Tyler's Tech Tips
November 2016
In this Issue: OurStickys, Adobe Apps, Voice-to-Text, Spiral and Microsoft Forms
OurStickys
OurStickys has many great uses, but would be especially great for students doing research papers.
Free Adobe Apps
Free Voice to Text
On a computer, open up a Google Doc and go to Tools > Voice Typing. On a phone or tablet, open up a Doc through the Google Docs app. Then select the edit button and tap the microphone button.
While this is a great feature, your students do need to practice typing. This tool would be great for some of your special needs students that do not have the ability to type.
Spiral - Collaboration Apps
All I need to say is WOW. I just heard about Spiral the other day and I am very impressed with what I saw and created. Spiral is a website that allows teachers to create 3 different activities for their classroom that is 1:1 or has multiple devices. The three apps used for teachers to create are:
Quickfire - "Get your whole class involved in question and answer activities." Students can answer questions using text or drawing capabilities. Teachers can display students answers and have students redo problems. This feature is similar to ClassKick.
Discuss - "Create an interactive presentation to spark collaboration in class." Teachers are able to import Microsoft PowerPoints or Slides from their Google Drive or create a new presentation. Students are able to add discussion to each slide where the teacher can highlight discussion comments. This is similar to the new Google Slides interactive feature.
Team Up - "Facilitate group work with students sharing ideas and building team presentations." This is by far one of the neatest tech tools I have ever used. Team Up allows teachers to create teams that will have the task at creating a group presentation. The teacher has the ability to randomize groups or choose groups as well as assign a different topic to each group. While in groups, the teacher can assign a team leader who is in charge of putting the presentation together. Other members of the group are able to create ideas on their devices while the group leader will be able to pull ideas and put them into the presentation. As groups finish their presentations, the teacher has the ability to give each group time to present. As they present, the team leaders device turns into a remote control which allows them to manipulate what is shown on the projector.
These are three very powerful tools to use for student engagement, and the best thing about Spiral is how easy it is to use. This definitely is a tool that you need to use in your classroom! Sign up for your free account today!