Tech Tidbit
Tools, Tips, and Tricks
October 2018
Empowered Learners
Empowering Learners with FlipGrid or ReCap
ReCap is a chat tool that works similarly to a Twitter chat but can be enhanced by video and provides safety with a private environment for your learners. Additionally, ReCap allows users to create Journeys in which teachers can create an introduction video and provide supporting resources for the chat.
Indicator #1 requires Empowered Learners to:
- Articulate and set a goal - This can quickly and individually be done through the video response option of the tools. This video can easily be accessed and shared for motivation.
- Reflect on the learning process - The video response options provide a great tool for learners to continually check and reflect on their learning and allows the teacher to follow their progress and provide feedback
Indicator #3 requires Empowered Learners to:
- Demonstrate learning through a variety of ways - Introducing Flipgrid and ReCap will provide learners with another option to use when demonstrating their knowledge.
- Utilize feedback to inform and improve practice - Flipgrid and ReCap provide teachers with a quick and meaningful way to provide learners with feedback and an immediate platform for learners to use the feedback and improve their practice.
Collaborative Interpretation of Texts with Prism
Annotating texts, or close reading, is a strategy used by teachers to help readers with their understanding and recall of a text. Prism allows for collaborative annotation of texts by a group of learners, or as Prism states "crowd sourcing interpretation."
This web-based tool works on laptops and iPads at prism.scholarslab.org. Teachers can copy and paste text into the site and determine the three categories that the readers will annotate. Learners then annotate the text independently by highlighting words that correspond to the categories set by the teacher. A collaborative visualization is created that combines the highlights from all of the readers combined.
Find an overview, tutorial, and classroom uses of Prism at http://pedagogy-toolkit.org/tools/PRISM.html.
And, see a demonstration of the tool with Greg Kulowiec from EdTech Teacher at http://edtechteacher.org/ettchat-kickoff-collaborative-reading-with-prism-from-greg-kulowiec/#ipad.