Ed-Tech: Engagement Tools

Padlet: An Alternative to Flip (Formerly Flip) A Collaboration Board

A tech tool often used by educators to collaborate and share ideas, what if this same platform was harnessed by educators to promote collaboratin with learne? Padlet offers the capabiities to serve as a virtual poster board allowing learners to post comments in the form of text, audio and video and respond to each other comments. Flip (formerly Flipgrid) was a popular video ed-tech platform a few years ago, however Microsoft has absorbed it and its future within Teams which could limit user functionality if they are not a Microsoft School (Ohio State University, College of Arts and Sciences, ASC Office of Distance Education, 2024). Padlet could be used as an alternative to offer the same type of controlled educator and learner digital environment for learner engagement (Padlet Inc. n.d.).

Wordwall: Great for Fluency Practice, Constructed Responses and Flash Cards

Think of it as interactive flashcards, jeopardy games, fill-in-the-blanks and other constructed response tools educators can leverage for fluency practice. The savvy educator could upload spelling words and the sentences for them and have learners match the words to the sentences or they could create fill-in-the blank activities with a word bank. The online application offers the option for a leaderboard where learners can compete for spots based on their accuracy. In my practice I have used this for fluency practice for multiplication and division flashcards as well as spelling and vocabulary words. The possibilities could assist kindergarten teachers looking to incorporate phonics into lessons to a grade 12 learner who aims to memorize the Latin names of anatomy (Wordwall, n.d.).

Nearpod: Enhance Engagement With Virtual Field Trips, PhET Simulations and so Much More

A personal favorite of mine, Nearpod is an interactive learning platform that enables students to engage with slides. Educators can incorporate PhET simulations into a slide, virtual field trips to anywhere in the world (or Mars) external websites, PDF files and so much more can be added to slides that learners engage with. Nearpod also includes features that enable drag and drop functions, matching, drawing, discussion boards, fill-in-the-blanks, written response and even slides that embed videos with questions in them like Edpuzzle. It offers synchronous and asynchronous lessons where students join with a join code. It offers reports of all interactions learners complete in each slide, which is very useful for report cards, learner self assessment and student led conferences (Nearpod, n.d.).

PhET: Free online physics, chemistry, biology, earth science and math simulations

PhET Interactive Simulations is an initiative out of the University of Colorado Boulder which provides educators and learners with free online, interactive simulations for science and math education. (Nearpod) has a feature to incorporate some PhET activities in its platform. The engagement tools within the PhET platform empower learners to engage with math and science topics. The grade level and content are vast and range from 3rd grade - 12th grade. A few examples include manipulatives for fractions, learners can work with manipulatives to banlance equations, or in physics where they could roll a ball from a ramp at various angles and analyze its force and speed at which it moves. The platform is a virtual science lab that enhances learning and discovery in the STEM field (PhET Interactive Simulations, n.d.).

References

Microsoft. (n.d.). Microsoft Teams. Retrieved from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software

Nearpod. (n.d.). Nearpod: Foster a love of learning in every student. https://nearpod.com/

Ohio State University, College of Arts and Sciences, ASC Office of Distance Education. (2024). Teaching and learning toolset. https://ascode.osu.edu/tools/teaching-and-learning-toolset

Padlet Inc. (n.d.). Padlet: Visual collaboration for creative work and education. Retrieved from https://padlet.com/

PhET Interactive Simulations. (n.d.). PhET: Free online physics, chemistry, biology, earth science and math simulations. University of Colorado Boulder. https://phet.colorado.edu/

Wordwall. (n.d.). Wordwall | Create better lessons quicker. Retrieved from https://wordwall.net/