Quizlet Live - Take Your Quizlet Reviews to the Next Level

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Quizlet has recently added a new feature to their site called Quizlet Live.  It takes existing review sets that teachers have already made and turns them into a fun, interactive review game that can be played in class.  It is free with any teacher's Quizlet account (students do not have the option).  I was fortunate enough to get to see this in action in a Foreign Language class this week, and I was struck by how engaged the students were in reviewing simple vocabulary.

One of the key differences between Quizlet Live and some of the other class activity review sites like Kahoot, is that students play in teams.  There is no option for a student to not engage, because the team cannot move forward without every person contributing.  In other ways it works the same, because students go out to the Quizlet Live site, enter the game code and their name, and can then participate.  Teachers can remove students if needed and Quizlet will them group them into teams.

In the Quizlet Live game, the answers for the questions are divided among the team, but each person can only see their own answers.  Then, as each question appears on the student's screen, if they have the answer, they click it.  If they do not have the answer, they have to wait until whichever teammate who has the answer clicks it. In this way, if someone is not contributing, the whole team is stuck.  Additionally, if a wrong answer is given, the team goes back to the beginning and has to start over.

Each team will receive the same question set, but not necessarily in the same order.  While Quizlet Live recommends putting teammates next to each other, the teacher I observed did not have the teams together.  Her reasoning was that if they sit next to each other, they will just look at each other's screens and push answers for each other.  However, students were still allowed to call out answers to their teammates to try and help them, and the students seemed to enjoy it more that way.

Overall, this is a great new addition to an already great resource.  It is engaging and fun, and provides a great option for doing class review. Any Quizlet review set that is already made and has at least 12 questions can be used.  If you already use Quizlet, or even if you don't, you should check out the links below and give Quizlet Live a try!

Video About How to Play Quizlet Live
Info about Quizlet Live
View a Demo
Help Center - How to Use Quizlet Live

Online Audio Recording with Twisted Wave

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Finding a good online audio recording tool can be a challenge.  Most have numerous limitations or only allow you to record and then you have to download your recording and put in into a different tool or software for editing.  Twisted Wave is a nice, easy audio recording tool that allows you or your students to create and edit audio recordings from scratch, or import existing audio recordings for editing.  Completed recordings can be exported into Google Drive, which makes for easy saving and sharing, or uploading to Google Classroom.

The editing tools include features like fade-in, fade-out, looping, normalization, changing pitch, as well as cutting and pasting to rearrange or delete parts of the recording.  While the free version does have some limitations such as only allowing up to 5 minutes of recording and up to 1 hour total storage, because you can save your files to your Google Drive when you are done with them, it is easier to delete and reuse that storage.

If you are looking for an easy tool that allows both audio recording and editing all in one, Twisted Wave is one to check out.  See the video below from Free Tech for Teachers for a short demo on how to use Twisted Wave.

Tackk - Create and Share Ideas and Content

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As I was browsing through my old posts this week, trying to decide what to write about and what I haven't covered that would be useful to share, I realized that I have written about infographics, poster creation tools, and a number of web tools that fall into those categories, without ever talking about Tackk.  Tackk is one of those tools that has so many possibilities, it's hard to put it into a single category to explain.  I generally group it in with my infographic or poster creation tools, but essentially it is a tool that allows for the easy creation of a web page that can then be filled with just about any kind of media or links you can imagine, so it can be used as a poster creation tool, web page creation tool, or blog tool.

The Tackk site provides templates that can be used to create a variety of educational products, either by teachers or students, such as presentations, lesson plans, book reports, newsletters, goal setting posters, and student portfolios, just to name a few. I love that the site is easy to use but offers a variety of options, meaning you can move beyond just a cookie-cutter project where students all end up with the same product.

I also love that Tackk has an area of their website focused solely on how their tool works in education and offers a variety of ideas and templates to help you get started.  Like many web tools, it offers one click login with Google, making it easy to access and start creating. There are numerous options available for designing a project or poster on the site, adding text and media, or uploading files.  Just about any type of media can be added to the site, and the site itself links to over 300 other programs and applications, making it easy to combine creations and information from other sites.  For instance, you could have students create a Thinglink and then include that in their Tackk. This feature is the one that makes me excited about the potential for Tackk as an online portfolio for students or a place to feature their work.

Overall, this is one of those tools that has a ton of potential because of its versatility, but is also very easy to use.  It has potential for a number of content areas and a wide variety of options for both student and teacher use.  Check out the videos and links below for ideas and to get started!

Demo Video on Tackk for Education

20 Ways to Use Tackk in the Classroom

Full Tackk Tutorial:

Starting Places - Resources for Using Technology in the Classroom

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I went to a fabulous conference this week on best apps and using mobile devices to strengthen student learning.  And while the conference was geared towards K-6, there were a number of resources that could be applicable at the secondary level as well.  By the end of the day I was on information overload and feeling overwhelmed (in a good way!) about all of the possibilities out there.  However, one of my favorite things I took away was simply the list of quality resources available for using technology in the classroom.  So I am sharing a couple of those resources with you today.  Some of the resources are geared towards specific devices or platforms such as iPads or Google, and others are more general resources, but they are all great starting places for ideas and tips on using technology in the classroom.  Thank you to the conference speaker Joann Troutner for the great learning and resources!

Learning in Hand - This was one of my favorites because of the great section on Project Based Learning (PBL). There is also info on this site that you can explore based on the type of device you have in the classroom.

Bloomin' Apps - I have loved Kathy Schrock and her website for years, especially when I was teaching in the classroom, and she has now expanded to include apps and tech tools organized based on Blooms Taxonomy.

Google Resources - Shake Up Learning - This site is focued on Chromebooks and resources for using Chromebooks.  It also provides a variety of Help Sheets for Google tools and information on a variety of Chrome extensions.

Ed Tech Teacher's Apps - The best option for this site is that instead of just looking up random tools or resources based on device, the resources are sorted based on classroom activity as well.  So this site is an easy resource for searching in a more meaningful way.

Apps for Children with Special Needs - This is a great site for finding reviews of apps that can work well for students with a variety of special needs.

iPad Academy - This is a great blog with tutorials, ideas for how to use apps and resources, and current information on new apps.  If you find you don't have time to sift through the variety of apps and thousands of options, use this site to help narrow down the list.

Educational Technology Guy - This is another great blog with lot of materials focused more on Google tools and Android devices.  Like Learning in Hand, there is a great section with PBL ideas and resources.

Overall, this conference was well worth the time and I came away with a lot of great resources to start with.  I have shared just a few of the ones I liked the most, so check them out and see what kind of new ideas you can find!

Online Activities and More Formative Assessment with Wizer

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Last week I had a colleague tell me about a web tool called Wizer that has a lot of potential for providing ways for students to practice skills and complete assignments outside of class, and also providing great data for formative assessment.  While there are a number of formative assessment tools out there, this one goes beyond just classroom formative assessment and can be used to assign homework, reviews, and practice to students outside of class, while providing immediate feedback to students and data for teachers.  The tool is incredibly easy to sign up for and use, and there are a number of options for creating worksheets with more on the way.

While the tool has many standard question types such as open ended questions, multiple choice, and fill in the blanks, it also has some interesting options like filling in answers on an image and matching, as well as options for including text, images, tables, video, links, and embedding from outside sources.  This makes it much easier to create a multiple part question like providing students with a video and then asking questions about it, or giving information in a table and then asking questions about the table.  Additional features that are in the works include collaboration, drawing, and sorting/ordering.

Creating an assessment or worksheet and adding questions is incredible easy, and there are a number of options for changing the theme and look of the worksheet.  Assigning to students is even easier, because the tool has Google Classroom integration, so with just a few clicks you can add it to your Google Classroom page as an announcement or assignment. Students then just click the link, log into their own Google accounts, and complete the worksheet.  You can choose to have the automated questions automatically provide feedback and then grade the other questions later.  Student responses can be immediately viewed when they complete the worksheet and feedback provided.  If you don't use Google Classroom, you can share the assignment with students by sending them a link or using a PIN code that they would enter into the website.

Overall, this tool is incredibly easy to use and can take formative assessment beyond the classroom walls and a class activity.  It can be used in a variety of ways and instead of sending students home with paper worksheets and assignments to complete, they can complete questions online for easier feedback and tracking of student data.  Check out the video below for an overview on how to use the tool and get started!

Easy Online Grading with JoeZoo

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Well, I missed my post last week because of a busy Friday, but it actually worked out in my favor, because I had learned from my colleague at North about a useful little grading tool called JoeZoo.  However, after looking at it and reading about it, it looked like they were releasing some new features this past weekend, so in the end I decided to wait until this week to talk about it.

I have found this tool to be incredibly effective for making grading using Google Docs much easier.  I have posted in the past about some other tools that can work for using rubrics and grading in Google Docs, but JoeZoo has some great features and a new integration with Google Classroom that really makes it efficient.

There are three primary functions of this tool: writing feedback, building and using rubrics, and grading assignments.  The writing feedback option allows teachers to provide quick feedback on writing assignments by using existing comments and corrections based on the most frequent writing errors that teachers have to correct. So instead of writing or typing "run-on sentence" fifty times or even copying and pasting it, with just a couple of clicks you can easily provide that feedback.  The feedback is also categorized into different areas like formatting, grammar, mechanics, punctuation, and structure, which allows students to see where they received the most comments and what areas they need to focus on.  It can save a lot of time when grading writing assignments.  In addition to the writing feedback, there is a feature still in beta format called Monkey Checker, which will actually auto check the assignment for errors and provide that common error feedback for you.

Another are this tool excels in is rubric use. There is no need for tables or charts to make a rubric or worrying about structure.  The feature allows for creating a rubric (or copying and pasting existing rubric items) into an easy to use format and then will insert the rubric directly into the document, making feedback quick and easy.  In addition, the grading tool allows for easy grading using the rubric and providing feedback, along with converting that rubric score into an actual grade.

One issue I originally had with the tool was that to grade an assignment you had to add students to your list and choose the student name, etc.  It was kind of a pain and the thought of adding an entire class of students was not pleasant.  However, that is where the Google Classroom integration comes in.  With that new feature, you can connect JoeZoo to your Google Classroom and it will automatically list all of the students in your course, making choosing and grading much easier.

Overall, this is a great tool with a lot of potential.  The developers love feedback and suggestions and frequently implement them, so there is a lot of potential for growth and improvement as well.  If you are a teacher who has students complete assignments using Google Docs, I would recommend checking out JoeZoo to make grading and providing feedback faster and easier.

Check out this link for a variety of videos from the developers on using the tool.

More Formative Assessment Options - Quizalize

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We probably all know that the formative assessment web tool options are numerous, so I almost feel bad adding another option into the mix, but that's what I'm going to do with week with Quizalize.  However, I tend to stick to my go-to choices for in-class activities, such as Socrative, Kahoot, or Go Formative.  One thing these tools have in common that makes them so useful is the aspect of allowing students to play the review in class and compete against each other. I also tend to like options like Quizlet for individual student review.   However, in-class formative assessment tools generally don't allow for any use outside of the class activity, and options like Quizlet are difficult for the teacher to track and review student progress unless you have an upgraded teacher account. This is the niche that Quizalize is attempting to fill.  It works very similar to reviews like Socrative and Kahoot, but allows students to log in and complete the reviews whenever they would like.

As a teacher, you can create questions on a review, assign it to a class, provide students with the class code, and then have students log into the class and complete the reviews.  You can see student progress and results, and students can get immediate feedback.  This could be a great option for allowing students to do individual reviews and not always having to complete them as a class activity.  The tool itself is also very easy to use on both the teacher and student sides.

When creating an account, if you have a Google Education account and Google Classroom classes, if you sign up with that Google account it will actually import all of your classes from Google Classroom into Quizalize.

When creating quizzes, the options are fairly basic.  Multiple choice or true false questions with one right answer.  You do have the option of adding images, and there is a neat feature for Math Mode, which allows for equations to be included in the questions and answers. Also, you can provide immediate feedback for the student about the question.  As with most of these tools, you can also use public quizzes from other users and multiple settings that can be adjusted when assigning the quiz.

Overall, Quizalize is more than just another formative assessment tool.  It can be a valuable review resource for both students and teachers, and provides some additional features not included in many review tools.  Watch the video below from the Free Tech for Teachers blog to learn more.

Organizing Your Cloud

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As much as I love storing everything in the cloud, over the years I have developed a number of accounts through various services, and at times I have trouble remembering what is stored where.  Also, moving items from one storage service to another involves a lot of downloading and uploading of various files.  Multcloud is an online tool that allows you to manage multiple cloud drives all in one space.  This can serve a few different functions.  Not only does it make it easier to keep track of where all your files are because you can easily search multiple accounts in the same location, but you can easily transfer files from one cloud storage to another.  So I can take a file from my Dropbox account and easily move it into my Google Drive account, without all the hassle of downloading and uploading the file.

So far I have found the tool convenient and easy to use. This can also be incredibly helpful for your students who may use multiple online accounts, depending on the assignment and program.  There are a number of different types of accounts you can connect to create your dashboard for managing them all in one place. Additionally, you can add multiple accounts of the same type, so for instance if you have a personal and a work Dropbox account, you can manage them together. Overall, this is one of those tools that can be convenient and make life easier for those of us who utilize multiple cloud accounts, or can't remember where we stored our stuff.

Check out the video below for  quick tutorial on getting started.

Triventy: Formative Assessment and Review Quizzes

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Most teachers who do some kind of online review or formative assessment with students have heard of and possibly even used Kahoot.  It's a great tool for allowing for easy and fun review and gauging how well students understand the material or information.  However, using the same tool all the time can lessen the fun, so today I'm bringing up another great review tool that is easy to use and very similar to Kahoot called Triventy.

Triventy is an online tool that allows you to create easy to use formative assessments or reviews that you can do with students in class.  The biggest difference that Triventy has from other online review tools is that it allows for collaborative creation of games and reviews.  This can be great if you work in a team setting (middle school I'm thinking of you!) or if your department wants to work together on something that you all can use.  You could also have groups of students create reviews and work together that way.

A few other features I like about this tool is the ability to add hints to the questions so students who are struggling can get some extra help without being obvious, and the ability to add extra facts or feedback after each question.  You can also adjust some of the quiz settings itself so that it won't display student names with results as you are playing.

One of the biggest downsides of this tool for me is that right now it does not keep the results after the game is done, so you have to take a screenshot of the final results to keep those.  It's not a huge inconvenience, but I like having the results in a spreadsheet so I can look back later and see what topics I might need to revisit or where certain students had issues.  I hope this is a feature that we will see in the future, but for now that's the only real downside for me with this tool.

For more information on how to use Triventy and how to create quizzes, check out the video below from FreeTech4Teachers.com .  FreeTech4Teachers is a great blog and a great resource for all kinds of free tech tools!

Some Changes to Google Forms

Many teachers have discovered the benefits that Google Forms can bring to the classroom. It can be used for quizzes, exit tickets, and rubric assessments. Many of you may already use Google Forms, but may have noticed some changes to the forms since school started this fall.

The new Google Forms looks a lot like the Classroom Interface. Both the question and response page are available from the form, yet you can still get a separate response sheet. Let's look at the anatomy of the new form.

From the picture, you can see that the form looks a little different than it did in the past, but it functions the same way.

If you don't like the new form, click on the running guy picture in the lower left and it will revert to the old form version (in case you want to flee from this change!).

Besides looking a bit different, Google has renamed a few question types.

• SHORT ANSWER used to be called TEXT
• DROPDOWN used to be called CHOOSE FROM A LIST
• LINEAR SCALE used to be called SCALE
• MULTIPLE CHOICE GRID used to be called GRID

The response tab allows you to turn on and off accepting responses. Clicking the Green box also allows you to create a spreadsheet rather than just viewing responses in the Form.

Whether you are a veteran of using Google Forms or a newcomer, once you get used to the changes, you will enjoy these new features.

Check out this video tutorial for more information:

Another Rubric Tool - DocAppender

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Welcome back!  I hope you all had a restful and fun holiday! One of my earlier posts this fall discussed the tool Orange Slice, which is an add-on for Google that allows you to easily insert and use rubrics with Google docs.  Today I wanted to look at another rubric tool called DocAppender.  This tool is similar to Orange Slice in that it is a Google add-on, but this tool allows you use a Google Form that stamps a rubric into your document.

To use the tool, you basically create a Google Form, add the DocAppender add-on to the form (which you only need to do once).  Then you can choose a folder where the student documents are stored, and if you use Google Classroom, this works seamlessly to include your Classroom folders.  You then choose rubric items to use for that particular assignment, choose the score, and submit. The rubric is then stamped onto the assignment you are grading.  It can also work really well for peer editing.  See the links below for some tutorials and more information.

DocAppender Site
Youtube Tutorial on Using DocAppender

Step by step instructions and examples for DocAppender