  

This Image was borrowed from: http://www.teachers.cr.k12.de.us/%7Egalgano/bubblus_ex.jpg

There are however, a few downsides to this tool.  The first is that users are only able to create 3 free mind maps and after that must pay for either a monthly, yearly or team membership.  Because of this, we feel that Bubbl.us is not very piratical for daily use in a classroom unless your school or distrcit has purchased a team membership.  Another disadvantage is that there are no privacy controls to allow users to restrict who is able to view their mind maps.  Once it is posted anyone can search and view your mind map.  Thus, it would be important to ensure students did not include any personal information when posting their map.  

Prezi

Prezi is a fun web 2.0 tool to do presentations. We see it as fun, yer professional way of creating great presentations. Emily has used this tool in university for presentations and she has enjoyed the things it has to offer. Prezi is a cloud-based program which makes it handy for users as they can log onto their website anywhere, anytime and work on their presentation. Prezi makes presentations more exciting and the ability to zoom in and out on objects is neat as you can emphasize certain things. Prezi also allows viewers to see the presentation which is nice because you can see the whole picture of the story. Below is a quick introduction video to the world of Prezi.

Blabberize

The fifth web 2.0 tool we looked at and test was Blabberize. Emily made an account to look at a little deeper and had a fun time with it. With Blabberize you can take your saved photos and put a voice to through the mic on your computer, prerecorded voices or through your phone. The tool was easy to use and we think would be appealing to many students. From a early years perspective, teachers could use this when using photos for documentation and have the students put a voice to it to give the photo a story. Teachers could either teach students how to use it or they could do the recording with the students and the student could explain what is happening in the photo. This could be a form of assessment. Teachers and Parents can become friends on Blabberize and share their students work or they teacher can pull up the photos during parent teacher interviews. I think parents and teachers will benefit from hearing the students’ stories behind each photo.

Storybird

Lastly, we looked at Storybird. We both love this web 2.0 tool as it allows students to put their writing into a digital book with pictures. As kids we both remember being asked to write stories but rarely having the opportunity of putting images to it. With Storybird students are able to publish their writing with attractive pictures to go along with it. We think by making the students aware that they get to publish their work gives them an incentive to work harder and keep their interest sustained, while completing an assignment. Once students become aware of the program it may encourage more writing in students. For Jon last year he used this tool in his class to make a story as an entire class. They were all excited to participate in the activity and see their work. For one of his students he enjoyed it so much he had his parents sign him up for the program at home to make more stories on his own.

Authored by Emily and Jon