Digital Tools for Differentiating Vocabulary: K12Online

If you’re looking for innovative ways to use free and user friendly digital tools to help students acquire vocabulary, please check out my session, Digital Tools for Differentiating Vocabulary Instruction at the K12OnlineConference. While you’re there you are sure to discover more terrific 20 minute sessions, available for viewing at your convenience.

——-

Susan Oxnevad ‏@soxnevad

Teaching vocabulary today? Get ideas to “Kick it Up a Notch” at #k12online12 conference. http://bit.ly/Shhp1i  #DigLN  #elearning  #innovate

Advertisement

TeachEm: Create Guided YouTube Lessons

TeachEm is a free and user friendly digital tool that allows users to capture YouTube content, organize it, and add time stamped flashcards to guide the learning. It’s simple, smart and efficient which makes it a good tool for busy teachers interested in implementing a Flipped Classroom instructional model.

Teachers can sign up for a free account with an email address and create a school. The school is not meant to be the school that employs you, it is supposed to be “The School of You”.  Once you’ve created your school, you can create classes of organized YouTube videos fairly easily.

To create a class just copy and paste links from your own collection of pre-selected YouTube videos or use the built in search feature to find and preview videos without leaving the TeachEm site. Add timestamped flashcards to associate text with specific parts of a video. Create public classes to share with the world, or create private classes that can even include videos that are not publicly available on YouTube. The TeachEm site hosts a very nice set of TeachEm FAQs, created with their own tool, to help users learn to use it.

When students participate in a TeachEm class they simply click on a flashcard and the timestamped video will jump to the associated spot.  They can flip the flashcards for more information or to get the answers to questions. As  they watch the videos and respond to the prompts on the flashcards, they can also type their own SmartNotes.

The set of Flashcards and SmartNotes can be emailed as live links which open to specific parts of the videos when clicked. Although I didn’t find any features for embedding a class, you could copy and paste the set of live links into your own online learning platform or website for quick and easy student access.

Uses in the Classroom:

• Use TeachEm to create levels of differentiated classes on specific topics to provide students with access to content to meet their instructional needs.
• Design student-driven learning activities to deliver content with TeachEm, then require students to create something original based on the learning. 
• Create your own instructional videos and use them in place of traditional lectures to maximize instructional time and give students a chance to use the pause and rewind buttons to take the learning at their own pace.

My Wish List:

• The ability to record sound and insert links into flashcards would make this a more powerful tool for meeting the needs of all learners and providing students with flexible options for responding to the video content.  
• It would be useful to be able to easily embed a class into a website or online learning platform for quick and easy student access.

Try TeachEm at teachem.com.

Common Core Connections: Using Multimedia to Present Knowledge & Ideas

Technology can be a powerful tool to help us meet the Common Core Standards and move our students forward to prepare them for success in school and beyond. In general, the Common Core calls for the seamless integration of technology into the curriculum. There are also specific Common Core standards dedicated to using technology. The Speaking and Listening strand across all grade levels asks students to create presentations that are enhanced by a spiraling complexity of multimedia components.

I am excited and nervous about this standard. My excitement stems from a strong believe that students can construct deep knowledge about a topic as they engage in building a multimedia project. If used efficiently, a well designed student-driven learning experience can take the place of traditional methods of teaching content.

My nervousness stems from the possibility that some teachers might simply add a multimedia enriched project to the end of their unit as a culminating activity and then spend large amounts of class time giving each student an opportunity to present to a passive audience of their peers. In this case, there will be loss of instructional time, loads of frustration, and most likely lack of enthusiasm from students as technology is used to make them do more. Effective instructional technology integration calls for using technology as a tool for learning, not as an add on.

To truly make a difference, there needs to be an adjustment in instructional practices. My suggestion is for teachers to abandon the role of “Content Deliverer” and take an approach in which they become a “Facilitator of Learning”. 

Tips for designing an efficient and effective technology powered multimedia project:

• Start with an Essential Question to drive the learning. Make sure the answers to the questions are complex and can’t be answered with a copy and paste.
• Provide students with multimedia platforms that allow them to take flexible learning paths to meet their unique learning styles.
• Allow students to work in collaborative groups to prompt discussion and decision-making.
• Serve as a Facilitator of Learning. Spend instructional time interacting with students as you informally assess, reteach and challenge them on the spot.
• Provide students with built in tech support so you can focus on the content, not the technology.
• Design sharing opportunities that are engaging and non-traditional. Return to the Essential Question and assign a related task for accountability. Provide students with access to a portable learning device and let them learn and explore instead of watch and daydream.
• Most important tip: Start by creating your own sample to fully understand the task you are asking students to engage in.

Here is an example of what a student might create as the result of a learning experience driven by an Essential Question. This Common Core aligned student-driven multimedia powered project is one that requires students to construct knowledge and it was created with ThingLink.

Essential Question:

Why and how did people struggle for social justice during the Civil Rights Movement?

This image was created with ThingLink

A Playlist to Guide the Learning

http://www.mentormob.com//learn/widget/61812/580/99cc33/3-0

Create your own Playlist on MentorMob!

327 Common Core Aligned Playlists from MentorMob & LearnZillion

MentorMob and LearnZillion have teamed up to create a comprehensive collection of Common Core aligned learning playlists perfect for providing students with easy access to guided learning experiences. Currently there are 327 Common Core aligned playlists ready and available for free on the MentorMob site.




MentorMob playlists are displayed in a step-by-step format that allow users to interact with live web content right on the page, keeping students on track without getting lost in a stream of open tabs and new pages. As students progress through a playlist at their own pace, MentorMob keeps track of completed steps. Flexibility to move within a playlist is provided by a preview that’s always accessible on the side of the screen, allowing users to jump to different steps as needed for  reteaching and challenge.

The newly added LearnZillion Common Core aligned lessons focus on the use of narrated video for instruction. The pause button allows students to tackle the learning at their own pace, while built in learning supports make this an instructional tool that addresses a variety of learning needs. A Coach’s Commentary on the side of each playlists provides teachers with additional information and support. Most of the math lessons provide guided practice opportunities and some of these playlists are also available in spanish. 

Here are a few playlists to test drive.

http://www.mentormob.com//learn/widget/136844/580/99cc33/3-0

Create your own Playlist on MentorMob!

http://www.mentormob.com//learn/widget/137729/580/99cc33/3-0

Create your own Playlist on MentorMob!

Uses for Teaching & Learning:

• Differentiate instruction by assessing student needs and assigning specific learning playlists to individual students for reteaching and challenge.
• Try the Flipped Classroom by assigning learning playlists as homework and applying the learning during class time.
• Use playlists as a resource for parents to provide them with the tools needed to support students at home.
• Publish playlists on a website, blog or wiki for easy access, 24/7.

Coming Soon!

MentorMob Beta will be organizing all of the Common Core Content into one place in the months to come. In the meantime, perhaps the easiest way to find the playlists you need is to click on the link below and then use the drop-down menu to sort by alphabetical order.

LearnZillion Playlists on MentorMob

The Social Side of ThingLink

The folks at ThingLink have recently released some social features to make sharing and collaborating on interactive images a breeze. Please roll your mouse over the image below to explore this ThingLink image and learn more.

//cdn.thinglink.me/jse/embed.js

Explore the Great Barrier Reef: Google Wonders Project

The Google Wonders Project is an interactive website that allows visitors to discover many of the wonders of the world. Virtual visitors can get off the beaten path and explore wonders from 6 continents up close through Google’s amazing street view technology. Virtual visitors can find factual information, stunning images, 3-D models and YouTube videos right on the page, which makes the World Wonders Project an amazing teaching tool.

The newest addition to the collection takes visitors on an underwater tour of the Great Barrier Reef. Divers used the world’s first tablet-operated underwater camera to capture high-definition panoramic images of the reef to create stunning content.

The underwater expedition is part of a larger scientific study which aims to help bridge the gap between scientific awareness and public knowledge. Google has partnered with The Catlin Seaview Survey for a major  study of the world’s reefs and has made images from from coral reefs in Australia, the Philippines and Hawaii available through Google Maps. There will also be a dedicated YouTube channel for project-related videos. It’s probably only a matter of time until Google assembles more packages of teacher-friendly content from the underwater expeditions and makes them available through the Google Wonders project. 

Visit the Great Barrier Reef on the Google Wonders Project

Spin Xpress: Search for Creative Commons Images

Students today have had easy access to a tremendous amount of multimedia content for their entire lives and it’s fairly safe to say that they can be careless about using it. When asked to create multimedia projects for school, many students simply search topics and use whatever they can find without giving much thought to copyright unless it has been addressed and reinforced by their teachers. It’s never too early to start teaching students about copyright, fair use and Creative Commons.

Spin Xpress – Search for CC Licensed Media

Spin Xpress is a website that allows people to collaborate and share media. One of the features offered is a search engine that allows users to search for media by CC license type. After teaching students about CC licenses, this is a great tool for students. Embed it into your blog, wiki or website and provide students with quick and easy access to images that have CC licenses.

  

Teacher Tools

A Shared Culture, by Justin J4000	Learn more at CreativeCommons.org	Sharing Creative Works: An Illustrated (and Narrated) Primer, by Ben McKorkle

Discover more cool tools for searching on GettingSmart.com 10 Free Tools for Everyday Research

Electing a President – An Interactive Graphic

I created an interactive graphic to provide students and their teachers with flexible paths to learn about electing a president and the electoral college. The image was created with ThingLink. I used some of the new storytelling icons to identify different types of resources.

//cdn.thinglink.me/jse/embed.js#304012015368667136

Common Core Connections: Unpacking Academic Vocabulary

Are you wondering where to begin to adopt the Common Core Vocabulary Standards? While there are many specific vocabulary standards clearly listed in the K-12 Language strand, it’s helpful and important to look at Academic Vocabulary from the big picture view known as Shift 6. Let’s unpack it.

Shift 6: Academic Vocabulary

Overview: Three Tiers of Vocabulary

• Tier 1:
  Words acquired through every day speech, usually learned in the early grades
• Tier 2:
  Academic words that appear across all types of text. These are often precise words that are used by the author in place of common words. (i.e. gallop instead of run). They change meaning with use.
• Tier 3:
  Domain specific words” that are specifically tied to content. (i.e. Constitution, lava) These are typically the types of vocabulary words that are included in glossaries, highlighted in textbooks and address by teachers. They are considered difficult words important to understanding content.

The Common Core suggests that it’s important to target specific instruction on Tier 2 and and Tier 3 vocabulary words to help students develop deep understanding that cannot be acquired through independent reading. Since Tier 3 words are typically targeted in content specific instruction, it’s particularly important and challenging to identify and target Tier 2 words, since they appear across all disciplines. The task at hand, then, appears to be identifying the Tier 2 words and finding effective instructional strategies to support acquisition of those words.

Understanding: Watch a Video by EngageNY

SHIFT 6: Academic Vocabulary from EngageNY on Vimeo

It’s clear that identifying the Tier 2 Vocabulary words in a passage can be both challenging and time-consuming for teachers. While it is important for the teacher to be the decision-makers about identifying Tier 2 Vocabulary, and it’s understood that a digital tool is no substitute for human decision-making, it’s helpful to have a tool to jump start the process and provide a starting point. Wordle, a simple word cloud generator can be a handy tool for this task.

Digital Tools to Help Identify Tier 2 Words

Wordle

Included in the collection of Common Core resources from EngageNY is a high school level exemplor lesson that devotes three days of instruction to carefully examining and interacting with the first three paragraphs of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. The focus of vocabulary instruction in this lesson centers around one important word, dedicated. I decided to pop the of text of The Gettysburg Address  into Wordle to see if the tool would  identify this important Tier 2 word and the results were consistent with the findings of EngageNY. The word dedicated jumped off the page along with some other significant words. 

First 3 Paragraphs of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

The Find Tool

Taking this one step further, I returned to the original text and used the Find Tool (control + f) to find occurances of the word, dedicated. This was helpful for jump starting the process of examining the important word and how it is used in context.

Use the Find Tool to Identify Tier 2 Vocabulary in Context

I performed similar experiments on other significant documents, including Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech. The tool does appear to be helpful as a starting point for identifying significant words, but again, it is no substitute for human decision-making.

Digital Tools for Helping Students Construct Knowledge about Tier 2 and Tier 3 Words

If you are looking for digital tools to help students build deep meaning of vocabulary words, there are quite a few that are well-suited for the task.  I have created a MentorMob playlist of tools to guide the journey and exploration through some previous blog posts with more information about the tools.

http://www.mentormob.com//learn/widget/108174/580/99cc33/3-0

Create your own Playlist on MentorMob!

Google Docs New Integrated Research Tool

Google Docs has many useful features for helping students develop writing skills. When I recently opened a Google Document to plan a teacher training on Using Google Docs to Facilitate a Writing Workshop I was pleasantly surprised to find a new and powerful integrated research feature which couldn’t be easier to use. Just pull down the Tools menu, click on Research and search for information in the research pane that appears on the right side of the screen. Users never have to leave the page.

A basic search yields results relevant to your document and displays a variety of information beyond text. Narrow your search with the click of a button to find images, scholarly information and quotations accompanied by buttons that allow users to do more. Here are some of the highlights found in features of the research pane:

• Web results display a relevant snippet of information with citation information and a link to the full website. Select the Insert Link button to include a link to the full website in the document or select the Cite button to include a footnote citation in your document.
• Maps are displayed in the search results when searching for geographic locations. Edit maps by zooming in and out and choose Insert to add the map to your body of your text.
• Search for quotations with the click of a button, then choose the Insert button to include a properly formatted quotation in the document.
• Choose Scholar to access a link showing the number of times an article has been cited and a list of sources that have cited the article. View the full website and insert a footnote citation into a document by selecting Cite.
• Select your default citations format by clicking on Settings in the research pane. Choose from MLA, APA or Chicago.

In addition to the obvious ways to use the new integrated research tool, it can also be useful for checking for plagiarism. Just copy and paste a few sentences of text from a document directly into the search box of the research pane and the search will lead directly back to any article from which text has been plagiarized. I like to teach students how to do their own plagiarism check before turning in their work to help them understand the importance of creating original work.