Summer Planning: Epic BYOD Toolchest (51 Tools You Can Use Now) | Edutopia

Is your school in the market for the latest and greatest in devices and apps? If you are interested in things to research reevaluate, or just simply sample check out blogger Vicki Davis’ amazing list of devices/apps. In her recent blog, featured on Edutopia, Davis provides a tool chest of devices/apps for teachers and administrators to choose from to help support (and individualized) classroom instruction. You can check out her complete list on Edutopia. I’ve also included some of my favorites from her list below. Enjoy! tlb

Assessment

Appropriate formal assessment is essential to good classroom instruction so what you use to collect the best data is important. Google Forms is a great tool because it allows the teacher to create “self-grading” Google forms.

Screencasting and Capturing What Happens in Class

“If you’re going to share and interact with your students in the electronic and physical spaces within the school, many educators believe screencasting is not only the way to go but a “must learn.” Swivl is “a robotic stand for your iPad, iPhone, or Droid. Swivl lets you record speeches, evaluate your own teaching” or prepare a lecture. Many teachers love this device because it is small enough to carry in your pocket while you record.

Content-Sharing Platforms

If your school is considering a sharing platform, you should consider the Haiku Learning platform. A school’s ability to share its content (internally and externally) is very important in a 21^st century school, and Haiku is a great resource to use when sharing information.

Assessment Aids

Creating the proper assessment tool is very important but so is easy retrieval of the information. Using any of the apps mentioned, “you can create your quiz, snap a picture on your mobile device,” and analyze the pertinent data. While I have not used the apps Davis suggests, there are plenty of teachers out there who share her love for Quick Key, Grade Ninja, and WISE (all available on Google Play and iTunes).

Electronic Note Taking

While I agree with Davis that the two standouts in electronic note taking are One Note and Evernote, my allegiance is to Evernote. As a product it keeps getting better and better. I also love that it has become an essential tool for me to use on the job as well as at home.

Expression

Students need multiple ways to share and express themselves, and Voicethread has become an essential tool for any classroom using electronic portfolios. Let’s face it, collecting and keeping student work is easier than ever with eportfolios. Voicethread allows you to capture and store great student content in a very easy to use format.

Cloud Syncing

If you are looking for a way to collect and store your own content material then cloud syncing is the way to go. One of my favorites (and yet another Google tool) is Google Drive. “This sync tool, underlying the entire Google suite, is a must for the collaborative classroom.”

Graphic Design and Infographics

If you are like me, you love to combine text with audio, video, and images to help with messaging. Think 21^st century poster and you’ll have Glogster. I agree with Davis’ picks for infographic makers but my favorite by far is Glogster.

Presentations/Written Expression/Collaboration

Google Presentations (again Google!) is an effective “tool to use when presenting online as a class.” Like Google Docs/Drive, it is very easy to collaborate on a project/presentation in a group. Editing has never been easier.

Blogging

I agree with Davis, Blogging is this generation’s journal or personal diary. It is “an essential form of 21st century communication that lets students interact with audience and peers.” There are a growing number of blogging tools to choose from but my favorites are Edmodo and WordPress.

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