Hottest EdTech Tools of 2017-#2

#2 of the 82 Hottest EdTech Tools of 2017 According to Education Experts –

Tutora posted the 82 Hottest EdTech Tools of 2017. I have decided to post re each, and we start with #1 on the list, Kahoot!

2. Kahoot! – Making Learning Awesome!

As nominated by Michael Cohen of The Tech Rabbi, Bethany Petty of Teaching With Technology, and Neil Jarrett of EdTech for Beginners.

Very solid pick at #2. I have personally observed dozens of classrooms come alive at the use of Kahoot. Students become move engaged learners, and teachers gain valuable feedback regarding students understanding.

As noted by reviewers:

Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform and one of the world’s fastest-growing learning brands with more than 40 million monthly active users in 180 countries. Kahoot! makes it easy to create, discover, play and share fun learning games in minutes—for any subject, in any language, on any device, for all ages.

Launched in 2013, with the mission to make learning awesome, Kahoot!’s free game-based platform engages the heart, hand and mind, creating a wildly more social, meaningful and powerful pedagogical experience. Kahoot!’s platform and easy-to-use features not only attract educators and students but reach beyond the classroom to corporate powerhouses, sporting and cultural events, and any social and learning context.

Kahoot! allows teachers to quickly create fun learning games for students based around multiple choice questions. After creating the game, students can use any device to sign-in to the game ‘room’ using a unique code to complete lessons and compete against their peers.

Displaying the questions and game on a primary display encourages students to use their personal devices only for choosing their answer. This means group engagement and discussion is promoted throughout the session, creating what the Kahoot! team call ‘campfire moments’.

Kahoot! then promotes students to proactively pursue their learning goals by creating their own Kahoots, attempting to beat previous scores and inciting class discussions around the learning topic.

Whether used as an attention grabber at the start of a lesson or a re-energising tactic part way through an intense revision class, Kahoot! Is surely a great tool for any teacher.

Hottest EdTech Tools of 2017

Posted by Dr. Dereck Rhoads

#1 of the 82 Hottest EdTech Tools of 2017 According to Education Experts –

Tutora posted the 82 Hottest EdTech Tools of 2017. I have decided to post re each, and we start with #1 on the list, Nearpod:

1 . Nearpod – Create, Engage and Assess Through Mobile Devices

As nominated by Beth Holland, Katrina Keene of the Teach In Tech Gal blog, Debbie Sachs from Cult of Pedagogy, Michael Cohen of The Tech Rabbi, and Courtney Kofeldt.

Very solid pick at #1. Allows teachers to create engaging lessons and provides for interactivity to increase student engagement.

As noted by reviewers:

“As a teacher it can be difficult to create engaging lessons that fully capture the attention of all of your students. Harder still is creating lessons that encourage learning through interactivity and action.

Nearpod is an amazing tool that solves these problems.

First, Nearpod provide a host of pre-made, fully-interactive lessons developed by subject matter experts for all school levels and subjects. Furthermore, Nearpod allows teachers to import lessons from any file type and begin adding interactive elements, web-links or video snippets to them.

Educators can then synchronise their prepared lessons to all students devices, casting the lesson simultaneously to each student and able to monitor their progress throughout the lesson.

What really set’s Nearpod out from the crowd is their innovative ideas for further enhancing interactive lessons. Nearpod users have access to Nearpod 3D, providing fully rotatable 3D images to use for teaching, and Nearpod VR, allowing integration with Smartphone VR headsets like Google Cardboard to create virtual field trips for students.

No wonder they were voted into the top spot!”

Tech Visioning PD Days

Posted by Dr. Dereck Rhoads

In the real world, Internet enabled devices are used everyday, by A LOT of people, in a variety of situations. In fact, people seem to be more connected today than at any other time. Beaufort County School District (BCSD) began a 1:1 iPad program last school year in Grades 6-8 and is working to expand the program this school year. Last week, principals and district leadership spent time with education technology expert Jeff Utecht and this week district leadership and coaches began working with all 3^rd grade teachers in the district in what we have termed, Tech Visioning PD Days. Our Tech Visioning PD days are intended to provide initial training to teachers preparing for our 1:1 expansion as well as a chance to “rally back” to our core beliefs and continual training for teachers currently in the program.

I have been very pleased to be able to spend time with teachers this week, and I look forward to the weeks ahead, as they receive additional training to prepare for expanding our 1:1 program to eventually include all 14,600+ students in our district grades 3-12. I have been very impressed and motivated by the depth of conversation, questions, and insights shared by teachers over the first few days of training. Indeed, BCSD is blessed with some amazing educators. Educators who are wiling to embrace change and carry out the difficult work of educating children everyday.

Truly, we live in an amazing time. Technology has allowed unbelievable amounts of information to be at our fingertips and to be accessed in literally seconds. As we continue to support our current 1:1 program and its expansion, we need to remember that it is not about the device. Rather, it is about how the device is used to increase student understanding, creation, critical thinking and collaboration.

As educators, we must continually reflect on our work to ensure that our students are prepared to be successful in a globally competitive career marketplace. To that end, students need to be appropriately taught and provided opportunities to safely, ethically, and effectively use technology to gain understanding at the highest levels of any taxonomy (Blooms, Webb’s DOK etc.). Such a use of the device aligns to what Alan November described as a Digital Learning Farm model. In the model, teachers “guide students in the complex tasks of innovation and problem solving, and in doing work that makes a contribution to the learning processes of others” (November, 2012, p. 18).

Tech Visioning Page

BCSD 1:1 Technology Program Overview:

iPads in grades 3-5
Dell Venue 11 in middle and high schools.
Technology “visioning” training for all Principals and Instructional Services Department team members.
Technology “visioning” training and collaboration for teachers began January 21 with follow-up training at schools.
Support each elementary Principal to create an implementation plan.
Redistribute all iPads during summer.
Rollout iPads to elementary students starting in September 2014.
Rollout Dell’s to secondary schools once iPad rollout complete.
Continual review of student learning.