Warren Sparrow: The Best Edtech Tools for Learning

The Best Edtech Tools for Learning

Let me start by saying I LOVE edtech tools, they really are AWESOME!

I remember being at Microsoft HQ and Satya Nadella telling us about

HoloLens for the first time. My mind started thinking of all the different

possibilities that it could be used and how VR could become

part of my reality, not from some science fiction movie set in 2030,

but here today, I mean WOW!

Before I start I need to mention that not all the ed-tech tools are new,

some of them are ancient, but I still think that they are great. The

other thing is although there are really amazing paid for apps,

I am going to only look at edtech tools that you do not have to pay for
or there is a free version.

One other thing before we get to the good stuff...

I know that the dream is to have student-centred, hands-on,

personalized instruction, but we need to remember that

technology is not the solution to success.
It is a tool that if used effectively can
enhance teaching and learning.

OK now let's look at the Ed Tech tools I love.

In no particular order…

Kahoot (https://kahoot.com)

I first stumbled across this in August 2014,

but have been using it ever since. I love the fact that you can create your

own quiz and then play it with your class or you can use one of the quizzes

that another person has created. (A word of caution, go through the

quiz before you play it with your class….) Regardless of what device

your children have, as long as they have Internet access they can play.

To me this has to be one of the top tools, fun and easy to use!

Commonlit (https://www.commonlit.org)

This is a great site for any English teacher. So often you are looking for

passages to show or explain and can never find the right ones. Well here they are.

It is ideally suited for Grade 5 – 12. There are hundreds of passages of texts

that you can go through and best of all it is completely free. I like the online

version that allows you to highlight words, change the font size and go

through the guided reading mode more than printing out the pdf. There

is also a handy quick assessment, but I really like the discussion topics that they have.

Brilliant!

OfficeMix (https://mix.office.com)

O my word, this is really incredible. It is a free add on for PowerPoint 2013

or higher that totally changes the way in which you can make PowerPoints.

I love the fact that it becomes interactive, you can record and screen cast videos

straight in PowerPoint and you can add quizzes, polls, etc. I used this to create

all my learning content for ECDL year 10 students which then also allowed

them to watch it whenever they wanted!

Have a look at my office mix video that I made to show you how to use it

StoryboardThat (http://www.storyboardthat.com/)

This is a free digital storyboard that is quick and easy to use. I used to hand

out templates for the students to draw, but this is so much quicker and easier,

plus the students love using this. It means that they do not need to be artists

or keep loosing their pieces of paper.
Love this!

Scratch

This is a great piece of software that is free and will allow you to learn how to
code quickly and easily using either online or offline. The 2 versions are a little
bit different, but not much. I have created 6 lessons that you can
download for free.
These can be found below:

There are so many others that are really brilliant.

You might want to have a look at some of these below as well.

Book creator (https://bookcreator.com/)

Nearpod (https://nearpod.com/)

Minecraft (minecraft.net)

Minecraft education Editon (https://education.minecraft.net/)

Padlet (https://padlet.com)

Dualingo (https://www.duolingo.com)

Padlet (https://padlet.com)

Dualingo (https://www.duolingo.com)

Storybird (https://storybird.com)

Triptico (https://www.tripticoplus.com)