Tech Tools for the Classroom

Effective uses of technology and screen media are active, hands-on, engaging, and empowering; give the child control; provide adaptive scaffolds to ease the accomplishment of tasks; are integrated into early childhood practices, curriculum, routines and environment; and are used as one of many options to support children’s learning - NAEYC Tech Position Statement (2012)

Click the Symbaloo Mix below to see a list of Tech Tools to Create Global Learning Experiences in Your ECE Classroom:

Click the picture to access tech tools you can use to create global learning experiences!

The Symbaloo above provides a vast assortment of digital tools you can use in your classroom. They are labeled and grouped by category. Suggestions and tips for using these tools in your classroom, as well as general information about what these tools are used for are listed below:

Social Media Tools
Collaboration Tools
Publication Tools
Video & Audio Tools
Presentation Tools
Global Collaboration Tools
General Resources

*Note: When using any of the tools below or any tool on the Internet, please be sure to check your privacy settings and make sure you have parent/student and administrator permission to post anything either privately or publicly!

Social Media Tools

1) Twitter:
Value? Twitter can be used in the classroom to send short messages and images to other classrooms around the globe while practicing literacy skills and prompting discussions of multiculturalism.

Twitter Basics - Learn all of the basics and getting started tips from Twitter
To Tweet or Not To Tweet A Kindergarten Teacher’s Perspective on Using Twitter in her Classroom
So You Want to Tweet in Kindergarten – A getting-started guide (12/10/11)
100 Ways to Teach with Twitter
Edmodo - a more secure, education-only microblogging and discussion platform
- Review of Edmodo and ways to use it in the classroom
More Twitter Resources

2) Facebook:
Value? Facebook can allow you to share classroom updates, photos, events, and stories with other classrooms and parents at home.

3) Google+ :
Value? You can use this site to post updates about your classroom, have video “hangouts” with up to ten other people.

Teaching with Google+
How to Unlock the Power of Google+ (2/22/12)
Google Plus – tips for using in education, facts and data infographic (2/20/12)

Social Media Resource Articles:

Social Media Cheat Sheet - a quick overview of different social media networks and sites
5 Readings and 2 Videos to Help Others Get Going with Personal Learning Networks (8/18/10)
The Process of Creating a Social Media Policy (1/24/12)
6 Steps for Drafting a Social Media Policy (1/25/12)
Social Media Tools and Resources We Like to Share for 2012
Social Networking Tools How-To-Guide including: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, WordPress, Blogger, Ning, Edmodo & more

Collaboration Tools

1) Google Suite:
Value? Google docs can allow students to practice writing in real-time with other students; Google maps is a great tool to have students map their school or community and share with other classes or to map the locations of classes you collaborate with around the world; Google Calendar can help you schedule Skype chats or other digital meetup or projects.

2) Symbaloo:
Value? Symbaloo is a great way to compile resources/websites for students to access via the computer or ipad. You can create a mix of videos from around the world to help students “visit” different communities or create a mix of with the blogs for the classrooms with who you connect.

How I Manage Symbaloo - K Teacher (1/12)
Example Symbaloo full of Global Ed sites

3) Lino/Wallwisher:
Value? Virtual sticky notes can be a great way to collaborate and share ideas, video, and pictures via the Internet. Create a board about a topic and post students’ thoughts, then ask a global partner class to add their ideas.

4) Skype:
Value? Skype allows you to have a conference call with up to 25 other classrooms and to have one-to-one video chats in real-time with other classrooms around the world.

Collaboration Resource Articles:

American student are teaming up online with classrooms around the world to learn valuable lessons (Ed Week, 1/23/12)
5 Tools for Global Educators (2/3/12)
Global Education – When Hard Work Pays Off (2/4/12)
Students go ‘global’ thanks to technology (2/8/12)
Global core standards – Ed Week
What Should Global PBL Look Like? (2/13/12)
PDF How-to-Guide on Collaborative Tools including: Voicethread, Google Docs, and more!

Publication Tools

1) Blogging Resources:
Value? Creating a class blog can allow you to post information, videos, maps and other items documenting the global learning experiences children have in your classroom. Classes in other parts of the world can subscribe and follow your blog for updates. Your students can also blog their thoughts and ideas and children from other countries can add comments and responses to their posts.

2) Blogging with WordPress:
Value? WordPress is an easy-to-use blogging platform that allows you to create free blogs using a wide selection of themes and widgets.

3) Kidblog:
Value? Kidblogs are a safe, secure platform that your students can use to blog about topics you are discussing (e.g., community, family, nature) and other students can then respond to their posts.

Learn Kidblog in 5 minutes or less
#comments4kids - hashtag specifically used when tweeting kids’ blog posts to increase the feedback kids receive
TeacherCast Podcast 32 “KidBlog.org” - podcast with a detailed discussion of starting and using Kidblog, including teacher interviews (12/27/11)

4) Posterous:
Value? Another digital publication space, Posterous is great for posting pictures and video embedded in text about your classroom global learning experiences.

5) Glogster:
Value? A digital presentation tool, Glogster allows students to compile weblinks, video clips, audio files, pictures, and text in one place. This is a great way to create a portfolio or online poster about a specific topic under discussion in your classroom and share it with other classes around the globe.

Review of Glogster in the classroom, including examples, strengths, and weaknesses
A PreK Glog

6) Shelfari/Goodreads:
Value? Social, online bookshelves – these tools are a great way to share with parents and other classes what books you are reading in your classroom and to recommend books to other classrooms that might be specific to your country.

Using Shelfari – a classroom example (11/10/11)
How it works (goodreads blog)

7) Wikis:
Value? Wikis are a great way to create a digital collaboration space for your classroom. You could share and create a wiki to be used by multiple classrooms around the globe to post videos, pictures, and discussions from each class. They can also be made private to protect children’s identities.

Wikis in Plain English
An Introduction to Wikispaces - the basics of editing a page
Personalize Your Space - changing the look of your wikispace
Files and Pictures - putting pictures and other files into a wiki page
Notification and RSS - keeping track of changes to your wikispace

Video & Audio Creation Tools

1) Audacity:
Value? A free, easy to use audio recording tool that is great for making podcasts and other recordings that you can share with other classrooms around the globe.

2) Garageband:
Value? A mac software program that can be used similar to Audacity to create podcasts and also for students to record music and soundtracks for their work. It can be used to record a child’s favorite story in their native language or local holiday songs to share with students in other classes.

3) iMovie:
Value? This tool for Mac computers is a great way to compile video clips and/or pictures from a global learning experience to post on the class blog or send to a partner class in another country.

Using iMovie in Education
iMovie in Kindergarten & on the ipad (4/2/11)

4) YouTube:
Value? This site can be used as a source of information for children to see videos of holidays or communities in other nations or to post videos from your own global learning projects.

YouTube EDU – educational videos
YouTube for Schools - Sign up for YouTube for Schools to bring the power of video to your classrooms for free. Access thousands of free high quality educational videos on YouTube in a controlled environment.

5) Vimeo:
Value? Vimeo is a great platform for posting videos. They can then easily be shared with parents are embedded in your classroom blog to share with other classrooms.

Comparing Vimeo to YouTube (1/30/11)
Teacher perspective on Vimeo

Presentation Tools

1) Voicethread:
Value? Voicethread is a great way to have conversations with children, teachers, and experts in other parts of the world. With five different commenting options, children can easily add their thoughts and ideas, in any language to slides about specific topics under discussion.

2) Storybird/Little Bird Tales:
Value? These digital storytelling tool allows children to create stories that can easily be shared with other classes around the world or embedded in a class blog to share with other students and parents.

Using Storybird in the classroom (7/19/11)
Little Bird Tales – Digital Storytelling for Young Students (2/15/11)

3) Voki:
Value? Voki can allow students to create safe and creative avatars to share their voices across the web. They can also be used to record stories and messages in other languages.

10 Uses for Voki (6/26/10)
Voki – Avatars in Education

4) Slidespeech:
Value? Slidespeech can allow children to create a story and then easily translate it into another language and hear that language played back/spoken to them. This could allow children’s stories and presentations to be shared with partner classes that do not speak their language.

Presentation Resource Articles:

Sharing Tools How-to-guide including: Slideshare, Scribd, Evernote, YouTube, Flikr, Dropbox, Pearltrees & more
Education Tools How-to-guide including: Glogster, Diigo, Prezi, Jing, Wordle, WordPess, Delicious, Ning & more

Global Collaboration Tools

1) Global SchoolNet:
Value? A huge database of global resources and projects. Check out their CyberFair to find support having your students conduct community research that can be shared with other global partners.

2) ePals:
Value? ePals is a fantastic and safe way to start project and pen pal exchanges with classes in other parts of the world using technology.

3) Arounder:
Value? This site allows you to “travel” to places around the world so your students can see them up close. It’s a great way to visit cities around the world that the children are learning about, their hometowns, or where a partner class lives.