Top 10 Technology Resources in the Classroom

Flipgrid is a fun, interactive learning tool that enhances a child's communication and creativity within the classroom. Because of its user-friendly nature, the tool is both student and teacher-centered. Some benefits lie within the minute in a half videos where students can provide a quick overview of what was learned in class without being too boring. A particular point to keep an eye out for is how serious students will take the program and if there is silliness occurring, it is a must to keep a better eye on those causing the trouble.

6 C's:
Creativity, Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, Character Education

SAMR Level:
Redefition

Google Classroom is a website that fosters a classroom community via online rather than only in-person. Teachers are able to keep a close track of student's work as well as post assignments, projects, or quizzes/tests. Because of this, the technology tool is both student and teacher-centered. Students can easily see due dates for any upcoming assignments and teachers are able to continue taking the upper hand within the classroom setting. A benefit is how easy it is to access while a barrier is that the student will need internet at home.

6 C's:
Communication

SAMR Level:
Modification

Quickly engaging and educational, Brainpop is an incredible tool, displaying short lessons that are unbiased and factual. The topics are limitless and the design is perfect for schoolchildren. It is both teachers and student-centered with its game and video creative technology tied to the informational lessons. Some benefits can be found within the communicative and creative areas along with a few barriers, which the program can become quite distracting at times.

6 C's:
Creativity, Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, Character Education

SAMR Level:
Redefinition

An impeccable classroom tool where teachers are able to create quizzes and different assignments for students to utilize in real-time. Because of its ability to check-in with how much understanding the class has on certain topics, it can be found to be both student and teacher-centered. Benefits can be found to be within the idea of quick overviews before large tests or quizzes. A large barrier that can cause a problem, however, is the students not taking the program seriously.

6 C's:
Creativity, Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Character Education

SAMR Level:
Redefinition

Mursion is a wonderful tool where people are able to interact with avatars via an electronic screen. It is beneficial for students of all ages. Because of how handy the tool is when learning about real-life scenarios, it is found to be both student and teacher-centered. The benefits lie within the tool's ability to train and teach students how to handle unique situations that they may come across within the workforce or any public setting. A barrier is definitely how there is no human-to-human contact, which may pose an issue for most when it comes to in-person communication.

6 C's:
Communication, Critical Thinking, Community & Citizenship, Compassion & Character

SAMR Level:
Redefinition

Useful and efficient within the classroom, Class Dojo offers educators a responsible way for student, parent, and teacher communication. With its ability to help students stay on task by awards and parent alerts, a classroom utilizing class dojo is a classroom well-prepared for any semester. Quick and easy communication is certainly a great benefit. A barrier, however, is its requirement to not get overly complicated with the tool, causing stress. In the classroom, simple and easy attendance can be taken as well as keeping track of who earns the grades they do.

6 C's:
Communication, Citizenship

SAMR Level:
Modification

Edpuzzle is an incredible tool that allows teachers and students to create online videos by including open-ended and multiple-choice questions, audio notes, or comments throughout a video. The platform is both teacher and student-centered. Within edpuzzle, videos can be grabbed from all over the web. One benefit is that students are able to enjoy their lesson while a barrier could be that attention by students may be limited.

6 C's:
Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, Citizenship, Character Education

SAMR Level:
Redefinition

A fun and interactive platform that helps organize creative scavenger hunt experiences within and outside the classroom. It is both teacher and student-centered because teachers are able to see how well the class understands particular parts of a lesson, while students are able to have fun during the learning process. A benefit is that it fosters collaboration while a barrier is that students can only choose and create 15 second long videos, which could put a limit to important information.

6 C's:
Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, Citizenship, Character Education

SAMR Level:
Redefinition

An incredibly fun and engaging way to explore the places being learned about in the classroom, Google Expeditions can take any student upon a journey into worlds unable to be accessed at the present time. Fostering hands-on exploring as well as providing a real-world example for both parties within the classroom, we can easily see why this tool can be identified as being both student and teacher-centered. The only barrier that can be seen by this, is the chance of students acting a bit too silly. That can easily be fixed with proper classroom management.

6 C's:
Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Character Education

SAMR Level:
Redefinition

An impeccable tool for at-home learning (especially now with COVID-19), Bitmoji Classroom brings teaching to life. With its personalization ability for the teachers as well as what fun exploring students can participate in as the school days go by, we see how this technology tool can be known as being both student and teacher-centered. A few benefits tied to the program are how easy it can be to access the classroom online, colorful themes, and interesting finds within. A barrier could be students not getting all of their work done and only ending up fooling around the entirety of class time.

6 C's:
Communication, Creativity, Community, Citizenship

SAMR Level:
Redefinition