But now you're sick after inhaling all the germs that the students brought into your classroom. What do you do? Do you just make it a study hall (not recommended, by the way)? Do you have the kids just work in groups to learn new material? Or do you give a review assignment, even though it is going to set you back a day off of your schedule?
With the invention of technology, you do not have to choose any of those options. Instead you can create some visually stimulating lesson plans for your students. Ever wonder what that large paper weight some of us like to call an iPad is for? You can use it, with a multitude of apps, to create your lesson plan for students to view. Last year I shared Mr. Painter's great use of the app Educreations and how he used it to share his lesson plan with his students. (Excellent work, Marcus!)
Educreations, ShowMe, or Explain Everything are all great apps for writing and/or inserting images on your iPad. However, what if you want to make your video interactive. "There's an app for that." I call it TouchCast. Touchcast is an amazing (FREE) app that lets you create videos with interactive elements in the actual video. Here is a TouchCast video I shared with my students last year when I was going to miss a day during 2nd semester.
I LOVE this because all of my links (called vAPPS) are interactive and the students can just click, or touch, them to go to that website, vote on a poll, or send me a message on Twitter! Do you think this could be useful in your classroom?
Lesson Paths gives teachers the option to offer a fully-integrated digital lesson that is located online for all platforms. Teacher-generated components are not excluded, as the tool allows document uploads and comprehension quizzes as formative assessments throughout. The best part of Lesson Paths is the clear linear organization of each unit. Students may easily access each step of the lesson, called a "playlist," by hovering over the menu pop-up on the left of the screen and scrolling down to the correct step. However, students are encouraged to work through the lesson one step at a time with a large, clear "next" button on the top of the screen. A title bar on the top left indicates the lesson title and page heading while a horizontal bar on the top right shows students' progress through the lesson. To draw student interest, each link is fully clickable within the tool's window, so the student may access other dynamic content within the specific lesson. However, when a student is ready, the linear organization of the lesson allows him or her to easily jump right back in at the last step visited. I appreciate the opportunity to encourage student engagement with content while sharing educational and informative digital materials.
Thanks, Nikie! If you would like to see an example of how Nikie used Lesson Paths in her classroom, just click HERE. As always, feel free to contact the Featured Techie of the Week if you have any questions.
Educreations, ShowMe, or Explain Everything are all great apps for writing and/or inserting images on your iPad. However, what if you want to make your video interactive. "There's an app for that." I call it TouchCast. Touchcast is an amazing (FREE) app that lets you create videos with interactive elements in the actual video. Here is a TouchCast video I shared with my students last year when I was going to miss a day during 2nd semester.
I LOVE this because all of my links (called vAPPS) are interactive and the students can just click, or touch, them to go to that website, vote on a poll, or send me a message on Twitter! Do you think this could be useful in your classroom?
Featured Techie Of The Week - Nikie Jenkinson
Lesson Paths gives teachers the option to offer a fully-integrated digital lesson that is located online for all platforms. Teacher-generated components are not excluded, as the tool allows document uploads and comprehension quizzes as formative assessments throughout. The best part of Lesson Paths is the clear linear organization of each unit. Students may easily access each step of the lesson, called a "playlist," by hovering over the menu pop-up on the left of the screen and scrolling down to the correct step. However, students are encouraged to work through the lesson one step at a time with a large, clear "next" button on the top of the screen. A title bar on the top left indicates the lesson title and page heading while a horizontal bar on the top right shows students' progress through the lesson. To draw student interest, each link is fully clickable within the tool's window, so the student may access other dynamic content within the specific lesson. However, when a student is ready, the linear organization of the lesson allows him or her to easily jump right back in at the last step visited. I appreciate the opportunity to encourage student engagement with content while sharing educational and informative digital materials.
Thanks, Nikie! If you would like to see an example of how Nikie used Lesson Paths in her classroom, just click HERE. As always, feel free to contact the Featured Techie of the Week if you have any questions.
Thank you! afv.
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