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My Favorite Pick for 2013
Almost all schools are getting their Christmas break beginning this Friday and with all the hustle and bustle, I have continued a tradition of picking my favorite creative website of the year. As I looked back on the year's posts, I realized that the one I kept coming back to was the one that has single-handedly increase student engagement unlike any other tool I have ever introduced. I am working with a teacher in Miami and her students are converting her tri-fold Science fair projects into digital Science Fair projects using Board Builder. The students are very excited to have another format to work with and are having no hesitation creating outstanding "Boards." This feature is totally free in all existing Discovery Education accounts. If you would like a free trial to see what it's like, please check out this offer. This " tuesdays" is dedicated to the year 2013's theme for me - student engagement.
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I would like to re-introduce Discovery Education's Board Builder. This unique addition to the student accounts (and now in the teachers accounts!) in Discovery Education is proving to be the most intuitive, engaging and appealing manner to present a concept. Board Builder was designed with the student in mind. It features a "board" upon which headlines, text, media and audio can be placed to demonstrate the evidence of learning. The coolest thing ever is that students can now upload up to five of their own digital creations into their "boards." Not only do the "boards" have eye-candy appeal, teachers can approve boards for sharing with the class, the whole school or the whole Discovery community or more! |
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Whether you have a Discovery Education account or not, I would like to encourage you to provide your students with open options for presentations. In other words, when you assign a topic to be researched and explained by the students, don't feel that you have to understand all the technologies available. Depending on the age of your students, they will be have already tried a variety of tools, apps or other means of communication. Give them the opportunity to choose their platform and you will increase the quality of their presentation. Overall, it is most important that our students are creating, innovating and sharing their learnings. Board Builder is one of many tools available, but may just be my absolute favorite at the moment. I created a Board Builder for you to review about my favorite strategy for using video in the classroom. You will have to have a Discovery Education account to check it out. Go to http://tinyurl.com/Video4Square.
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There is no doubt that stations/centers in the classroom has its pros and How do your students build a "Board?" First of all, the school/district will have to have an account with Discovery Education. Next, I highly recommend that the students storyboard their presentation idea on paper before they even log into their Discovery Education account. Once they have their idea solidified, they can begin to gather digital assets from the Discovery library or their own digital creations. Next, they can build their Board by adding a background, headline, and multiple text boxes to explain concepts and add up to five digital assets of their own. The best part is that the students can intuitively learn to build a Board. Teachers do not need to teach them how. Let them go at it, just set the expectations and create a rubric that works for you. Good news! Teachers will have their own Board Builders within the next month that they can use for instructional purposes. Kudos to Discovery Education for the new Board Builder!
PS. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
If you would like to follow my 12 Days Until Christmas in Sacred Word and Song, please check it out in any of these formats:
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| What is "tuesdays with Karen"?
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"tuesdays with Karen" is a weekly newsletter/blog designed to encourage, equip and empower teachers to be creative with educational technology. Please add your technology comments to my "tuesdays with Karen" blog. |
