Want to try a new instructional tool this year?

We all know there is a plethora of tools available to teachers on the web.  It can be so overwhelming to try a new one in the classroom.  Just the task of finding a tool that works for the lesson, matching our goals and tasks, can be very difficult.  Here are a few recommendations for tools that are user-friendly and offer multiple benefits to a classroom.

Edpuzzle  

Using videos from multiple sources, YouTube, Khan Academy, Crash Course, Ted, Vimeo, even your own videos; crop, edit, and pause to ask the students questions.  Students can easily join with a class code, view your edited videos, complete the provided assessments, and you will receive instant feedback with their responses.

Nearpod  

Create an interactive presentation that can be published to students.  The presentation can include text, images, videos, pdfs, etc.   You can also include various types of questions for assessments and get instant feedback.  This tool does offer other formatting options, but you have to purchase an upgrade to use the more advanced options.  The free account does include most tools you would want to use on a regular basis.

Blendspace  

Create an online interactive lesson for students.  Lesson can include documents, videos from YouTube, images, embed presentations, upload from Dropbox & Google Drive,  Share the lessons with students with just a hyperlink or by posting on the web.  Can also embed the lesson onto a wiki page or blog.

81Dash  

A teacher created back-channel tool for classroom discussions.  Create a chat room and share the link to the room on Google Classroom.  The chat room can be locked once all students have joined.  Students are allowed 160 characters for each post.  The transcript can be downloaded and archived for future use.  Teachers can add tasks for students to complete during the chat.  Students can also keep personal notes to be used before, during, or after the chat.