Blog Post Assignment #8 - 21st Century Learning and Communication Tools

There are several 21st Century Learning and Communication Tools that we have already addressed in this class such as Google Docs, Khan Academy, and PBLs, but there are still plenty more available for use. In this post I will address Flipping the Classroom, Edmodo, and VoiceThread.

Flipping the Classroom
Flipping the classroom is the term used for instead of teachers using 90% of their time lecturing to students, teachers record their own video lessons or use other teacher's recordings and assign these videos for students to watch for homework or on their own time. Then students come to class prepared to use class time as application of the lesson. This allows students to learn at their own pace with the ability to stop and rewind a lesson if they need to. Parents like this because they can watch the lesson too which allows them to better help their children at home. Here is a video of Katie Gimbar, an 8th grade Math teacher in North Carolina who flipped her classroom and saw great results for all types of learners.

Edmodo
Edmodo is a site for students, teachers, and parents that is a free and safe way for students and teachers to connect and collaborate. Students like this site because it resembles a social network, and teachers like it because it is an effective way for them to connect with students. It has a calendar where teachers can post lesson and assignment dates so students can always know what is happening in their class, and it has an app for the iPhone so students can link the calendar to their phone. Teachers can post links to sites they think might interest their students, and they can engage students outside of class by continuing classroom discussions on their Edmodo site. Students can also submit assignments online through Edmodo which can better help teachers stay organized. Another benefit is that teachers can give polls through this site to check for student understanding, and award badges based on performance or behavior. This site also allows teachers the ability to measure student progress by tracking grades. Lastly, not only can teachers connect to students and parents through Edmodo, but they can also use it in their PLN by connecting to adminstrators, other teachers, and publishers.

VoiceThread
VoiceThread is an online tool that allows presentations to be more personal by enhancing them with audio. Students can use VoiceThread to create a slide presentation with written comments or recorded audio comments or a combination of both, and then they can share them with their teacher and peers. Then the teacher and peers can leave audio or written comments on the student's slides. When leaving a comments, users can also draw on the slides to make their comment more effective. The best thing about VoiceThread is that it is free for up to a three minute presentation.