4 Digital Tools for Active Learning
by Holly D. Gray and Sharon Alayne Widmayer
An important component of language teaching has always been
interactivity, and now with so many of us teaching remotely or in hybrid
situations, adding interactivity and engagement to virtual classrooms has
become a necessity. What are some of the digital tools available to get
students actively involved in learning in your class?
1. Pear Deck
One tool
that makes distance learning more fun and engaging is Pear Deck. Pear Deck is
an add-on for Google slides that allows for interactivity. Using this tool, you
can see in real time what each student is doing on their Pear Deck
screen.
What You Can
Do
-
Include
multiple-choice questions or polls and text responses.
-
Embed
other websites directly in your Pear Deck presentation.
-
During
the teacher-paced lessons, you control which slide the class is on, and each
student interacts with their own screen.
-
Choose to anonymously
display individual students’ work to the class, share the results of polls, or
show where everyone has dragged tokens.
Premium Version
($)
-
Enable students to draw on
slides and click and drag icons or tokens around the screen.
-
Students can write using
the pencil tool or type using the text typing tool, and, because you can turn
an existing Google slide into a drawing activity, you can make online graphic
organizers. The drawing tool can also be used for exercises such as
highlighting and annotating texts.
-
Utilize the student-paced
mode, to which you can add
audio. The same slide deck can be set to play teacher-paced during
class and then student-paced for students who missed the live session. Set Pear
Deck to save all student work at the end of sessions.
-
Create individualized
“Takeaways”
for each student in your class, which are PDF files of the presentation and
students’ responses. Google classroom users can have these take-aways
automatically posted in their Google classroom as Google docs.
Additional
Features
The PearDeck
site also has a Flashcard
Factory feature that you can use to have kids work in groups to
create flashcards. There is a variety of built-in
templates and activities that you can add to your presentations.
These activities are helpfully divided into areas such as “Littles” (K–2),
social-emotional learning, and critical thinking. It is also divided by subject
area.
2.
Ed Puzzle
Ed Puzzle is a great way to
make preexisting videos interactive, accessible, and assessable for language
learning.
What You Can
Do
-
Search for video clips on
YouTube, Khan Academy, National Geographic, or other open-access
sites.
-
Once you have found a clip,
cut the clip and have the video pause to add interactive questions or
explanatory notes.
-
Make questions either
open-ended or computer-scored multiple choice.
-
Require mandatory viewing,
which prohibits students from skipping right to the questions.
-
Find and use clips and
questions created by other educators.
Additional
Features
-
In
“Classic” mode, set up classes in EdPuzzle to get access to data on how
students scored on the video multiple-choice questions. Students need their own
accounts.
-
In
“Open”
mode, students just have to enter a class code to join.
-
In
“Live”
mode, students view a video on a classroom projector, and then their devices
display the questions embedded in the video for them to answer.
EdPuzzles
are particularly useful for flipped classrooms. Students can watch videos about
new concepts and answer basic comprehension questions before class, and then
during class time students can discuss videos or practice concepts introduced
through them.
3. Quizizz
Quizizz is an easy-to-use
tool for creating interactive quiz games that tap into students’ competitive
nature. The charming avatars and themes are kid friendly, but adult students
also enjoy pitting their skills against their classmates, either live or
asynchronously. Quizizz integrates into Google Classroom, but teachers can also
copy and paste a link for students to follow into whichever delivery system
they use. If teachers are busy or looking for inspiration, there are thousands
of quizzes that others have shared on a wide range of subjects.
What You Can
Do
-
Create multiple-choice,
short answer, fill-in-the-blank, poll, and checkbox questions.
-
Use mathematical equations
in questions and answers.
-
Align to
standards.
-
Add images to both
questions and answers.
-
Play live or assign as
homework.
-
Design
interactive slide decks.
-
Copy entire quizzes or
teleport individual questions
from thousands of public exercises.
Premium Version
($)
-
Embed audio or video in the
questions.
-
Provide feedback in text or
media form.
-
Unlock additional themes
and custom standards.
-
Remove ads.
Where
Quizizz really stands apart from other quiz creators is its meme-creator
tool. You can upload you own pictures and create personalized memes
for correct and incorrect answers…and let your students get in on the fun by
creating their own to share. Even though you and your students may not be in
the same room, you can share a sense of community by seeing customized memes
after each answer.
4. Flipgrid
If you are
looking for more ways to build community—both within your classes and
beyond—you should check out Flipgrid. This free
video discussion tool allows teachers to assign a topic and select a recording
duration, and students record response videos ranging from 15 seconds to 10
minutes in length.
What You Can
Do
-
Record or upload a video to
start the conversation.
-
Elicit responses from
students and view them privately or share them as a class.
-
Moderate
all videos before sharing to check for content.
-
Require students to sign a
video release form.
-
Create mixtapes
of student responses to share.
-
Connect with teachers and
classes around the world with GridPals.
Additional
Features
With
Flipgrid, you have ability to create and edit short videos that can be
integrated into Google Classroom or Canvas or downloaded in mp4 format to use
anywhere. This free tool is surprisingly powerful and easy to use. You can
produce any combination of video clips, screen recordings, pictures, and
boards. Use the effects
tools to draw or write on the boards, overlay pictures, add frames
and emojis, and employ fun filters. Closed captioning is provided and can be
edited.
Conclusion
Used
mindfully, these tools can add a great deal of interactivity and fun to your
classes, whether face-to-face or online, while helping you monitor and assess
student progress. Keep your students active and engaged; try one out
today!
Holly D.
Gray is an associate professor in the
English Department at Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Maryland, and
she has been teaching ESL in a higher education setting for more than 25 years.
One of her many passions is finding effective ways to use technology in the
classroom.
Sharon Alayne
Widmayer, PhD, has been teaching English
learners for more than 25 years. She currently teaches algebra in the
International Academy at TC Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia and is
the principal owner of Del Ray Learning Solutions in Alexandria,
Virginia.
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