Interactive Tools

There are dozens of free online tools that can add further interactivity to e-learning. Interactivity can take many forms that range from viewing content in different ways to interacting with resources either in or out of the classroom environment. Most of these tools have mulitple functions and can be used for delivering learning as well as enhancing the assessment process. Many are also collaborative, allowing learners to interact with others and not just the content. Good e-learning should feature a blend of Student to Content, Student to Student and Student to Teacher contact. Many of these tools allow a variety of this to occur.

 

Below are a few tool to get started with. Most are intuitive and easy to use. Overtime this list will be expanded with further guidance of cross group case studies being provided via the blog feed.

 

Class Dojo – Class Dojo is an online reward system that can be updated in real-time. It can be customised to your needs and used for a variety of reasons including encouraging positive behaviour, Gamifying lessons, creating competitions and tracking in class participation and assessments. Furthermore other features include a mobile version for on the go learning and options to share results with learners and parents. http://www.classdojo.com/en-GB

Animoto – Animoto is simple and quick video creation tool that allows the user to create clips of 30 seconds. Text, images and sound can be adjusted and used to be more stimulating that other methods. It can be used in a variety of ways including delivering session objectives, revision guides or fact bursts. It also works great as a starter activity or an assessment methods. Videos can be shared and embedded in webpages too. http://animoto.com/

Lino – Lino is an online collaboration space. Users can share images, notes, videos, webpages and other media in a collaborative manner. It can be used as a mood board, a planning tool or resource board for a particular topic. Learners can collaborate and add content if required and boards can be shared and exported to suit your needs. http://en.linoit.com/

Prezi – Prezi is an online presentation tool with additional features. Prezi can work in 2D or 3D with enhanced templates that are visually stimulating. Web content such as You-tube videos can be integrated easily as well as a range of animations, text and images. Prezi can also be effectively used in other ways such as Digital Storytelling, task planning or as a self-paced revision guide. http://prezi.com

Visible Tweets – Visible Tweets allows you to display Twitter hash-tags or user feeds in real-time on a large display such as the whiteboard. This is an excellent way to add interactivity to you lessons by requesting learners to ask questions and tweet answers. Furthermore it can be used to follow subject specific hash-tags related to your lesson topic content. http://visibletweets.com/

Aurasma – Aurasma is an Augmented Reality app for smart devices. It allows you to add a virtual layer or ‘aura’ to real-life content. Users can use existing resources such as images or objects and link them to videos, web-pages or on-screen content. The user would open the Aurasma app and point it at the object to gain the additional functionality. There are also a large range of pre existing resources that can be accessed for free. This is an excellent tool for enhancing existing resources and adds interactivity to activities and tasks. http://www.aurasma.com/