This document discusses 8 engaging ways to use technology in the classroom to create lessons that are not boring. It provides examples of tools for each technique: 1) Incorporate student input and gather feedback using tools like Socrative, Plickers, and Twitter. 2) Gamify lessons using techniques like gamifying grading, awarding badges, integrating educational games, and competition. 3) Let students create using tools like Canva, ThingLink, and Blendspace. 4) Get interactive using online whiteboards and Bounceapp. 5) Have students collaborate using Google Drive, MindMeister, and collaborative research. 6) Use project-based learning with resources from TeachThought. 7) Use simulations in subjects like

1. 8 Engaging Ways to use
Technology in the Classroom
to Create
Lessons
That
Aren’t
Boring
from …

2. For each of these
techniques, we
offer several tools
to try them out,
and resources for
learning more!
So come and explore!
This Slideshare presentation is based on the article of the same title originally
published on EmergingEdTech:
http://www.emergingedtech.com/2014/10/technology-create-lessons-that-arent-boring/

3. 1. Incorporate Student Input
& Gather Feedback
There are many applications that allow students to provide
live feedback. A lot of them can be used from smartphones.
You can also gather feedback by creating a “back channel”
using Twitter or other applications.
Socrative! Socrative is an
awesome free app that lets you go
capture student feedback in
Snap. It works from just about
Any device. You can ask simple
questions, or create more complex
quizzes, and download result!
Look for our 3 Minute TOOL-torial for Socrative on YouTube!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCG1MuWf_Os

4. 1. Incorporate Student Input
& Gather Feedback
Plickers: This is a great low-tech approach
to collecting
student
responses
during class,
that doesn’t
require
students to have or use technology!
Come learn more! emergingedtech.com/plickers

5. Twitter: Twitter is a great way to
gather input by creating an easy to
use ‘backchannel’. This is great for
students with smartphones (they
will need the Twitter app and an
account). Simply create a unique
hashtag and have students post
feedback to Twitter using that
hashtag!
1. Incorporate Student Input
& Gather Feedback
LEARN HOW! Check out Maggie V’s “6 Steps to create a Twitter Backchannel …”
with this link: emergingedtech.com/twitter-backchannel

6. 2. Gamify It
Leveraging gaming mechanics that can make
learning more fun is probably easier than you
think. Any time you bring competition or levels
of achievement to a classroom exercise, you’re
adding an element
of 'gamification'.
Of course, gamification
can be leveraged in
much richer ways.
Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/axor/2295802559

7. 2. Gamify It
The article, “4 Ways To Bring Gamification of Education To Your
Classroom” on the TopHat blog offers these great ideas:
• Gamify grading: Lee Sheldon, a professor at Indiana University, who
gamified his course by abandoning grades and implementing
an “experience points” system.
• Award students with badges: For each assignment completed,
award students with digital badges!
• Integrate educational video games into your curriculum: Games
allows students to fail, overcome, and persevere. Students are given
a sense of agency—in games, they control the choices they make,
and the more agency students have, the better students do.
• Stir up a little competition: Professors have found that the
tournaments incentivize students to learn the material and practice.
Read the full article here:
http://blog.tophat.com/
4-ways-to-gamify-learning-in-your-classroom/

8. https://jeopardylabs.com/
2. Gamify It
Create your own Jeopardy Game!
Larry Ferlazzo offers tons of great web sites for creating
online learning games (here’s a shortcut to his web page
about this: http://emergingedtech.com/create-online-
learning-games). One idea I really like is creating a
Jeopardy-style learning game. Here’s a resource to try:

9. Explore dozens of additional ideas, articles,
& resources here:
emergingedtech.com/gamification
http://education.minecraft.net/
Try the new Minecraft Education Edition!
http://education.minecraft.net/
2. Gamify It

10. 3. Let Students Create
There are so many fun free tools and apps available
today that can let students create all kinds of fun digital
content: presentations, interactive digital posters,
eBooks, videos, and so much more! Happily, we’ve seen
a further embracing of the spirit of creating in the
classroom through the burgeoning Makerspace
Movement in education.
Let’s explore some
resources for student
creativity!

11. 3. Let Students Create
“One of the most rewarding moments as a
teacher is seeing the pride in student’s faces
when they present something they have created.”
emergingedtech.com/student-presentations
Students in my Emerging Information Technologies class used a variety
of tools to create presentations about the “4 C’s”: communication,
collaboration, creation, or curation. Here’s a short cut to the article:

12. 3. Let Students Create
Create Awesome Graphics with Canva:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3EB1up4Dpk
Create Interactive Images with ThingLink:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zni_dEB9t30
Combine different types of media into a presentation
with Blendspace:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsONWnbYGnM
Here’s a set of ‘TOOL-torials’ that
offer quick intros to three very
different free tools for creating
cool digital content:

13. 3. Let Students Create
Explore a wealth of ideas for WHAT students can
create and get inspired! Here are “60 Things
Students Can Create
To Demonstrate What
They Know” from
TeachThought.
Shortcut:
emergingedtech.com/students-create

14. 4. Get Interactive
Online Interactive White Boards
Did you know that there are plenty
of good free interactive whiteboards available online?
Some of these applications allow students to log on
online and collaboratively edit content. If you have a
computer and a projector, you can make them work a
lot like a “smart board”. Check out these 6 Online
IWBs to explore this idea further:
emergingedtech.com/online-collaborative-iwb
Be sure to explore the resources shared in the
comments on this article too!

15. 4. Get Interactive
Bounceapp (bounceapp.com):
You can review, notate, and share any
web page with Bounceapp. Just paste a
web page address into the “app” and it
turns it into an interactive screenshot
where students can jot ideas!

16. emergingedtech.com/interactive-collaboration
4. Get Interactive
Explore lots of other tools and ideas for
getting interactive in this article:

17. 5. Have Students Collaborate
Getting students to work together as partners,
in small groups, or maybe even as one large
group, teaches them about team work.
Collaborative work can be fun. It is even
possible to collaborate with students across
the world thanks to many of today’s
technologies.
Here are a number of tools and techniques for
classroom collaborations ...

18. 5. Have Students Collaborate
Collaborative Document Editing with
Google Drive (drive.google.com):
Google Drive lets you share and collaboratively
edit Google Docs with
anyone else who has
a Google account,
for free.
This is a powerful
capability.

19. 5. Have Students Collaborate
Collaborative
Mind Mapping
with
MindMeister
(mindmeister.com):
This applications lets users
easily create mind maps that can be
edited collaboratively.

20. Collaborative Research:
Working in pairs or small
groups to find, assess,
summarize, and present
content in specific topic areas
make for a great learning
experience and assignment.
5. Have Students Collaborate

21. 6. Project Based Learning
When students apply what they are learning
to projects that they undertake, the topics
they are learning about can take on a much
deeper meaning. Not only does
the activity and the increased
sensory exposure of project
work help to stimulate the
mind, the extended time often
required of project work, and
the visible, tangible results
further reinforce learning.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2807/12255208736_76d25076cf_b.jpg

22. 6. Project Based Learning
We’re gonna dip into the great resources published by
Terry Heick and crew over at TeachThought. The article,
“12 Timeless Project-Based Learning Resources”
provides lots of great resources to learn about PBL.
I made this shortcut:
emergingedtech.com/pbl-teachthought

23. 6. Project Based Learning
http://www.emergingedtech.com/
category/project-based-learning/
Check out all of our
articles about Project
Based Learning on
EmergingEdTech!

24. 7. Simulations
Simulations can be a powerful addition
to the classroom. Since they tend to be
somewhat complicated, they are
typically suited towards high school,
college, or post-graduate or
professional studies.
Following are some examples of
simulations being used in education:

25. 7. Simulations
Economics: The site Economic-Games.com
offers free online classroom games for
teaching economics.
Marketing: Have you ever wished you could
give your Marketing students the chance to
practice different e-marketing skills and
techniques? Check out
Simbound.com.

26. 7. Simulations
Medical: Simulations have been a significant teaching
and learning tool in the medical field for many
years. Harvard Medical School has even created a
web site focused on their use of Simulations:
www.harvardmedsim.org.
Business: Business Simulation Games are
a great way to bring active, applied learning
into Business courses.
www.cesim.com

27. 8. Bring in a Guest or Two
With the power of video conferencing apps like
Skype, Google Hangout, Facetime, and others, our
ability to connect with people all across the world
has never been better or less costly.
Teachers have been using Skype and similar tools to
being guest lecturers, experts, students, and others
into the classroom for years.
Nothing breaks up the
monotony of “same old
thing” like an enthusiastic
subject matter expert!

28. 8. Bring in a Guest or Two
emergingedtech.com/skype
Check out four exciting ways to bring
the world into your classroom, on
Microsoft’s Skype in the Classroom web
page. Here’s a shortcut:

29. 8. Bring in a Guest or Two
Another great popular free tool for video
conferencing in the classroom is Google
Hangouts. The Lee Summit R07 School
District put together this Guide to help
teachers explore and use Hangouts:
Here’s a shortcut to this article:
emergingedtech.com/hangouts

30. Thank You!
Be sure to stop by
EmergingEdTech.com and check out
all our great content!