Have you heard?

So happy to discover Padlet that I decided to give the founder, Nitesh Goel, a piggy back ride! (2014)

Last week, while at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference, there was a lot of buzz surrounding the demise of Padlet as a free service. Folks are pretty devastated about this, as is evident from all the Twitter chatter. Going forward, you can have up to three free Padlet walls but this will not impact your pre-existing Padlet walls. If you currently have eight Padlet walls, then you are eligible for a total of eleven, without having to pay. Otherwise, it is $99/year or $8.95/month. I know one of the best features of Padlet is its ease of use. Now that we have some rules to follow, as can be imagined, people are disappointed. I completely understand why Padlet made the change but I understand the sadness too. 

In the meantime, however, there are some alternatives to Padlet. Many of these alternatives have similar restrictions as to how many "walls" you can create. Some of the most commonly mentioned replacements are Lino (you can see my example here), Wakelet, Dotstorming, and Flipgrid (talk to me about this if you are interested in this one...it is awesome!). Another tool similar to Padlet that is useful is Sway by Microsoft. You can see my example here and edit it too. To use Sway, you do have to create a Microsoft account but I was able to use my Davis email address to do so. If you create your Sway so that anyone can edit (similar to a Google doc), then collaborators can add text, images, and links to videos. Our 4th grade team started using it this year and are really enjoying it. 

As we mourn the loss of free Padlet, we are reminded that when one door closes, another one opens. Sometimes, we decide to roll with the changes and adjust accordingly. Perhaps some of us will continue to forge ahead using Padlet and others will be inspired to try something new. The good news: the choice is yours. 

Digital Literacy: Teacher Cast

Today's Tuesday tech tip is both a tool and a thought. I just came back from the most mind bending conference and walked away with so much new knowledge that I am excited to dole out. One key message at SxSWEDU was this: Digital Literacy must happen at school.  If you are wondering what digital literacy is, the American Library Association defines it as "the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills." All teachers have a responsibility to teach kids not only the skills to critically assess the information that they access but to help shape what they do with that information. Danah Boyd, author of It's Complicated, a book that through research uncovers myths about teens and social media, stirred up this conversation at SxSWEDU. She reminded us that students will choose to use the information they seek for good or for bad. What role will we as teachers play in how we influence their choices in relation to media interactions? What kind of content will they create? Are we growing kids that will spread positive messages or will they yield their digital literacy power to do harm? This has to be a part of the conversation. 

Where do we start? There are so many powerful resources for teachers, both in human form and online but one that I learned about is called Teacher Cast. It is an online network of teachers helping teachers. Much of the content is focused on using technology in the classroom to create content. As a teacher, if we don't see the value in this yet, we need to start considering our own blind spots. Kids will create their own content. What role will we play in shaping the type of content they create and how they choose to use it? We have a responsibility to be a positive influence on these types of choices that our students make. It's what we do.

Teacher cast provides podcasts, videos, blogs, and other resources that help craft meaningful technology-infused practices into student learning. It's meant to empower teachers to feel more comfortable with their technology usage so they can steer students in the right directions. Check it out. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Sketch Nation

This is another great technology tool that I believe I discovered through the #TCEA hashtag, similar to last week's tip. I seek creative "brain breaks" for my students in upper elementary when they are working on intense coding projects to reel them back into another reality, to help lighten the mood, and to remind them to take breaks. While not an unplugged activity, Sketchnation.com (also an app) gives the students a chance to remain in the coding zone but perhaps with a lighter approach. 

Sketch Nation App allows users to create their own games. They can establish the scoring system, the levels, the objective, the graphics, and more. It's "coding lite" though as the coding piece is really done for them but they are choosing the game structure. It's a fun way to think about gaming beyond the user's experience and more about the programmer's method. 

Allow your students to give it a try after an arduous test and play each other's games. What a sweet reward that will keep them mentally engaged and focused on a task. Students will love the opportunity to create their own online games in the classroom.

Classroom Management with your Computer

In following the #TCEA conference hashtag recently, I discovered a host of new technology tools that I really like. One that seems very useful for teaching students of any age is called classroomscreen.com . It works in both Spanish and Hebrew too! When you go to the link (no log in required), you can select a background of your choice and use classroomscreen.com to project a variety of useful tools. For example, it can do the following:

• pick a random name and roll the dice to see who presents next, leads the students in a song, or anything else that requires a class leader to start a task

• check the noise level (that you set) and alert the class when it goes beyond your expected noise level

• generate a QR code from a link that you input for your kids to scan 

• draw directly onto the screen using the whiteboard feature

• type instructions or any text for that matter

• set a reminder for how you want your students to work: silent, whisper, ask a neighbor or work together

• set a timer

• show the clock and the calendar

• use the traffic light so that you can select red when you want them to stop something, green when you want them to begin something and orange when you want them to prepare to stop

• calculate numbers

Any of these features can be put onto the board together as well. As a reminder, it recognizes foreign languages too! Here is a screenshot to show you what it can look like:

Scavenger Hunt for the Masses: GooseChase

How cool is this?! What a great way to gamify your classroom learning! A scavenger hunt for the masses! It is called Goosechase. It is free for up to three teams so you can divide your class accordingly and try it out. You can use it on field trips, in the classroom, or for team building. The best part too is that they have a game library so rather than create your own, you can try it out by duplicating a previously created game and then if you wish, you can customize it to meet your own needs. For example, I found an awesome one on simple machines (ahem 2nd grade) that was already created and situated in Goosechase's game library. If you are looking for fun ways to gamify the learning and go beyond Kahoot, this is a great option!

It's An Artistic Bunch!

Sometimes we are reminded that we don't know what we don't know. I recently realized that faculty may not be aware of the amazing digital portfolios that our students are creating on Artsonia, which is essentially the world's largest kids' art museum. Our fabulous art teachers have been showcasing our students work on Artsonia for years. I mention this because as a teacher, you have the ability for your students to continue to grow their artistic portfolio in Artsonia as well. If your students create a visual project in your particular class, they can upload it via Artsonia. This is also a great place for students to pull from to add to their middle school digital portfolios that they will take with them when they graduate. If you haven't seen one of our student portfolios on Artsonia, it is worth checking out! To see the art projects that have been uploaded since this school year started, click here. It is so incredibly impressive! 

Listen Up!

Today's tech tip is all about listening and listening wisely. The resource is called Listenwise and it was brought to my attention by one of our esteemed colleagues who loves art and language arts and happens to teach 6th graders. Listenwise is described as being an award-winning listening platform harnessing the power of listening to advance literacy. It's goal is to develop good listeners so they can become good readers. Teachers can use Listenwise to introduce topics, listen as a class to scaffold and discuss topics, support students who need additional literacy practice, explore content with curricular connections, and assess listening comprehension. There is a huge section on current events in which students can choose the current event that most interests them by reading a short blurb and then listen to the entire current event. What an amazing alternative for students learning about current events in school! 

Listenwise also has listening challenges so students can initially test their listening comprehension. Listenwise can also be shared with Google Classroom. Since we are working with students beginning in fourth grade to create their own podcasts, this would be a great literacy center activity too. Although Listenwise curates the podcasts, teachers should further curate them to ensure they are appropriate for their age group as some of the podcasts are more suitable for older students. This is a great find!