5 Tech Tools Your Classroom Needs
We all know the importance of using technology in the classroom. It's been preached and taught over and over. Students who use technology in the classroom become better digital citizens, more literate, and tech-savvy. Yes, we know all that. But how are we supposed to figure out where to start when there are so many tools and sites being thrown at us. This article is a short list of tech tools that I have found the most helpful in my teaching experiences. 
Google Classroom
We'll start with what seems to be the most obvious. Since the outbreak of the COVID-10 pandemic most schools have transitioned to distance learning using Google Classroom. It is easy to navigate and can essentially be used however the teacher wants. However, Google Classroom doesn't just have to be a distance learning tool; It lends itself to many uses even in a more traditional school setting.
Google Classroom is one of the most robust free tools available to teachers today. Google Classroom works seamlessly with Google's other data-sharing and education tools such as Docs, Slides, and even Gmail. Using this tool, teachers can create a virtual classroom for their students in which they post assignments, articles, and more. In an elementary setting, most teachers use Google Classroom (aka GC) as a way for children to access their homework assignments. Take reading homework for example. Instead of printing out 20 copies of a four page article, the teacher can simply upload a PDF to the GC. It completely erases the whole "The dog ate my homework problem" all while saving trees. It's a win-win! In some of the upper grades, I have experienced Google Classroom being used as a sort of online add-on to things covered in class. The fifth grade team at the school I was an intern at this past year created a Google Classroom for the whole fifth grade. There were separate sections for each subject where kids could find the handouts from that day's lesson, homework assignments, and discussion questions where they could type their answers right on the post. Overall, Google Classroom is a great tool to use both in the classroom and during this period of distance learning.
Quizlet
I'm sure that if you ask a high school or college student, they will know what this next tool is. Quizlet is an online site where students can study a topic using a variety of features. Quizlet offers learning tools for students such as flash cards and games that all connect back to what they're learning in the classroom. Teachers can use Quizlet to create "sets" of flashcards for their students to use to study. Kids can easily access these cards on their own but the site has an in-class game that kids love. Although I've only used Quizlet as a student and not from an educator's perspective, I know the site has a progress monitoring feature that many teachers find to be extremely helpful. This link explains more about how teachers can utilize Quizlet to increase class engagement and even has a video of Quizlet in action.
Pear Deck
Pear Deck is a new tool to me. One of my friends was telling me about how her professor uses Pear Deck to make the presentations more interactive and engaging. I immediately looked it up because making your lessons fun and engaging is a teacher's dream (especially now during distance learning)!
Pear Deck is a "formative assessment tool designed by teaches to support 100% student engagement." Sounds pretty good, right? With Pear Deck you can make your slides interactive and share them directly with your students. It allows teachers to have real time feedback on their students' learning and notice who is struggling with what. Students can draw and write directly on their copies of the slides which often helps students retain more information.
The below video goes a little more in- depth about the Pear Deck platform:
Document Cameras
This is not new technology anymore but I still think it is an important tech tool that all teachers should have in their classroom. Here's why:
1. It makes it possible to project 3D objects on to the screen
The SmartBoard is great for sharing worksheets or handouts but it can't hold a candle to a document camera when it comes to projecting set of unifix cubes or a dice while explaining a game. The document camera makes it easy for teachers to demonstrate learning activities that require materials outside of a pencil and paper. Need to demonstrate a science experiment but don't want the whole class crowding around your table? Document camera. Trying to read a story but the pictures are too small for students in the back to see? Document camera. Bottom line is that you can project things to your hearts content with this tool.
2. It can do split screen projecting
Some document cameras have a feature that allows you to project two separate images simultaneously. That can come in handy when you want to show students a reading passage right alongside the worksheet they're filling out.
3. It can function as a scanner
If your document camera is hooked up to your SmartBoard or computer, you can use the camera function to take "screenshots" of what's below the document camera. This can be especially helpful when you need to reference the same information over and over. Having a scanned copy on your computer allows you to access that info whenever you need it without having to re-write it every time.
Still don't believe that document cameras are a worth while part of classroom technology? Read this article from Scholastic to learn more ways a doc cam can be helpful.
InsertLearning
The final tech tool I want to share is this really cool Google Chrome browser extension. InsertLearning allows teachers to turn any webpage into an interactive learning experience. The browser extension has tools to highlight parts of the page, create questions, provide areas for students to comment, among many others. I downloaded InsertLearning to play around with during my student teaching and have loved it ever since. It even works well as a note-taking tool if you're reading a long online article that you need to remember information from!
Have you used any of these tools in your classroom? Let me know which tech tools you think every teacher needs!
Hi Gabriella! This post was so informative, thank you! I've never used pear deck so that video was super helpful. Document cameras are the best, I wish I had one in my classroom, they are so versatile. Thank you for sharing about the insert learning extension, so cool, I had never heard of it but want to check it out for sure! Your blog was so organized and easy to follow. Thanks for a great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Gabi – great blog post on tech tools that you recommend for the classroom! The common classroom has had a huge shift to incorporating technology into the students educational life. We see iPads and Chromebooks in every classroom now, and we can’t forget about a projector and the SmartBoard! Google Classroom is a great tech tool that so many teachers are using now. Since COVID-19 started and the transition to online learning, we have seen the rise of Google Classroom. I know the school I intern at uses it and it is so successful with the teaching and learning. It is also such a great tool because it links to all of Googles other features, such as Google slides and docs! I am also a huge fan of Quizlet. I used it a lot during college to help study definitions. Honestly, I don’t think I have seen Quizlet get used at my internship, but it would be a great tool to incorporate for vocabulary quizzes or learning definitions. I have never heard of Pear Deck, and I am excited to explore it some more after learning about it from your blog. Document cameras are also a great aspect to have in a classroom. It is a great tool when you need to project a worksheet or a book onto the screen. This was such an informative blog post on tech tools I can incorporate into my future classroom – thanks!
ReplyDeleteGood morning Gabriella- this us such a useful blog. It is well structured and speaks to such relevant matter. I had never heard of Pear Deck, so I am now interested in finding out more about it and maybe how I could use it with first graders. Since distance learning doesn't look like its going away in the near future- keeping student engagement is critical. Overall - great blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Gabi - great post! I like how you narrowed down the important technology that should be in classrooms with these five choices. These are great selections that I've had experience with and agree that they are beneficial to classrooms. I think that Quizlet is a tool that is underrated. I taught a fifth-grade vocabulary class last semester and when we transitioned to online learning, Quizlet was my best friend! I made sets of cards for them to study from for each unit. I even asked the students their opinions on Quizlet and they said they loved it and was a useful guide for their studying! Quizlet also offers a set of games and/or tests that students can engage in as well to learn the material. This is a fun way to get students to interact with the material without assigning too heavy of a load. The only tool you mentioned that I have not heard of is "InsertLearning." I'm glad you showed us this tool because now I am tempted to use it during my student teaching as well! It seems like another great tool that is deserving of being in all classrooms. Overall, nice job!
ReplyDeleteHi Gabriella! I really enjoyed reading your blog. All of your reccomendations I found to be super helpful. One that was new to me was Pear Deck. It sounds really interesting and I am going to look into it to incorporate into my classroom. I like how it is engaging. I think now we need to try engage our students even more so with being home. I love the document camera. I use it everyday in my classroom. My class loves when I read picture books with it. I struggle with Google Classroom because I teach Kindergarten and it is very challenging for them to go on independetly. I do love it though and wish I can use it more. Thank you for all your information. I am looking forward to play around with Pear Deck! Great Job!
ReplyDeleteHey Gabi! I though that your blog was very useful because it incorporates different technological tools that we can use in our classroom. As you stated in your post, Google Classroom has risen in popularity because many teachers are turning towards it to communicate better with their students during COVID. Something that really stood out to me was the use of Quizlet in a classroom. I know that when I was in high school Quizlet really helped me to study. Quizlet caters to many types of learners because not only are you memorizing you can also play a game to understand the material. Students can create their own sets with their own definitions so that they can understand the material in their own words. When I have my own classroom I would like to utilize Quizlet more often because it is a great study tool that all students can use. 
ReplyDeleteHi Gabi! I really like this post because I think blogs that rank a top 5 of anything is so helpful> I think that this is very direct and clear for all educators to read and get information that they need. I use some of these tools and some I have never used so it was interesting for me to do more research based off of this that I can use in my future classroom. I like that you mentioned quizlet because I use that tool maybe the most and I think it was the first time it was mentioned in this class. Awesome post!!
ReplyDeleteHey Gabi! Awesome blog, you really hit on great points. It is so useful because technology is so important in the classroom nowadays. Technology is used so frequently through a plethora of options, as you stated. You are so right, google classroom has become such a big resource for teachers during the time of COVID-19. I really liked reading about quizlet because I remember using that in high school. My Italian teacher used it all the time. She would teach us vocabulary through the flashcards with the Italian word on one side and the English word on the other. We were able to use it at home too so when we wanted to study we can do the chapter test or we can play the games that quizlet had with the words. I thought this was such a helpful way to study and really benefited my Italian skills. I would definitely use this in my classroom along with the other resources you stated. Great work!
ReplyDeleteHi Gabi, this is such a great topic! I really enjoyed reading about the different technology resources you came across that aid in distance learning. I have heard of some of these but two stuck out to me the most. I haven't heard of pear deck before. I really liked that you included a brief description of each resource and even a video for this one! I was able to watch it and get a better understanding of how it works and how useful it can be fore students. I also never heard of insert learning! I love the idea of being able to make nearly anything interactive for students by being able to ask questions, highlight and make comments. This was such an insightful blog. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGreat topic, especially now! This was so helpful for all teachers, however, especially the ones that have been thrust into the digital world of teaching and are overwhelmed. You are excatly right, there are so many different ideas and apps and what not thrown our way, it is so difficult to know where to start. I think your blog helps organize the idea of starting to incorporate technology in their day to day lessons. You gave helpful information and made each idea appear to be user friendly. I think with technology, so many people get scared because there is too much and sometimes, less is more. Starting small and working your way into new platforms and ways to include technology seems manageable. I am very interested to learn more about Pear Deck as it seems to really promote student interaction with lessons. This was a really helpful post!
ReplyDeleteGreat topic and post! I like how you created a list and ranking system for the digital resources you have chosen to talk about. The structure of the post is reader friendly and very informative. The tools you have chosen are a great variety and have multiple uses. Some of these I am familiar with myself and some I am not. It was great to read about the tool as a whole and then see possible uses. You show how technology can be used in the classroom as well as possible uses outside. Thank you for your post!
ReplyDeleteHi Gabi! This was a very interesting blog post to read! You are spot on that it is difficult to figure out where to begin when considering where to start in terms of incorporating technology into your classroom. Compiling this short list of tech tools for the classroom based on your personal teaching experience was so incredibly helpful, especially for someone like me who has not yet began my own teaching career. Pear Deck caught my attention because I have not yet heard of this tool before so I was excited to learn more! This seems like a very fun tool that students would love to use. A tool for formative assessments that helps create a higher level of student engagement sounds amazing. I love the tool within it where students can draw and write on their own slides, this will definitely help them retain more information as you said. This was such a helpful blog, thank you so much for sharing all of these great tool with us!
ReplyDeleteHi Gabi! I really enjoyed reading your blog. Overall, this topic, tech tools in classrooms, is super important, especially during this time. Because of the virus, these tools have become essential to continue education virtually at home. Out of your list, I think the most used is Google Classroom. In my district currently, all teachers are using this platform to stay connected with their students, submit assignments, and teach. It is supposively really easy to use, like you said, making it a great addition in the classroom. In connection to my blog, google classroom was used by teachers in many ways during their literacy units. Quizlet was one website that definitely got me through high school. This website is amazing and helpful in so many ways. Not only is it easy tl use, but definitely helped me on several exams. One tool you mentioned that I have never used before is pear deck. I like that it can help with presentations and share them directly with others. This seems like a useful tool to use in the classroom. Lastly, I also never heard of insert learning. This also seems super helpful, especially when it comes to virtual teaching. I enjoyed reading your blog, especially learning more about helpful virtual tools. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Gabriella, what a great way to end the blog posts! You touched upon some great technological resources! I have never heard of Pear Deck - it looks like a great resources to use with all grades. I am excited to try InsertLearning in my classroom. It seems really awesome for my third graders who are learning how to use technology full force. My tried & true is Google Classroom; in and out of the classroom. My students become very familiar with it during the school year and even more this year! Great work on you blog!
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