Android Apps for the understanding level of Bloom's

This is a re-posting of a blog post of August 5, 2013, which originally appeared on the now-defunct Sony Education Ambassadors site.

On July 7, 2015, I provided an overview of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy and include a set of Android apps and Web sites that could be used to support teaching and learning at the remembering level. If you did not read that first installment, please take a moment to do so...the introduction to the series can be found there.

UNDERSTANDING LEVEL

The next cognitive level of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy is the understanding level. The understanding level involves explaining and constructing meaning using various methods. Activities involving this skill level include....

Diane Darrow, in an Edutopia article, outlines the questions you need to ask when looking for and identifying apps to use to support this level of Bloom's. 

ANDROID APPS AND WEB SITES FOR THE UNDERSTANDING LEVEL

Describing: Lensoo Create

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lensoo.create

Lensoo Create is a screencasting program for the Android platform. A screencasting program allows a student to describe a process by including a real-time voice-over while drawing on the "screen" or when marking up an image. For no-cost, Lensoo Create allows up to 15 minutes of recording time, import of custom background images, and PDF file imports.

For a $4.99 in-app purchase, you can get up to 30 minutes of recording time, the custom background and PDF import, additional shapes to use, and real time video capture right in the app. If you subscribe to Lensoo Create for $1.99 per month you get all of these features plus unlimited watermarked HD downloads.

Lensoo Create

Classifying: Big Fat Canvas

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.justinholmgren.sketchpad&hl=en

Big Fat Canvas is a useful drawing tool, and, with the ability to change colors and widths of the drawing tools, student could use the app for classification of items, a skill at the understanding level. The completed drawings can be sent via email, or to Dropbox, Picasa, and Evernote. For older students, the Picasso app might be a good choice, too.

Big Fat Canvas

Picasso

Summarizing: Dual Screen Browser

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.mmasashi.android.dualscreenbrowser

The Dual Screen Browser allows the student to view two Web pages side-by-side on the screen. If one of the windows is an open Google Doc while the other window is the content that needs to be read, students can take notes and summarize while reading the other page.

Dual Screen Browser

Explaining:  Video Edit +

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.w6soft.videoedit

Video Edit+ allows the student to use images or video from their gallery or shoot video right on the tablet. Students can import audio or record it then record it directly to explain a process, a book, a science lab, a physical education activity, etc.

Video Edit+

Interpreting: Slide Show Creator

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amem&hl=en

When students need to interpret something, such as this lesson about famous movie lines, they can use a slide show creator to include images from the Web or taken with the camera. The finish slide show lives on their site and also can also be emailed or uploaded to YouTube. The feature to add text to a slide is planned.

Slide Show Creator

Compare/Contrast:  Mobile Decision Maker

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.broadreachsoftware.decision&hl=en

One way students can demonstrate understanding is to create a T-chart with compare/contrast or pro/con explanations included. Mobile Decision Maker allows students to create these charts on the tablet. Each entry can be weighted to help students make a final decision based on weighting.

Compare/Contrast

FOLLOW UP

These are just some apps to get you started! The Google Play Store offers a ton of other apps that can be used at this level (or sometimes at all the Bloom's levels!) You can find more suggestions on my Bloomin' Apps page-- look for the chart for Android apps!

Publisher Plus for Mac

One of the things I have missed since moving to the Mac a few years ago is Microsoft Publisher. I loved that program and even co-wrote a book about it! It was a simple-to-use full-featured desktop publisher. I know that Apple's Pages for Mac does allow some of the desktop-publishing features such as text boxes and images that can easily be moved around on a page you are creating, but it does not seem like a good substitute for me. I love Canva online for making graphics, but I needed a program that ran on my local computer.

I have been looking for a desktop publisher for the Mac that includes lots of templates but also allows me to start from scratch. Pearl Mountain's Publisher Plus for Mac (or via the app store) seems to meet my requirements for a desktop publishing suite! They include over 170 easily-editable templates for brochures, flyers, newsletters. catalogs, posters, magazine covers, menus, invitations, cards, letter, envelopes, resumes, business cards, certificates, and disc case covers. The interface is clean and easy to navigate as you can see below.

Once you pick a type of publication in Publisher Plus to work on, the templates are totally customizable. When you chose an image or component, you are presented with the common Mac menu of options in the right-hand pane. You can also change the paper size, margins, the color of the background, and even hand-draw vector-based images with the mouse on the publication if you want to.

There are basic image libraries included in Publisher Plus, but Creative Commons icons and images are so plentiful on the Web nowadays, you can easily find your own to import. And, of course, you can use your own images and photographs.

The publication file can be shared and saved in all the common formats we need to use. You can save as a JPEG, PDF, PNG, TIFF, BMP, and PSD file. You can email, message, AirDrop, and send to Facebook and Flickr for publication. Unfinished publications can also be saved out a a Publisher Plus file format (.ppl) that allow editing by others with Publisher Plus for Mac. Here is a link to the FAQ's for Publisher Plus for Mac if you have other specific needs.

You can download a fully-functioning trial version of Publisher Plus for Mac here. The full version is $39.90 from their site ($19.99 from the Mac app store) and includes additional no-cost templates in each of the categories and no watermarks on the exported projects. I am hoping, as more educators try out this program, there will be an educational template category for common classroom and school publications or educational templates to edit in each of the template categories. Or maybe, we could create our own shared file area online of .PPL files so anyone using Publisher Plus for Mac could download and edit them.

I think my search for a simple-to-use and full-featured desktop publishing program is over now that I have found Publisher Plus for Mac!

Android apps for the remembering level of Bloom's

This is a re-posting of a blog post of July 12, 2013, which originally appeared on the now-defunct Sony Education Ambassadors site.

If you were an education major in college, you are probably very familiar with Bloom's Taxonomy. In the image below, on the left, is the original Bloom’s Taxonomy, developed in the late 1950’s by Benjamin Bloom. On the right, is the Revised Blooms Taxonomy, published in 2000 by Anderson, a student of Bloom’s, and Krathwhol. The names of the levels were turned into action verbs since Anderson and Krathwhol felt that action verbs implied engagement and re-arranged them a bit.

I want to point out is there is still a ton of instructional materials on the Web mapped to the original taxonomy and I encourage you to search for those "older" terms, also, for some good ideas.

The image below includes both the original and revised taxonomies as well as the mapping of the levels to make it more clear when identifying resources to support them.

However, when I think about Bloom's Taxonomy, I do not think of it as a triangle. The triangle image seems to indicate learners start at the bottom and move upwards. I feel that we use each level of the cognitive processes over and over as we begin to acquire new knowledge on a topic. My view of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy looks like the version below, The Cogs of the Cognitive Processes, with all of the levels inter-related and dependent on one another.

REMEMBERING LEVEL

The first cognitive level of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy is the remembering level. The remembering level involves finding information, storing it somehow and then recalling it. Activities involving this skill level include...

Diane Darrow, in an Edutopia article, outlines the questions 

you need to ask when looking for and identifying apps to use to support this level of Bloom's.

ANDROID APPS AND SITES FOR THE REMEMBERING LEVEL

Information searching: Diigo

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.diigo.android

Diigo is an online bookmarking tool that allows students to gather information, tag it, and annotate it. With the Diigo Power Note app, they can add text notes, bookmarks, cached pages, pictures, text messages to their Diigo library as well as access information already in the library.

Retrieve information: Evernote

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.evernote

Evernote is a must-have app that allows students to gather assets dealing with a topic.  It runs on all devices and operating systems and allows the user to take notes, capture photos, create to-do lists, record voice reminders and search of all these. It is an organizational tool each student should have!

Recall facts and ideas: Pocket
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ideashower.readitlater.pro

One tool that I have started using is Pocket, which downloads the items you add to it. This is a great way for students to have a hard copy of what they have found.  They can view the collection visually or in a list. They can also easily get back to the original site.

Mapping: Simple Mind Free
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.modelmakertools.simplemindfree

Remembering terms, ideas and facts can be accomplished with a concept map. Simple Mind Free lets students easily create a mind map, concept map, or flow chart. Students can use Simple Mind Free for all types of things, such as brainstorming new ideas, illustrating concepts, making lists and outlines, planning presentations, creating organizational charts, and more! There is even a desktop version available for Mac and Windows.

Labeling a diagram: Skitch
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.evernote.skitch

One way for students to remember is to label a diagram or image or illustrate a concept.
Skitch lets students--

- Annotate: Add arrows, shapes and text to existing images

- Create: Draw something new

- Edit: Reposition, recolor and remove annotations at will

- Share: Send sketches and annotations to Twitter, email or Evernote

Timelining: TimelineJS
http://timeline.verite.co/

Timelining is another activity based at the remembering level. TimelineJS is not an app but a Web site. It works best through the Dolphin Browser..  A student visits the TimelineJS site, downloads a Google Spreadsheet template to his/her Google Drive, edits the sample content with timeline information, and publishes it. The student then goes back to the site, enters the published URL of the Spreadsheet, and receives the embed code that can be put into a Google Site, a Weebly page, or blog. This timeline can include video, too!

These are just some apps to get you started! The Google Play Store offers a ton of other apps that can be used at this level (or sometimes at all the Bloom's levels!) You can find more suggestions on my Bloomin' Apps page-- look for the chart for Android apps!

HOTS for Bloom's, part 1

Creating activities that enhance student higher-order thinking skills is important. It requires some thought about ways to develop critical thinkers in the classroom as well as using mobile tools and apps to help students learn how to think.  There are may definitions and explanations of “critical thinking” — a term which began to be used in the mid twentieth century. I feel this overview of a well-cultivated critical thinker created by Paul and Elder sums it up nicely.

A well-cultivated critical thinker…

• raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely
• gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it
• comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria
• thinks open-mindedly within alternative systems of thought, assessing their preconceived assumptions
• communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems

Source: Richard Paul and Linda Elder, The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools, Foundation for Critical Thinking Press, 2008.

Students also need to practice how to think. Figure 1 showcases some strategies from Reading Rockets that can help you provide this practice!

BLOOM’S TAXONOMY

I am sure you are all familiar with Bloom’s Taxonomy. On the left in Figure 2 is the original Bloom’s Taxonomy, developed in the late 50’s by Benjamin Bloom. And, on the right, is the Revised Blooms Taxonomy, developed in 2000 by Anderson, a student of Bloom’s, and Krathwohl. (Just a reminder that “synthesis” is the same as “creating” in case you find materials that are mapped to the original Bloom’s Taxonomy.

However, I never thought about Bloom’s as a triangle. I thought about these levels as representing the cognitive thought processes we all go through when acquiring new knowledge, as we move back and forth among the levels, I developed my own image (Figure 3)  to show these cognitive levels are interlocking and all make up parts of the whole.

Although this post is about the higher order thinking skills in the analyzing, evaluating, and creating domains of Bloom’s, with perhaps some at the applying level, too, (Figure 4),  I also want to review the six levels of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy.

Diane Darrow has done an excellent job of providing an overview of the levels of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy in series of Edutopia articles. Apps can be used to target more than one cognitive level, but this overview explains some of the ways they can support each level.

Remembering: Remembering involves finding information, storing it, and then recalling it. Apps for the remembering level improve the user’s ability to define terms, identify facts, and recall and locate information. In remembering students recall, bookmark, list, search, create mind maps, and write.

Understanding: The understanding level contains skills that have students explaining and constructing meaning using various methods. Apps for the understanding level,  help the student demonstrate the ability to identify the main idea, generalize new material, translate verbal content into a visual form, or make predictions. In understanding students will explain, blog, subscribe, categorize, annotate, and tweet.

Applying: The applying level has students using learned material through products to showcase acquisition of knowledge. Apps that fit into the applying stage provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their ability to implement learned procedures and methods, and  highlight the ability to apply concepts in unfamiliar circumstances.  In applying, students illustrate, present, demonstrate, and simulate

Analyzing: Analyzing includes breaking information into parts to explore understandings and relationships. Apps that fit into the “analyzing” stage improve the user’s ability to differentiate between the relevant and irrelevant, determine relationships, and recognize the organization of content.  In analyzing, students complete tasks that involves structuring, surveying, outlining, and organizing.

Evaluating: The evaluating stage has students making decisions about the value of content based on criteria set by themselves or external sources.  Apps at this stage help students judge content reliability and accuracy quality and effectiveness,  and help them reach informed decisions. In evaluating students show their understanding of a topic or participate in evaluating a peer’s understanding of a topic.

Creating: The creating level helps students reorganize acquired knowledge and information to create a new end result. Apps at the creating level provides opportunities for students to generate ideas, design plans, and come up with a new way of doing things. In creating, students create projects that involve video editing, storytelling, video casting, podcasting, and animating.

If you are interested in exploring the levels of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy in more depth, I presented a series of webinars in 2012 on each level and you can study these one hour sessions if you wish!

1. Remembering
2. Understanding
3. Applying
4. Analyzing
5. Evaluating
6. Creating

Another great source that can help you develop activities and assessments to support the HOTS is this edited chart (Figure 5) from Clemson University which provides various action verbs at each level of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy.

NEXT TIME

In an article in THE Journal, Susan Brooks-Young  outlines five tech-friendly lessons to encourage higher order thinking skills in students. During part 2 of this 3-part series, I will go over some of these and some ideas of my own that include iOS apps and tools!

A trio of reviews

Three companies have sent me items to review and reviews of them follow.  It is always fun to try out new technology gear!

MagBack for iPad

I am always on the lookout for ways to mount my devices in the car and around the house. MagBack for iPad is one neat solution! MagBack for iPad bills itself as the "world's thinnest iPad mount". The MagBack kit consists of two magnetic MagSticks, that can be mounted anywhere, and two MagBack Pads that mount to the back of the iPad. The MagBack is available for all models of the iPad Mini, iPad 2/3/4 non-Retina, and iPad Air 1 and 2, and comes in a variety of colors. The cost of the MagBack is $39 and you can also buy 3 sets of extra MagSticks for $19 to use to mount the iPad to additional places around the house or in your car.

The MagSticks can be mounted on a wall, your car dashboard, your cookbook stand, or the wall behind your desk. They are a shiny silver and are 4.5" x .5", so are unobtrusive even when mounted to your car dashboard. The MagStick can be mounted on wood, a painted wall, fabric, leather, glass, or aluminum (and I am assuming the "pleather" on my car dashboard!)

There is a template included in the package to ensure you get the MagBack Pads aligned correctly on the back of the iPad. These MagBack Pads also provide a nice gripping surface when you are carrying your iPad. The Apple iPad Smart Cover does not interfere with the MagBack Pads (and vice versa), since the MagBack Pads mount on the short sides of the iPad. 

MagBack Pads and MagSticks

MagBack Pads mounted on the iPads

Here is a another review of the MagBack for iPad that includes additional screenshots and a video demonstrating the process for installation.

MagBack is also accepting pre-orders for its MagBack for iPhone. In this model, the "Pads" are built right into the phone case and there is only one MagStick needed.

Headset by ThinkWrite

ThinkWrite was formed in 2013, and designs low-cost mobile device accessories to support the education market.

They sent me their headset (headphone and microphone combo) to review. This low-cost headset sells for $19.99 and volume discounts are available.

ThinkWrite specifically made a headset to meet the needs of schools. It is very durable and is made from special plastic that allows the headset to be bent (as kids are likely to try) without breaking! The headset is constructed with a "pleather" material that is easy to clean and provides padding and adjustments to fit any child's head. Take a look at how indestructible they are!

The inclusion of a mounted microphone that sits close to the student's mouth makes these very useful for students recording narratives and podcasts since the classroom noise level is kept to a minimum. And there is an in-line volume control to easily allow students to moderate the sound on something they are listening to.

Teachers are always on the look-out for low-cost technology solutions for their classrooms, and I think these ThinkWrite Headsets are a winner!

Reflector 2 by AirSquirrels

I have been a proponent of the Reflector app since the day it was introduced (when it was called Reflection). The Reflector app turns your Windows or Mac computer into an AirPlay device, allowing one or more devices to mirror their screens to your computer via WiFi or Bluetooth. If your computer is hooked up to a video projector, of course, the teacher and students can share their findings, work, or questions with the rest of the class. And it makes it easy for a teacher to roam about the classroom and clear up misconceptions by mirroring their device screen to the "big" screen.

One of my favorite features of the Reflector 1 app is the ability to record the activity on the screen of the mirrored iOS device while it is mirrored to the computer. As one who creates lots of instructional videos, I use this feature daily. Even the sound comes over to the computer so it is included in the movie I produce. In a classroom, the ability to easily record an iOS device screen is invaluable when a teacher needs to record an on-going lesson for an absent student, for parents, or by wanting the ability to record a student's work for their digital portfolio.

However, Reflector 2 ($14.99 per single license with volume licenses available) has bumped up the capabilities of the software! Devices running various operating systems can now mirror to the same computer! And whether the device is an iOS device, an Android device, or a Chromebook, the mirrored screen can be recorded! This is a wonderful addition for BYOD/T environments where students may have a mix of iOS devices, Android devices, and Chromebooks in the same classroom.

Reflector 2 also allows the teacher to emphasize a certain device on the computer screen when multiple devices are mirrored, as well as hiding connected devices. In addition, the teacher can show a device full-screen to eliminate all other distractions for the viewer

Reflector Director is an iPad app ($6.99) that allows the teacher to handle the emphasizing, hiding, and previewing of mirrored device screens on the computer from the iPad, rather than having to sit at the computer to do so.

There are a few additional programs that AirSquirrels makes that also may be helpful in a classroom. The Reflector for Android app allows iOS devices to mirror to the screen of an Android device (it does not enable Android mirroring.)

Reflector for Amazon Fire TV and TV Stick ($6.99) allows one to mirror a Mac computer, Windows computer or Chromebook (in conjunction with AirParrot 2) to a Fire TV or Fire TV Stick as well as mirror any iOS device to your TV that has an Amazon Fire TV Stick.

With all of these features, Reflector 2 meets the needs of teachers and students no matter what device they are using or need to share!

Literacies for the digital age: Health literacy

This is the tenth, and final, in a series of blog posts highlighting the digital literacies our students will need to succeed. This post will provide you with some ideas on how to infuse health literacy skills into the curriculum.

HEALTH LITERACY

The World Health Organization’s motto is “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” And, according to UNESCO, infusing “health learning in subjects across the curriculum should not be a substitute for a comprehensive, sequential course of health education, but doing so can significantly support the learning that takes place in a health class.”

The UNESCO toolkit publication contains mappings to curriculum activities that can help students learn and think about health-related issues. They include curriculum tie-ins for social studies, science and mathematics.

TOOLS

There are many online tools and apps for mobile devices that can support any one of these activities as well as activities in health education classes.

Keeping a private wellness journal can both help students deal with stressful events as well as help track their progress towards a goal– whether it be physical or intellectual. Penzu is an online private journaling program, with a mobile app for iOS and Android, too, that makes it easy for students to jot down their thoughts and action plans for personal wellness.

Once a student has set some wellness goals, they will need a place to record their quantitative information– whether it be calories consumed, steps taken, or minutes exercised. Zoho Creator is an online database that is easy to set up and easy to both enter and analyze the data.

Glencoe has a health textbook support page that includes some technology project lesson in the areas of health and fitness for students.

As far as providing students with sites to start with to gather data on global health issues, the US Department of Health and Human Services has a site which deals with the medical, political, and social aspects of health issues worldwide.

Looking at the content-based health activities suggested by UNESCO, in addition to the research skills students will be utilizing, there are many ways students can create a product as a formative or summative assessment using technology.

• Digital story
• Infographic
• Video
• Poster, handout, flyer
• Timeline
• Podcast
• Animation
• Screencast
• Word cloud
• Concept or mind map
• Blog
• Collage
• Sketchnote

My online tools page includes Web 2.0 applications that can be used for these products. In addition, I have specific pages with ideas, tips, and tutorials for products such as these.

• Concept mapping in the classroom
• Digital storytelling
• Infographics as an assessment
• Screen casting and screen recording
• Sketchnoting
• Creating with the iPad

Do you teach health literacy in your classroom? Share your resources with us on Twitter! #kathyschrock

Literacies for the digital age: Civic and global literacy

This is the ninth in a series of blog posts highlighting the digital literacies our students will need to succeed. This post will provide you with some ideas on how to infuse civic and global skills into the curriculum.

There are thirteen literacies I feel need to be explored, practiced and mastered by students. 

_______________________________________________________________________________

CIVIC LITERACY

Civic literacy incorporates the use of 21st century skills for staying informed about local, regional, and worldwide events in order to be able to participate and make informed decisions. As with any current news and information, students must be on the lookout for bias and omission of relevant information. These skills can be practiced as outlined in the Information and Digital Literacy blog post in this series.

The civic sites in this post will be United States sites only. As I practice the skill of critical evaluation when investigating sites I recommend, I do not feel knowledgeable enough to add civic literacy sites from other countries. Please add your recommendations in the comment area!

Some resource sites include:

Center for Civic Education promotes citizenship education from PreK-12. There are lesson plans and full curriculums to use with students located on their site. The lesson plans include ideas to support Constitution Day, Independence Day, Voting, Black History and Women’s History Month,  and much more. They also have eight pages of video presentations that can be used for discussion starters or extension activities.

In 2009, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor founded iCivics to reverse Americans’ declining civic knowledge and participation. Securing our democracy, she realized, requires teaching the next generation to understand and respect our system of governance. There are sixteen educational video games and teaching support materials on their site. In addition, there are many lesson plans in the teacher resource area, too.

The Civics Renewal Network is a consortium of organizations who offer access to materials to support the teaching of civics education in schools. The organizations range from the American Bar Association, to Annenberg Classroom, Library of Congress, Rock the Vote, and other well-known groups. The search box on the site leads you to a database of materials found across these organizations. The advanced search allows limiting by subject, grade, issues, resource types, teaching strategies, standards, and organization. The materials are located on the sponsoring organizations site, but this combined search tool allows you to easily find material to use in your classroom!

The Civic Deliberation and Social Action collection from the National Writing Project provides information, ideas, and projects for helping students engage in “rational civic discourse around important issues and can (help them) begin to take action to affect the changes that they see need to be made in our society and culture.”

__________________________________________________________________________________

GLOBAL LITERACY

Global literacy, according to a professional development publication by Atomic Learning, “incorporates the use of 21st century skills and tools for understanding and addressing issues that have global impact. This includes raising awareness about cultural differences, demonstrating tolerance and respect for differing opinions, religions, and lifestyles, and learning to work collaboratively with others.”

One way to get students to work on their global literacy skills is to involve them in global projects. Here are some popular project sites.

With a social action project, students actively participate in a real-word problem and help improve it.  One good place to look for collaborative social projects is iEarn.the International Education and Resource Network. Each of the projects in their database has to answer the question “How will this project improve the quality of life on this planet?”

The GlobalSchoolNet started off in 1984 as the FrEdMail network, an email system that provided teachers with a place to plan and share projects The GlobalSchoolNet is still going strong today with meaningful, real-world, authentic, collaborative projects. In addition to providing their own projects, the GSN offers a registry of projects where teachers can submit their project to look for collaborators or just search to see what is available to participate in. The advanced search offers many options of narrowing down the project search such as age, curriculum category, type of collaboration, and technology used in the project. Teachers can also search archived projects to get some additional ideas about hosting a new project of their own.

The ePals Projects for Global Communication contains teacher-posted projects from around the world that are looking for participants. The collaboration can be via email, Skype/Google Hangout, or a shared project workspace. Many are language-based projects (i.e. middle school students in Malay who are learning English wanting to connect with English speakers in London and Australia), but some include projects to integrate technology into the Common Core.

Before developing or participating in a global project, one place to check is the WorldSavvy site. This site contains links, an e-newsletter, and background information for teachers on global issues, project-based lessons for students and can help prepare students for a collaborative global project.

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Do you teach civic and/or global literacy in your classroom? Share with us on Twitter! #kathyschrock

Literacies for the digital age: Tool literacy

This is the eighth in a series of blog posts highlighting the digital literacies our students will need to succeed.  This post will provide you with some ideas on how to help students attain the tool literacy skills they need.

TOOL LITERACY

Tool literacy, the ability to manage and create information, is all about using software tools to help support the other literacies. This is sometimes called computer literacy or technology literacy.

Managing information using online tools in a digital space is an important skill. Here are some quick tips that can help students (and you) manage their information overload using Web clipping tools, curation tools, RSS and newsreaders, and synchronous communication and backchannel tools.

One way to keep student’s information organized is for them to use Web clipping tool such as Evernote. Evernote runs on desktops and via an iPad and Android app, and allows the student to take notes, record audio files, insert images, and much more, and the notebooks with the information remain synced across all their devices. Classroom ideas: Evernote for educators Livebinder

There is a clipping tool made especially for schools. It is called EduClipper and it has been developed by Adam Bellow of EduTecher.  The created EduClip boards are easily shared and there is an iPad app, tool. Classroom ideas: Creating digital portfolios with Educlipper

Many educators use Pinterest, for their Web clipping tool, which works with the browser, iOS devices, and Android devices. Classroom ideas: 37 ways teachers can use Pinterest in the classroom

One iPad app I have started using is Pocket, which downloads the items I add to it. This is a great way for students to have hard copy of what they have found. It works on computers, iOS, and Android devices.Classroom ideas: How to use the Pocket app for classroom research

Pearltrees is an online curation and organizational tool and an iPad and Android app with a social component. You can search, link to other’s pearls, and organize your own into meaningful areas for you. Classroom ideas: Visual social bookmarking with Pearltrees

One tool that I have been using for a lot of years, and that has now been released for many platforms, is Microsoft’s OneNote. With the ability to easily create notebooks, add images, text, embed files, and draw, OneNote is now my tool of choice for keeping myself organized and for curation across all of my devices. Classroom ideas: OneNote for educators Pinterest page

RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is a very important tool for students.  RSS allows the user to gather (also called aggregate) many of their data sources in one place. The tool that gathers the information in one place is called a newsreader. One of the most popular newsreaders is Feedly. Feedly has plug-ins to the major Web browsers and an iPad and Android app, too. Classroom ideas: Using RSS in the classroom

RSS can be used for many purposes to support teaching and learning as well as personal items of interest. It saves the student the time to visit that blog or news site or even Twitter and has all of the information just flow into their newsreader. I love this video by wydea which explains RSS in a practical way!

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Students should also become proficient with real-time audio and video conferencing, collectively called “synchronous communication”. Both Skype and Google+ Hangouts are samples of that. And this can be done via a tablet, too. Classroom ideas: Skype and Google+ Hangouts

Knowledge of some simpler online tools to use as a backchannel or a planning space is useful for students to know. I asked my Twitter PLN to post to a TodaysMeet page with some ideas of how students might use it for planning. Classroom ideas: 20 ways to use TodaysMeet in the classroom

And, an old favorite, Wallwisher, has reinvented itself as Padlet. It works perfectly as a backchannel tool through a Web browser on a tablet or computer. Classroom ideas: Interesting ways to use Padlet in the classroom

81Dash is another backchannel tool and is intended for education. You can create rooms and open them when you need them and even have a conversation in the room. Classroom ideas: Backchannels in the classroom

What tools do you use to support tool literacy? Let us know on Twitter! #kathyschrock