This is the instructional technology blog for Deerfield High School. "Free Tech Tools" will be posted on Tuesday. Musings about teaching and learning will be posted on Thursday.
Brain science tells us that being able to experience something helps with working memory, thereby creating a stronger connection in the brain which can lead to improved comprehension and a greater chance of transference of skills.* But sometimes the thought of creating lessons that involve students getting to be hands-on or experiential feels daunting on a day-to-day basis. Not every day can be full of experiences, right?
In my opinion, there are lots of ways to provide experiences for our students. Some experiences will be long and involved, while others can be small and not really require tons of prep on the back end.
The digital tool ThingLink can be one of those small but mighty ways our students get to explore in an experiential way. You can make it as small or as involved as is needed for the lesson. How you use it is up to you, but it will allow your students to be in the driver's seat for at least part of their learning and they will need to do some interacting with the material, which is often the goal.
ThingLink allows you to make an image interactive. Think about a display you might see in a museum. There is an image of something that would otherwise be very difficult or cost-prohibitive to see close up. Let's say the image is Reykjavik, Iceland, and its iconic sculpture located on the waterfront. The image presented in front of you has icons indicating that if you press on them, there will be more information. The information can be in the form of another image, a video, some text information, or a link to a website. It might look something like this.
This was created by me using the 360 library housed within ThingLink.
You can also use images that you have, OR you can create your own using Canva. Imagine that you create an amazing infographic for your students. Then what? They just look at it while you talk about it? How about if you share it with them and they explore it themselves by clicking on the tags you have created in Thinglink. You can even record your voice to give instructions.
Here is one I created about using Universal Design For Learning In The Classroom. I plan to use this with my class. Go ahead and give it a try.
This can be a new way to mix things up in terms of how your students get information. You can also offer ThingLink as an option for students to show you what they know. Instead of having them create Google slides presentations, again, why not have them create an infographic in Canva and then use ThingLink to highlight and extend their knowledge.
Here is one that I did not create but that I especially like. It's 110 women composers and ThingLink is used to connect each one to a YouTube video of their music.
Five other quick ideas for using ThingLink to make dry content more interactive and interesting:
1. Have vocabulary students need to learn? Make an infographic with the terms and use ThingLink tags for the definitions and examples.
2. Want students to understand a timeline? Make it using Google Drawings, download as a jpeg or png and then add ThingLink tags to the relevant dates and events.
3. Have a map students need to learn? Add ThingLink tags to the various locations and incorporate videos so students can experience different places in context to the map.
4. Have a complicated multi-step problem that you just can't explain one more time? Put it on a Google Drawing and download as a jpeg or png and add it to Thinglink. You can create tags for each step and explain what is going on and why. You can even upload audio of you talking through the steps.
5. Want students to notice a specific piece of artwork? Upload an image of it to ThingLink and then add tags for the information you want them to know. Let them click and explore on their own rather than listening to a lecture about it.
Getting started with ThingLink is simple and quick.
Just go to ThingLink.com and sign in to get started. In order for your students to interact with your ThingLinks they do not need to log in which makes it totally SOPPA compliant. Also, the steps to begin are clear and easy to follow. Check it out here.
You will upload your image and then add "tags" which will be those interactive elements for students to click on. You can even customize the icons used which can help your students quickly identify when there is more information to view.
Once you're done, click the share button. You can add the link to your Schoology page or use the embed code and add to a Schoology page so students can see it right there without leaving Schoology.
Want some help getting started with ThingLink or not sure how you could utilize this tool for your class? Reach out via email or book a time with me. I'm always happy to help.
I'm not the only educator in my house. My wife teaches English and Special Education and my daughter is getting close to entering the teaching market with Special Education and Dance credentials. Over the last couple of months, I've heard a lot of fear and frustration over the disruption that AI technologies, like ChatGPT, will likely have across the teaching field. Yes, this technology has the potential to change things a lot in ways that we can't fully comprehend at the moment. However, and hear me out, if we become the early adopters of this kind of technology we could use it to our advantage and set the parameters for acceptable use in education.
OK, hear me out. I've always been an early adopter for transformative instructional technology, and I understand that my colleagues aren't always there with me at the beginning of that process. But, think about some of the real time-consuming things you have to do in any given week. If you are an English teacher, say, and you want to create a lesson plan based on a passage from last night's reading that has kids up working on skills at different stations in your classroom? Now let's say you'd like to make sure that there is some differentiation built into those stations to accommodate learners at different levels? An hour? Two? More?
Ted Pickett, a teacher for an American High School in Abu Dhabi used ChatGPT to create that lesson in 6 minutes. Here's his video:
Thanks to Ken Williams for finding and sharing this video!
I think we are just scratching the surface? What if we need to generate 10 or 15 word problems based on a single problem structure? How about automatically creating different versions of a test?
Here's what ChatGPT thinks it can do to help teachers write lesson plans efficiently:
"As a language model trained by OpenAI, ChatGPT has the potential to assist high school teachers in creating differentiated lesson plans that cater to the diverse needs of their students. Differentiated instruction involves designing lessons that accommodate different learning styles, abilities, and interests of students. However, creating such plans can be time-consuming and challenging for teachers, especially when they have a large class size.
ChatGPT can help alleviate this burden by providing high school teachers with personalized and differentiated lesson plans. By inputting information about the students' learning styles, abilities, and interests, ChatGPT can generate tailored lesson plans that meet the needs of each student in the classroom.
ChatGPT can also assist teachers in identifying gaps in students' understanding of the subject matter. Through its natural language processing capabilities, ChatGPT can analyze students' responses to quizzes, assignments, and tests to identify areas where students may need additional support. This information can then be used to design targeted lessons that address the specific needs of each student.
Moreover, ChatGPT can provide teachers with access to a wealth of educational resources, including articles, videos, and interactive simulations. These resources can be integrated into lesson plans to enhance students' engagement and understanding of the subject matter.
In addition to assisting with lesson planning, ChatGPT can also facilitate communication between teachers and students. By using natural language processing, ChatGPT can understand and respond to students' questions in real time, providing instant feedback and support. This feature can help students who may be hesitant to ask questions in class, providing them with a safe and comfortable space to ask for help.
Overall, the potential for using ChatGPT to create differentiated lesson plans for high school teachers is immense. By providing personalized, targeted, and engaging lesson plans, ChatGPT can enhance students' learning experiences and support teachers in their efforts to meet the diverse needs of their students."
But that is really just from a casual conversation I was having with ChatGPT over a cup of coffee. I didn't even take time to dive into specifics.
I think we fear what we don't know, and we haven't really taken the time to see how this fascinating new technology can reduce our workload as teachers. (I haven't even brought up letters of recommendation yet...and I'm just going to let that one sit for a while.
Richard Byrne runs a resource site called Free Technology for Teachers. It has been one of my favorites for a long time. Currently, if you explore his website, you can demystify ChatGPT by getting general overviews of the tool and learning some quick tips on how to detect whether or not an essay was created by ChatGPT. Additionally, though, he is advertising a course created by another of my favorites, Rushton Hurley. The course is called ChatGPT: Boom or Our Doom? and it "is a free, self-paced course in which Rushton leads you through five lessons about ChatGPT and its implications for classrooms. Each lesson features a five-minute video and a suggested practice or reflection activity. The lessons cover what ChatGPT is and how it works, how to handle concerns about cheating, and using ChatGPT to create materials and activities for your classes" (Free Technology for Teachers, February 18).
What do you need to start your exploration? And how can you use ChatGPT to reduce your workload?
Just as we have done for years and years, humans accumulate a lot of stuff. Lately, much of our stuff is digtital. The Internet Archive is building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. It's a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that began back in 1996. Just like an analog library, it provides free access to researchers, historians, scholars, people with print disabilities, and the general public. Their mission is to provide "Universal Access to All Knowledge". The Internet Archive has millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more. They are also committed to providing digital versions of published works through OpenLibrary.org, which is a California state accredited library.
The Internet Archive is probably most well known for its WayBack Machine. This tool allows you to explore over 790 billion web pages that have been saved over time. Want to see what Google looked like in 1998? You can!
Think about how many times you want students to be able to experience an original source. Using the WayBack Machine students can experience the early days of the internet. They can also see the progression of our digital world over time. Instead of telling our students about historical events, why not have them look at the websites from various news outlets on specific dates. Take a look at CNN.com on September 11, 2001 over the course of the day. Have students compare it to different websites from the same day.
In addition to the WayBack Machine, The Internet Archive's Open Library offers millions of free books to check out and read online. You can brows the Open Library the same way you would browse any library. It also includes textbooks. The loans are very short but you can click renew as many times as you want.
There is also an archive of movies and television. Looking for a television episode from the 1960's ? I bet you're find it here. Want to find a commercial from the 1980's? You can search by topic or keyword and filter by year. You can have students view presidential campaign commercials from specific years. There is also a smaller collection of feature films and movies.
Besides websites, books, and video, the Internet Archive also has audio, software, and images.
There is a live music archive that I think many of our students would find fascinating and relevant to what they are learning in many of our classes. There is also an archive of audiobooks and poetry, as well as podcasts and old time radio shows. The image archive has a collection of images from the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Think about how much time we spend trying to help our students understand another time, another perspective, or an event that they have only heard or read about. The Internet Archive and the WayBack Machine can be an outstanding resource to add another layer of understanding as they try to make sense of what they are learning.
Take a look at the Internet Archive. Poke around and see what is there and how it can be utilized in your classes. I think you'll be surprised at how many connections are made there.
Want some help getting started? Feel free to reach out via email or book a time with me. As always, I'm happy to help.
Last year Canva proved their bid to be one of the fastest-growing software companies in the world with a valuation of over $40 billion dollars! And it makes sense - we are increasingly hungry for visually appealing communications. If your commercial or sign or presentation isn't sharp and colorful, people's eyes will immediately glaze over, in search of something more engaging. I don't suppose there is anything inherently wrong with this yet. Visual communication is one of the three types of communication (others being verbal and non-verbal) and they've been essential to our experiences since the cave paintings in Lascaux and pictograms in Ancient Egypt. So what can you and your students create in class today?
Canva has all the funding in the world to support continual tool updates and improvements to its already impressive list of features. The Classwork toolbox allows you to create beautiful graphic organizers, posters, worksheets, infographics, comic strips, and more. Individuals can also collaborate in real-time within your organization. You can start from scratch, or use and adapt any of the premium templates.
Brainstorms, Mind Maps, and WhiteBoards
Sometimes you just need a blank canvas to begin organizing your thoughts. Mind Maps and WhiteBoards are fun ways to gather and organize ideas and plans in a visually appealing way that begs to be shared.
Video Presentations
Let's say that you were able to create a great infographic or presentation on Canva. You can easily turn it into a video presentation by overlaying your voice and face to explain or describe your work. We've done this before during remote and hybrid learning using products like Screencastify.
AI Text to Image Generators
Canva has its own proprietary AI image generator. Just by typing in some descriptive features, students can add distinctly unique imagery to their presentation.
QR Codes
You can easily add customizable QR codes to your projects. Simple QR codes to link to URLs, and even dynamic ones that can give you analytic data on QR code usage!
Background Removers and Auto-Enhancing Photos
While there will never truly be a replacement for hard-nosed graphic design work, Canva does have a few simple apps that allow the average layman to work some graphic design magic. Would you like to remove the background from a picture of a student or athlete for your poster? Does your image quality need a little touch-up? Upload your pictures to Canva for simple photo editing options.
The list can go on and on. What do you want to create on Canva? Need any help creating something new? Reach out or invite us into your classrooms for some project ideas!
