The United States of America is currently a place where technology is certainly on the rise. It has been this way for about a decade now, but things are moving quicker and quicker with each passing year. We are constantly finding ways to incorporate new and different technology into not only our everyday lives, but our workplaces as well. With new technology on the rise almost every week, it can be hard to keep up at times. However, there are a few different computer applications/websites that may be somewhat unknown right now, but are definitely programs to check out. These include Twitter, Jing, Edmodo, and Wordle. Educators all around the nation have begun using these programs to better the students’ educational experience.
First off, is Twitter. This is an extremely popular website that has swept the nation by storm. It is a social media website that lets users “follow” each other. A user can post status-like updates, pictures, and more. If somebody is following that person, their post will show up on their home page. You can also direct a post at somebody, by using the @ symbol and the person’s username. Twitter is immensely popular, from celebrities to average citizens. Twitter is a great way to keep in touch with people and see what they are up to. Also, it can be used as a great educational tool. Teachers can have each student in the class set up a Twitter account, and they can all follow each other. The teach could also have an account, where he/she would tweet useful information, such as homework assignments, classroom updates, and more. This can make education more interesting for children, as it involves more of a real-world application.
Next, is Jing. Jing is a great tool that anybody can download onto a computer or laptop. With Jing, you can take a picture of any part of your computer screen. You can either take an entire screenshot, or drag to only cover a certain portion of the screen. Once you take the picture, you can save it anywhere on your computer. From there, you can open up your Jing library, where all of your pictures are stored. You can send pictures, or even edit them. This is a really great tool to use if you see something on your computer that you like, but want to alter it in some way, shape, or form. Jing is a fantastic tool for the classroom, because it is easy enough for children to understand right away. Children would be able to do research on a topic and if they needed to find a picture for something, they could simply take a screenshot and then edit the picture to make it their own!
Another website that may be used for somewhat older students, is Edmodo . Edmodo is basically the educational version of Facebook. The layout is very similar, all the way down to the toolbars and font. This is designed to be an educational tool for teachers to better organize the information for the class. The teacher is in charge of the classroom webpage, where every student will register. From there, it works very similarly to Facebook. Anybody can post messages, ask questions, and more. Teachers can also send out messages regarding classroom announcements. In my opinion, the best part about Edmodo is the assignments capability. Teachers can have their assignments directly on the classroom webpage, with a description, due date, grading scale, and more! There is a button that says, “Turn In” that students click to submit their assignment online. The “Calendar” tab is extremely useful because it automatically syncs every assignment from each class onto a calendar, so it is easy to see what is coming up.
The last website is called Wordle. This is a really fun website, where students can make word collages. It is very simple, but exciting at the same time! Basically, there is a text-box where students can write anything that they want to include in the word collage. For words that they want to appear more than once, or maybe larger, they can write those words several times. Then they simply hit the create button, and it generates the Wordle. From there, students can edit the layout, font, and color to make it special for them. They can edit as many times as they want in order to find the perfect Wordle. This is a great tool for education, especially as an icebreaker or first day of school activity. Teachers can have their students make a Wordle with their name, favorite hobbies, and any interesting facts! It is a very simply process that creates attractive word collages.
Overall, these 4 programs are absolutely fantastic for the classroom. Kids will really enjoy using them, and also learn a lot at the same time. It is crucial that teachers and administrators keep up with the ever-changing world of technology, because everybody learns differently, and these tools are designed to help children succeed.
