Interface Reflections: EdTech

At interface B, I was able to participate in a couple of breakout sessions with MOREnet involving technology in the classroom.

One session focused on alternatives to students response systems. I found this workshop very useful as it was not any sales pitch for any hardware or anything that most schools can’t really afford. I was introduced to some really cool resources that are entirely web-based, such as Socrative, Mentimeter, and Poll Everywhere. They allow you to create assessments that can be answered by the students using computers or tablets and results are often shown in real time. These would be great tools for formative assessments and, in the right circumstances, even summative assessments. They could also be utilized for bellwork activities that would surely engage the students in the topic for the day. The best part is that they are free (of course, some of them, like Poll Everywhere, has limits before you have to shell out the dough)! I also took part in a breakout that showed me how to utilize apps and extensions through Google Chrome. I never knew that there were so many free bells and whistles in the Google Web Store that could be incorporated in the classroom. For example, if you want the students to go to a specific webpage that may have a really long URL, you could use the Google Shortener. So instead of asking the students to type in this URL: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Continents.shtml.  They would type in a URL like this: http://goo.gl/sgvBo. Or, if your students have tablets with OR code readers (apps that are free for most tablets) you could give them a QR Code to scan for that webpage like the one below.

These are a couple of many really cool resources out there for us to use. Go check them out!