Gadgets, Gaming, etc.

Overview

Do you have a favorite app or tool you use for teaching and learning?  Send it to us at CAT@sfcollege.edu and we'll add it to the list.

Online Tools/Apps

• ShowMe -Turn your iPad into your personal interactive whiteboard! Record voice-over whiteboard tutorials and share them online – free app and easy to use!
• Cool tool for creating Web-based interactive puzzles.
• Tagxedo - Create personalized word cloud images for your Web page or handouts in a variety of formats using any list of words you supply.
• An online stopwatch.
• A QR Code Generator.
• Poll Everywhere - An online polling tool that can also accept text messages.
• Socrative - Poll the whole class or let them ask you questions using any device. Get instant results to gauge the whole class’ current level of understanding.
• Plickers - Similar to clickers, this tool only requires the instructor to use a mobile device. Great for classrooms where wireless access is spotty or not all students have smartphones.
• WIX - An intuitive website building tool for blogs and digital portfolios.
• HootSuite - A social media dashboard app. Follow hashtags and trends in one place.
• Linoit - A collaborative space for sharing ideas, photos and links.

Multimedia Resources

• Audacity (free audio file creation and editing tool).
• Eight tips for creating video online.
• PowerPoint templates you can download and customize to create interactive presentations requiring students to click on aspects in the slides to get more info.
• Faculty Focus article about techniques to support active learning with video.
• Easel.ly - Create free infographics.
• The Noun Project - Free icons and simple graphics.

Articles and Ideas

Gaming and Mobile Learning

• A collection of community-building, brainstorming and problem solving activities. Targeted at the corporate world, but easily adapted for education.
• Frequently cited as a top 10 Ted talk, McGonigal challenges the ways we view games and the role they could having in improving the world.
• A series of articles on how games are being applied in real education settings along with interviews of thought leaders in the field.
• One of a number of posts that seek to align mobile apps with various levels on Bloom’s taxonomy. A helpful resource for those who are attempting align mobile technologies with course learning outcomes.

Technology and Teaching

• The Horizon Report is a highly referenced, forward-looking document that not only predicts the adoption of educational technologies but also proposes a timeline to adoption.
• A documentary from a few years ago on the role of technology in our daily lives.
• A recent editorial on the limits of technology to “fix” education.