# data[].attributes.headline
Free Technology for Teachers: How to Enable Collaboration on Thinglink Interactive Images

# data[].attributes.subject
Free Technology for Teachers: How to Enable Collaboration on Thinglink Interactive Images

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Last week I received an email from a reader who was looking for a way to have her students collaborate on a multimedia collage. My immediate suggestion was to try Thinglink. She wasn't aware that Thinglink allows students to collaborate on the creation of interactive images. I made a short video to help her and others who haven't tried Thinglink's collaboration option. The video is embedded below.

Check out this post for more ideas on using Thinglink to create multimedia collages.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Enable Collaboration on Thinglink Interactive Images

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Last week I received an email from a reader who was looking for a way to have her students collaborate on a multimedia collage. My immediate suggestion was to try Thinglink. She wasn't aware that Thinglink allows students to collaborate on the creation of interactive images.

# data[].attributes.headline
Free Technology for Teachers: Encouraging Student Collaboration Through Twiddla

# data[].attributes.subject
Free Technology for Teachers: Encouraging Student Collaboration Through Twiddla

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This week I am hosting some guest bloggers. This is a guest post from Mary Kate O'Meara.
If you have been searching for an online collaboration tool that is versatile and easy to use, then Twiddla may be what you are looking for. Twiddla is a real-time collaboration whiteboard that allows an unlimited number of people to come together at one time to share or edit documents, images or websites.

One of the things I like about Twiddla is a simplicity that makes collaboration a breeze. It's so user friendly that my first, second and third grade students often use it throughout the day. This is one of the most hassle-free digital tools I have run across with its agnostic browser (Twiddla works with any browser- Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer on both Mac and PC), no plug-ins or downloads, and no firewalls to work around. Starting a meeting is as simple as going to twiddla.com and clicking on the green GO button. Invite others to join your session by sharing the collaboration url through the built in email. Simply by clicking on the shared url everyone joins the session. You can enter a session as many times as you like with no restrictions on time.

Best of all, Twiddla is free. There is no requirement to sign up for a paid subscription to create a meeting. If you are a teacher or a student Twiddla will provide you a free pro-account. Sign up for a free trial, then send them an email from a .edu or comparable address. Be sure to include your username. If you just want to check out the features Twiddla offers join a public session and play in their sandbox.

I was thrilled to find that Twiddla is not only user friendly, it also has more capabilities than typical online whiteboards. While Twiddla allows you to use the pen or shape template to write or draw on the plain white board, or on grid overlays, it also has the ability to upload documents (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, PDF), Web pages, Ethernet documents and images. These become a collaborative canvas that can be marked up by highlighting, adding sticky notes, or inline text. My students capture their work with a snapshot of their Twiddla session and export the snapshot as an image which can be reloaded in another session for further tweaking. Saved images also allow them to keep track of work that is completed in each meeting and I can monitor group progress.

The most important feature of Twiddla is that it encourages creativity and collaboration. I've used Twiddla across the curriculum for everything from introducing my class to new websites by highlighting key features then saving those images as a visual guide for the site to exploring the features of landforms and maps, then uploading those sessions in a Google Doc as a study guide. Twiddla has also come in handy during reading mini lessons to annotate text, highlighting details that identify main idea or in character analysis. I have even saved our Twiddled Chalk Talk thinking routines to evaluate class thinking over time.

My little ones have become great collaborators, initiating their own Twiddla sessions to create concept maps for projects, outline ideas for writing, or construct graphs for math and diagrams for science. Twiddla has also allowed them to extend their learning beyond the classroom. Some of my students have created Twiddla meetings at home for planning a shared project or explaining math problems to friends who don't understand a concept. Twiddla is one of my favorite tools because it allows students to build on each others ideas and deepen their learning.

I am a teacher for the Grosse Pointe Public Schools in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. I have a multiage class of first through third grade students. I have written for ASCD, and been a presenter for The University of Virginia's Summer Institute on Academic Diversity, presented at The Michigan Reading Association Annual Conference, been a lead presenter for the Virtual 4 T Conference hosted by The University of Michigan's School of Education and School of Innovation, and I will be presenting at The Institute for Innovation in Education gathering in Ann Arbor, in June.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This week I am hosting some guest bloggers. This is a guest post from Mary Kate O'Meara. If you have been searching for an online collaboration tool that is versatile and easy to use, then Twiddla may be what you are looking for.

# data[].attributes.headline
Free Technology for Teachers: Google Classroom Now Supports Teacher Collaboration and Announcement Drafts

# data[].attributes.subject
Free Technology for Teachers: Google Classroom Now Supports Teacher Collaboration and Announcement Drafts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Today, a couple of frequently requested features were added to Google Classroom. Those features are teacher collaboration in a Google Classroom course and saving announcement drafts.

To add a teacher to one of your courses you simply have to go to your course's "About" page and select "invite teacher." The teacher(s) that you invite can do almost everything that you can do. Invited teachers can post comments, post announcements, post assignments, and even grade assignments.

If you work like I do, you probably try to knock out a bunch of similar tasks in one block of time. If those tasks include creating announcements and assignments for the week, Google Classroom now makes that a little easier. You can now save announcements and assignments as drafts then publish them at a later time.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Google Classroom Now Supports Teacher Collaboration and Announcement Drafts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Today, a couple of frequently requested features were added to Google Classroom. Those features are teacher collaboration in a Google Classroom course and saving announcement drafts. To add a teacher to one of your courses you simply have to go to your course's "About" page and select "invite teacher."

# data[].attributes.headline
Free Technology for Teachers: ClassCharts Offers Collaboration and Artificial Intelligence in Classroom Management

# data[].attributes.subject
Free Technology for Teachers: ClassCharts Offers Collaboration and Artificial Intelligence in Classroom Management

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
ClassCharts is an excellent tool for creating online seating charts, behavior charts, and behavior reports. ClassCharts allows you to create online seating charts for each of your classes. Through those seating charts you can record attendance, give virtual kudos to students, and record negative and positive behaviors. The information that you record in ClassCharts can be shared with parents and students through special log-ins that you supply to them.

ClassCharts offers a couple of features that I really like. These features make it different from other online behavior chart services. The first feature that stands-out to me is the option to upload pictures of students to your seating charts instead of just relying on cartoon avatars. The second feature that I love is the option to invite other teachers to collaborate on the tracking of student behaviors. For example, I can invite a teaching assistant who provides support to a special education students in my classroom to record behavior information when she is working with those students. I can also invite other teachers on my team to view and document behaviors about students so that we can discuss that information during team meetings.

The latest feature added to ClassCharts is also its most-promising feature. That feature is the use of artificial intelligence to create seating charts based on recorded behaviors and interactions of students. ClassCharts refers to this feature as "influences." The influences feature will show you the effects of placing two or more students next to each other in your classroom. The information provided through "influences" is based on the behaviors you record for individual students. ClassCharts "influences" will show you if a student's behavior and performance improves or declines based on who they are seated near.
Disclosure: ClassCharts is an advertiser on Free Technology for Teachers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
ClassCharts Offers Collaboration and Artificial Intelligence in Classroom Management

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ClassCharts is an excellent tool for creating online seating charts, behavior charts, and behavior reports. ClassCharts allows you to create online seating charts for each of your classes. Through those seating charts you can record attendance, give virtual kudos to students, and record negative and positive behaviors.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Working together to solve problems and complete projects deepens students' learning and builds collaborative skills. Learn how to design activities to help develop these skills.

# data[].attributes.headline
Establishing a Culture of Student Voice | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.subject
Establishing a Culture of Student Voice | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Education culture can be just as powerful when students, like yoga class participants, are encouraged to help shape what and how learning takes place every day. It requires teachers to view what students can do alongside us. I already explored this in Student-Centered Learning: It Starts With the Teacher.

There are many tools for establishing a culture of student voice. Here are some that are easy to implement as you launch your students' journey.

Develop Norms Together

Norms are something different from the classroom rules that are meant to establish order. Norms provide students and teacher with a shared understanding of how they can best support each other in the learning process. Norms are behavior guides that can help the teacher and the other students in mentoring classmates who struggle with following the norms.

Norms exist whether or not they are addressed. A common unspoken norm for students is that when a teacher asks a question, if no one responds in one to three seconds, the teacher will cajole the class or answer the question him- or herself. Or maybe Sam in the front of the room will answer the question as usual. Norms go underground if students are not included in forming them. Consider these steps for creating classroom norms:

1. Students reflect and share examples of environments that they feel were positive, such as a sports team, church or scouting group, or family ritual.

2. In small groups, students unpack the examples for the behaviors that made the experience or vibe positive.

3. Use Think-Pair-Share to create a list of positive behaviors that would support a learning environment where everyone feels successful and supported.

4. Use team builders to identify behaviors. After each team builder, students reflect and share what skills were needed to be successful at the task.

5. The class collectively reduces the list to 4-7 norms, framed in positive, student-friendly language. Some examples might include:

All voices need to be heard.

Talk after two. (Translation: Each person must wait until two others say something before they can speak again.)

Presume positive intent. (In student-friendly language: "Would you say that to your mother?")

Here are helpful resources for further exploration:

Practice Reflection and Feedback

Coach and provide opportunities for students to reflect and give feedback about curriculum, classroom culture, and classroom systems. Spending time on reflection and feedback sends a signal about what's valued in this academic setting. Students need airtime about how the classroom operates if we expect them to care. Once they do engage, their ideas should be implemented. Otherwise, student culture will go underground where no teacher authority can reach.

Here are strategies that promote student reflection and feedback. The key is having them share in the determination of topics as the focus.

Question Formulation Technique

Coach students on how to ask good questions and which to use depending on the circumstance and need. Use the Right Question Institute's rich resources, or start with these these articles from Opening Paths.

Morning Meeting

Dialog provides a powerful voice for students reflecting on the current climate and needs. It's also good for reviewing their shared experiences at the end of the day, or for celebrations and concerns. The experience is valuable for all ages.

Journaling

Writing reflections can be a tool for students to work through their thoughts and emotions before sharing a distillation to groups and/or the teacher.

Surveys

Individual and anonymous feedback enables students to give focused responses to classroom culture concerns. It's important to give the class opportunities for reviewing and analyzing the results together. For quick turnarounds, use social media survey tools.

Protocols for Reflection and Feedback

There are many protocols that help students work on active listening and ensure that every voice gets airtime. Using protocols creates a safe environment for students to express their thoughts and suggestions in constructive and supportive language. Some examples to explore are:

Valued Culture = Student Engagement

Students value a classroom or school culture where they feel cared about. Ask any student, "Who did you have your favorite learning experiences with?" It's always with a teacher about whom they'll eventually say, "She believed in me," or "He listened to us." When students want to spend time in a classroom after school or during lunch, something positive is going on. Using the above strategies for norms, reflection, and feedback can help create a culture where students want to be included because their voice matters.

What firmly establishes a culture of student voice is giving them charge of how they learn, including development of assessments and products for learning outcomes (the focus of my next post). It's similar to those yoga classes where participants craft their own movements that, while different from the instructor's directions, achieve the common need of maintaining the breath and self-challenge. Teachers who co-create a culture of student voice are setting the foundation for students owning their own learning.

Namaste.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Establishing a Culture of Student Voice | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Education culture can be just as powerful when students, like yoga class participants, are encouraged to help shape what and how learning takes place every day. It requires teachers to view what students can do alongside us. I already explored this in Student-Centered Learning: It Starts With the Teacher.

# data[].attributes.headline
A Web 2.0 Class: Students Learn 21st Century Skills, Collaboration, and Digital Citizenship | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.subject
A Web 2.0 Class: Students Learn 21st Century Skills, Collaboration, and Digital Citizenship | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Students in Van Meter, Iowa, Burlington, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania are experiencing education in a new room. Yes, they still go to class in a building, with walls, doors, and windows, but there is something different about these three classrooms. They are all connected. The classroom is flat.

A Flat Classroom

Led by the efforts and collaboration of Patrick Larkin, Principal of Burlington High School, Shannon Miller, Librarian at Van Meter High School, and William Brannick, Principal of Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School these three schools are collaborating weekly through various technology mediums.

Last year Mrs. Miller taught a personal learning network and social media class at Van Meter High School on a smaller scale. "I told Bill [Brannick] about it when he visited with his Superintendent and Technology Director last spring to Van Meter." Says Miller "Lets do this together. Let's connect our two schools!" So over the summer, Mr. Brannick and Mrs. Miller worked on designing this class together using a Google Doc. Closer to the school year in #edchat one night, Mr. Larkin decided to jump on board with his Burlington High School PLN class.

The Virtual Classroom

The class is designed to teach Web 2.0 skills, digital citizenship, personal network building, and social media responsibility and practice. The students in all three of these classes have never met in person; however, they have all connected via Skype and their class blogs. They have also had many professionals come and speak to them via Skype. This type of learning is limitless and allows students to broaden their scope of the world. "Since I have started using Skype and blogging," notes Jesse Hasenwinkel, junior at Van Meter High School, "I have been able to virtually meet the people that can help me get the answers I need for what I am searching for in school and one day, in my career."

Each week students write a blog post on topics such as defining a personal learning network, using Skype in the classroom, and how to promote blog traffic. Students subscribe to each other's blogs using Google Reader and leave comments for each other. Some students in these three high schools have made great connections and found common interests. They are expanding their learning opportunities and through the efforts of the teachers and principals, engaging with vast community of learners.

The critic in all of us may say this is simply using the tools and distracting from learning. This is a statement each student in each of these three classes would eagerly contest. Reanne Maskart, a junior at MBAPCHS states, "You have to adapt to the world around you or progress can never happen. That is the ultimate goal of education, right? Progress. Continuous progress." The ability to adapt to a world in constant motion is a key skill that all of the students involved in this project clearly realize.

There are plenty of new skill sets at work and one of them is necessary in every facet of life: Being an effective communicator. These students are speaking, writing, and collaborating with people they have never met. "Everything that I have learned in class," says David Loomis, junior at MBAPCHS, "will help me use technology in a responsible way that can promote my creative ideas." In higher education and the work force, this skill is necessary. Michelle Morgan, a senior at Burlington High School states, "For example, I would create my personal learning network or PLN on ideas for college, tips and such, on swimming and diving, and other miscellaneous subjects that interest me." This type of learning is allowing students to create learning communities in which they have the ability to share common interests. Students must learn not only to be an effective communicator, but an efficient, responsible one. This class is accomplishing both. Principal Patrick Larkin comments, "I am amazed at how little the students actually know about connecting with others for educational purposes. They use social networking solely for socializing. It has been great to see the lightbulb start to go on in regards to them seeing these tools as a resource."

The Role of the Teacher

Mr. Larkin, Mrs. Miller, and Mr. Brannick are not just letting their students venture out into this brave new world of social media alone. They are providing them with the essential skills of what it means to be a digital citizen. They are teaching responsible use of social media and removing the taboo from Facebook and Twitter. These tools can open many doors and provide opportunities for students if used in a responsible manner. Brianna Perry, a junior at Van Meter High School says, "This class is teaching me how to shift through information, how to find the information, experts, etc. that will be beneficial to me. [It's} teaching me how to be a responsible, digital learner." The fact that some schools simply block these tools and never teach responsible use is like placing locks on a fence surrounding a pool but neglecting to teach kids how to swim.

Critical thinking via technology

The students in these three classes are learning in an environment that is familiar to their generation and exciting. These students are learning how to be critical readers and thinkers, while opening up rich, academic conversations via blogs, Twitter, and Skype. Mrs. Miller says, "My students cannot stop talking about our connected classroom. They have made so many new connections and realize that their classroom is not simply limited to a room, but is an expansive canvas."

This is the where the excitement in education begins. All of these students are learning beyond the classroom walls. Many of them correspond via their blogs after school or update each other on common interests via Twitter. They realize that what they put on the Web will be effectively permanent and that responsible digital citizenship is necessary in all facets of social media.

What these students are learning is invaluable and should be integrated into more of our classrooms. The opportunity for teachers to bring in authors and speakers to their classroom is out there. We simply need to make this happen and give our students the best opportunities to learn. At the end of the day we, as educators, hope students can walk away from class saying what Amy Ly a junior at MBAPCHS says:

I have enjoyed learning with people from different environments and experiencing learning outside of a single classroom. Though we may all seem the same, each and every student has different opinions and ways of learning; therefore, with the sharing of ideas through classrooms via blogs and Skype, we, all, as students are given greater opportunities for success.

*All of the Student PLN Connect Blogs can be found at The Student PLN Connect and BHS Web 2.0 Class

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Web 2.0 Class: Students Learn 21st Century Skills, Collaboration, and Digital Citizenship | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Students in Van Meter, Iowa, Burlington, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania are experiencing education in a new room. Yes, they still go to class in a building, with walls, doors, and windows, but there is something different about these three classrooms. They are all connected. The classroom is flat.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Making a mess isn't necessarily a bad thing anymore, especially with learning.

Want to get the most out of Google Classroom? Start right here with these resources.

Having a mastery of visual storytelling techniques has become more critical than ever, and these are the ones to use.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Making a mess isn't necessarily a bad thing anymore, especially with learning. Want to get the most out of Google Classroom? Start right here with these resources. Having a mastery of visual storytelling techniques has become more critical than ever, and these are the ones to use.

# data[].attributes.headline
Part 1…Digital Collaboration Series… Linoit… No Student Log In…Plus 50 Integration Ideas | 21 st Century Educational Technology and Learning

# data[].attributes.subject
Part 1…Digital Collaboration Series… Linoit… No Student Log In…Plus 50 Integration Ideas | 21 st Century Educational Technology and Learning

# data[].attributes.headline
Digital Project-Based Learning: 7 Tools for Student Collaboration

# data[].attributes.subject
Digital Project-Based Learning: 7 Tools for Student Collaboration

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
by Rob Sabo

Education today often requires extensive collaboration between students and faculty. Team assignments are an excellent way to improve learning and help students develop the communication tools necessary to thrive in the workplace.

Choosing the right tools for small group collaboration is crucial for facilitating easy communication between small groups of students and teachers - no one benefits from a clunky platform that frustrates students and inhibits smooth peer-to-peer communications.
Tools for Collaboration in Small Groups: What to Consider
There are many different platforms that allow groups of students to collaborate on projects and assignments. When considering what platform works best, faculty should consider the following:

How students like to interact with their classmates

Methods for providing constructive criticism

Tracking time spent in a collaborative setting

How students deliver the results of their collaborative efforts

Melissa Loble, associate dean of distance learning at U.C. Irvine, specializes in the selection and utilization of underlying platforms and technologies to deliver online coursework for UCI. Loble says another key aspect of selecting a group collaboration tool is capitalizing on technology that mirrors popular social media platforms.

"Traditional students in the 18- to 25-range already are using a lot of different social technologies, and if you can capitalize on where they already are communicating with each other you can get a lot more participation. It is a great way to get students' attention."

Too often, Loble says, educators choose technology that they like. It's important to consider the needs of students, Loble says. The bottom line: Choose a collaboration tool based on functionality, cost, flexibility and scalability. Student-led planning and collaboration are a huge part of project-based learning. The more intuitive the tool is for students, the better.
Seven Tools for Student Collaboration
1. Basecamp

Basecamp is one of the most widely used collaboration tools and boasts millions of regular users. Students can upload, edit and swap documents and files online, as well as track the project's schedule and its progression toward completion. Basecamp also provides convenient to-do lists for assignment delegation, time tracking and instant messaging for team members and faculty.

A newer system based on the use of apps, Podio is an emerging force as an online collaboration tool. Students may like the fact that they can create a distinct workspace for projects presented in a familiar Facebook-style interface. Podio allows students to share documents and files with unlimited storage. It also has mobile platform that allows students to keep on top of projects while on the go.

3. Kickoff
This is a Mac-based app that gives students an easy-to-use platform to collaborate in a team setting. Students can track projects using Kickoff's dashboard feature, create to-do lists with assignment dates, and track the progress of different students' contributions to the group project. Students also can share files and chat privately or in group meeting rooms.

4. Redbooth

This project-management and collaboration tool could prove beneficial for faculty with multiple collaboration assignments. While not expressly a 'K-12 teaching tool,' with Redbooth educators can still create multiple projects and assign teams for different assignments.

Like other tools, Redbooth allows students to create projects, assign tasks for specific team members with due dates, tags, threaded communication, notes, color-coding, and labels. Best of all, perhaps, is the activity alerts that informs student collaborators about completed activities without checking into the task manager.

5. TitanPad

TitanPad is a great choice for students working on term papers or assignments that require a written presentation of their results. Students can create documents and collaborate in real time. TitanPad tracks revisions and accounts for user contributions to a document.

Moodle, part of the campus-wide Learning Management System at U.C. Irvine, was chosen because of its flexibility and scalability. Embedded inMoodle is a group function that allows students to create groups, share documents and have discussions in asynchronous time with students and faculty.

7. Google Apps for Education

Google is no stranger to the classroom. Between Google Classroom, Google Docs for collaboration and Google Hangouts for small group meetings, Google tools provide countless opportunities for a variety of communication patterns and modalities (text, image, video, etc.)
Deploying Collaboration Tools on Campus
The space for group collaboration tools has gotten much more crowded in recent years. Information technology leaders at smaller private colleges may make the decision to deploy a collaboration tool, while large public universities, such as U.C. Irvine, put out a request for proposals and conduct pilot programs and evaluate the results.

Small pilot programs with one or two classes are a great way to evaluate products, Loble says.

"We pilot a lot of things before we actually make a recommendation to use them. We identify some faculty or classes or both and put a pilot program together to try the technology and gather data and go back and review if it was successful and accomplished our goals. It doesn't take too much time, and it allows us to be effective with that technology in a small setting before we push it out to a big setting."
Rob Sabo writes about education technology and is a contributor to several websites, including onlineschools.com; Digital Project-Based Learning: 7 Tools for Student Collaboration

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Digital Project-Based Learning: 7 Tools for Student Collaboration | TeachThought

# data[].attributes.headline
InCtrl - Lesson: Communication & Collaboration

# data[].attributes.subject
InCtrl - Lesson: Communication & Collaboration

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Control With Cable - Choose, Educate, Control

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Cable offers something for everyone. Choose to make safe and responsible decisions.

# data[].attributes.headline
How Technology Can Encourage Student Collaboration | Common Sense Media

# data[].attributes.subject
How Technology Can Encourage Student Collaboration | Common Sense Media