Useful Tech Tools

Tech tools in schools -
Where do I begin???

Throughout this blog, various tech tools have been used present  information as well as to model the tool itself. 

There are some great instructional videos on how to use the different platforms, which I have made available below. Scroll through and see if there is anything you may find helpful for use in your classroom. 

Don't forget to call upon your Teacher Librarians should you have any questions or if you need assistance with any of the platforms.

 Animation Platforms:

Powtoon is an online web based platform used for making short animated videos. There are used friendly templates available or you can create your own "from scratch". You can include your own video and voice content. There are free and paid service levels.

Click here  Powtoon to learn more and to set up an account.

Powtoon is a relatively easy to use platform. It is user friendly and students can use it to document their own learning, share information, make presentations.

PowToons can be used collaboratively between the classroom teacher and the Teacher Librarian in presenting topics, instructional videos and an interesting way to present a lesson.

There are some key pieces to determine prior to launching students into the PowToons platform:

• Think about the goal of the lesson and the assignment
• Determine criteria and framework for the outcome of the assignment
• This is a great time for reminders and teaching digital literacy skills
• Planning Planning Planning. Students should plan their video creation prior to going online.  A storyboard or rough draft will save much valuable computer time. 

Bookmarking Platforms:

 Symbalooedu is a personal start-page that allows you to easily navigate the web and compile your favourite sites all into one visual interface. Save your bookmarks in the cloud and access them from anywhere with any device.

Symbaloo is an excellent resource for a Teacher Librarian to share online resources.
Webmixes can be made, stored and shared with individual teachers, classes or students.
Students can create their own Webmix pages so they can access the same websites from various computers, locations and devices. 

Symballo  instructional Video

Click here Symbaloo to learn more and to set up an account

Collaborative  Discussion Platforms:

Padlet is a free app used to create an online bulletin board that can be used to display information for any topic. Easily created to create and account and build a new board. Images, links, videos and more can be added to the board.

Click here Padlet to learn more and set up an account

Please comment below if you have additional tech tools to share, ideas, suggestions or comments