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:

Getting More Out of Presentations and Posters with Smore

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Yes, s'mores are a sweet treat around the campfire, but Smore.com is a simple way to create an online, beautiful flyer, brochure, or project. With so many design and content options and a finished professional product with multiple privacy options, it is perfect for educational use!

If you are looking for a quick poster tool that can be printed as a flyer or a PDF, or can be shared electronically, Smore may be for you. 

One of the things I love about Smore is the variety of options for items to add to a poster, like text, pictures, audio, video, links, and forms.

There is a free and a pro version, but I have found the free version is very robust. Once you have logged into Smore and click the new flyer link, a window opens with choices of the type of flyer you want to create. You can go from there using premade templates for creating your own from scratch.

If you share the flyer you create electronically, Smore gives you analytics regarding how many views your flyer has had. 

Here is a great example of a student project created with Smore.  

You can find more information about how to use the tool and ideas for using at this link. 

Interested in learning more? This is a great video tutorial on the tool.

Infographics

With the increase of visuals in the classroom and attempting to more fully engage students in creating and using presentations in the classroom, infographics are an easy way to have students present information or create visuals to use in classroom presentations and projects.  Infographics are a visual representation of data, and having students create them draws on a number of skills and literacies.  There are a number of tools that allow for the creation or use of infographics in the classroom, but I chose to stick with the two that I find easiest and most familiar.

My favorite tool for creating infographics is called easel.ly.  In easelly you can reuse public infographics or create new ones from scratch.  You can use premade themes or create your own infographic from a blank slate.  There are a variety of options for backgrounds, text, charts, images, and other objects you can add to your infographic.  You simply drag and drop different elements onto your canvas and arrange them how you like.  They are easy to create and add information to, and when you are finished your inforgraphic can be saved, shared, or downloaded.  Check out easelly and start creating your own!

The other tool that students can use to easily create an infographic is infogr.am. Infogram has very similar features to easelly but focuses more on interactive charts and graphs.  Again, creation is easy using premade themes and then adding your own personal information to it.  There are a variety of chart types you can choose from and a myriad of ways to visually present your data.  You can add charts, maps, text, images, and video.  When you are finished, you can publish your infographic online, embed it into a website, or share the link.

Overall, infographics can be a neat way to challenge students to visually present information in the classroom, useful in presentations and projects, and help explain concepts and terms to students who may better understand concepts with a visual representation.  For more information on infographics and using infographics for assessment, check out Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything on Infographics.

And if you're still not sure what exactly an infographic is or what purpose it can serve, check out the infographic below on what an infographic is (I saw this on another blog that I frequently visit, Free Tech for Teachers, when I first learned about infographics and found it helpful).