Educators are looking for ways to help students participate in a digital world, but the choices for digital engagement in the classroom can be overwhelming. Many teachers have little to no money to pay for premium versions of apps and are looking for quick and easy ways to determine how an app works. They must also consider why it might be useful for their teaching practice.
Rachel Langenhorst helps teachers in her district find solutions for those issues. She used to teach social studies, but is now the K-12 Technology Integrationist and Instructional Coach at Rock Valley Community Schools in Iowa.
“Really be cognizant of the digital tools you’re picking and why you are picking them.”She put together a list of favorite digital tools for the social studies classroom and shared them during an edWeb webinar. She emphasizes that, as with any classroom technology, teachers need to be careful not to just substitute a tech tool for an analog one. Instead, technology should be used to enhance classroom learning in ways that wouldn’t be possible otherwise, including expanding learning beyond the classroom walls.
“Really be cognizant of the digital tools you’re picking and why you are picking them,” Langenhorst said. As much as possible, she recommends using technology to allow students to create work that demonstrates their learning in engaging, fun ways.
Every educator in the digital world needs a bookmarking tool to help keep track of resources, ideas and sources for students. Langenhorst prefers Draggo because she can stores sites, categorize them and they are easy to share with other people, including students. “I can have a different category for different kids and different projects,” Langenhorst said. Other popular bookmarking tools are Diggo and Pocket.
Explee is a video scribing tool that simulates the effect of sketchnoting and allows students to find and add images, text, video clips or audio to a workspace. “This is a great project creation tool for your students,” Langenhorst said. “And as we all know, it’s the creating, that upper echelon of learning, that lets kids really get learning.”
