Integrate These Tools with Your Lessons, II

By integrating these tools into your lessons you not only immediately increase engagement, but you also allow learners who process information in diverse ways an opportunity to gain additional understanding.  All of these tools are easy to navigate, free and very easy to use.

Twitter is a social media tool that most educators and trainers take for granted. I’ve used it in my classroom to talk to authors my learners find interesting. It is a great place for quick responses and can even raise awareness of your training if you create your own hashtags. Learners can post questions throughout the lesson which you can address before the end of the day.

Google Drive is a wonderful option for saving all of your documents. Whether you are making presentations with Google Slides, creating worksheets with Google Docs, or keeping track of data with Google Sheets, the drive will help you organize it all. You can also share documents or presentations with other people. They can work on the document and make changes from their own computer which are automatically saved. No longer do you have to use Microsoft Word and send the document back and forth several times to make adjustments. Collaborate with others faster and easier.

Lastly, Quizizz is a great pre-lesson or review game. If you’ve used Quizlet Live before, then it is similar but allows learners to move at their own pace. Teachers or trainers create multiple choice quiz questions then give learners the code. Learners can take the quiz as many times as they want, but the trainer can also set a limit. Learners get immediate feedback for their answers, and trainers can even leave feedback as to why the correct answer is correct. This is a great tool for review, especially before an assessment.

I hope these digital tools and suggestions help you add just a little more technology to your instruction. If you’re nervous about trying new tech, take a deep breath and try just one. Give it a whirl and see how much fun it can be!