mLearning Apps
Any time, any place, any pace.
Poll everywhere www.polleverywhere.com
This app can be used to vote in class and seeing what everyone else thinks but nobody needs to know how students voted. Students can participate in class discussion, state their opinions, and see what their peers think!
Example of Use
Poll everywhere can be used in any classroom where the students have phones making poll everywhere a BYOD kind of application, so to be safe let's say in a grade 7 classroom before class students show they're feeling about their ability in a certain subject so an example question would be before we start the confederation unit in social studies "What are your thoughts when you hear confederation?" and students could post words on a word art that everyone can see. Then nearing the end of the unit a question could be asked about the how the students feel their grasp of the concept is " How comfortable are you with the concept of confederation?" and the options could be A. Awesome! I know exactly what I'm doing! B. I get it enough to get by, pfft, I'll be fine C. I am not very comfortable with the concept, I still have lots of questions D. Where am I? (D just as a joke)
Class Dojo www.classdojo.com
This app is awesome! Students can see what they are doing right and what they need help with. Furthermore parents can see where their children are at and you can communicate with them where they're at as well as your students.
Example of Use
Class Dojo can be used in any classroom, it could even be stretched to kindergarten because of the aspect of parents being involved. So let's say in a Grade 3 classroom, a student is talking to his/her friend repeatedly after I quietly remind him/her in class to listen, then I can put a note on class dojo so his/her parents will see his/her behavior and hopefully talk to them about it. As a counter example, students can see their positive behaviors so they are encouraged to repeat those positive behaviors.
Google Drive https://www.google.com/drive/
Great for student projects and moving documents across devices. In the past, if a student left their writing assignment at home but now they can carry it with them anywhere. This app is fairly simple but definitely does its job.
Example of use
Google drive is great for group projects and individual projects, for group projects, students can work in different places but still work on the same document and for individual projects, students won't be restricted to just working at home or just working at school or having to e-mail their document to themselves every time they move. It will already be available to them on any computer and to go that extra little bit, you can ask students to share their work with you so you can check up on their progress and help them out if they need.
Adobe Connect www.adobe.com/ca/products/adobeconnect.html
This app can be used to record lectures as a screen cast if students are unable to come to class due to illness or any other excusable absence. Recorded Screen casts however convenient are still not a replacement for attending class and if this application is in use, it should be made clear to students that skipping class and just watching it later is not an option.
Example of Use
Adobe Connect is great for if students are unable to attend class. Say they are ill or live very far away and there is a snowstorm, now a little fall of snow can't stop their education! A live screen cast of class can be done, and if its set up right, a student can "raise their hand" on the screen with the icon and ask questions just like if they were in class. A direct example is in the following hypothetical situation.
A student in High School has the flu and is contagious so he/she cannot come to school, instead of missing valuable class time, he/she can now be included in class, just place a computer on a table facing the front of the class and let class begin. after doing a sound check of course. If the student sleeps in because they are sick, they can always catch up on lessons after and watch them out of sync.
Nearpod www.nearpod.com/
An awesome presentation device that students can be engaged in and excited about, By using this presentation mode, students can be engaged by using this app to watch presentations either on their phone or tablet and go on to answer questions and share their thoughts with the class. students can be assessed on how well they paid attention and their content knowledge. This tool really starts to transform classroom presentations.
Example of Use
This application can be used in any classroom, students can interact with a presentation instead of just watching a lecture. example: in a grade 2 classroom, students are learning multiplication. a short presentation can show examples and methods for multiplication and along the way students can answer questions and show their work. with this app, I can see my students progress right away and I can be sure they are engaged and learning to their maximum capacity.