Friday, 8 January 2016

Web-Based Resources

Record in your blog some of the web-based resources that you may be able to use and how you will integrate them into your teaching.

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Piktochart

Piktochart is a great way to create digital infographics. Students can use these to represent primary or secondary data that they find. This can link to mathematics and data handling as a way to show the results of surveys.

Available at: http://piktochart.com/

Padlet 

Padlet is a digital cork board where post-its of ideas, videos or images can be posted. In a class setting, this is a great place to brainstorm ideas, generate questions, create a plan, or even share some of the learning that has been happening in the classroom. 

Available at: https://padlet.com/


Wordle 

Wordle create a word cloud based on a list of words you provide the programme. This is a great way for students to generate a list of word related to a unit or topic. Students can also create a word cloud for a given piece of text to see what the most prominent words are in it. 

Available from: http://www.wordle.net/

QR Code Generator 

QR Code Generator generates a QR code for any digital resource. These QR codes can be used in class as part of a scavenger hunt, instructions for an activity or even on the back of a book to create an audio book. 


3 comments:

  1. Hi Ms. MacLean,
    'Students can also create a word cloud for a given piece of text to see what the most prominent words are in it'. I extend this activity by having students use the 'most prominent words' to help them summarise their understanding of a chapter from the book being studied. Compiling these word clouds display an engaging and creative way for students to 'see' their chapter summaries. How else have you used Wordle?

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  2. Another way I have used word clouds is to generate a list of key vocabulary for a unit and create a word cloud. I use it as a provocation with students trying to decipher what the central idea of the unit could be at the beginning of a unit.

    You could also have students create two word clouds.. One at the beginning of the unit about what they already know and one at the end of the unit about what they now know. Students can then compare the two word clouds to see their growth.

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  3. Hi Emily,
    Piktochart has been a useful classroom tool in my school, particularly popular during the PYP Exhibition. Frustratingly Piktochart, like many web-based digital tools recently, has moved to subscription packages and whilst education pricing is available, at $120 for 30 individuals/4 months it is a tough sell. Do you (or others reading this post) invest in such licencing for such sites and if so, is this cost imposed on parents? Often, we find our students dive in and utilise free subscriptions to such tools and make the best of immediate access with limited features.
    Regards,
    Matt

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