Collaborative efforts in the classroom: twitter, diigo, & padlet

So many new ideas, so where do I start?

As I learn new technology applications, these always fall into two categories:
(1) something I can use a teacher to improve myself as a teacher
(2) something my students can use to facilitate learning in the classroom

As I look back at what was introduced this week, I think I am going to focus on category #2. This is probably more of a brainstorming blog post. It might be a little (ok, a lot) focused on me and my chemistry world. But, in order to use what I have learned, I have to find motivation to incorporate something new into my classroom. This week I found a few things that I could do that would (could be) useful for my students.

I always have the grandest of ideas to do exit slips each day. But we always run out of time or I forget to have the slips of paper ready. I read the Teacher's Handbook to Twitter and was inspired.

What's my plan? At some point during class time, I will stop and have the kids tweet. They will have to use a specified hashtag so that I can see their tweet using a hashtag search. They will need to tweet a fact, something they learned in today's class. The other option would be to have them tweet a question they have about what we are covering. If I ask them to tweet facts, my intention would be to use paper.li to compile a review sheet of their facts, something useful as a study tool for the unit test. If I ask them to tweet questions, their questions would guide my teaching the next day. I just started a new unit with my AP Chemistry kids, so I might give this a go this week!

If you're interested in creating a Twitter account, but do not really know what Twitter is all about, watch this video:

How many of you find a fabulous website and bookmark it? How many of you have a tool bar of so many bookmarks that you cannot really find what you are looking for? How many of you look at a bookmark and wonder why you saved that site to begin with?

I remember how tickled I was when I created folders for my bookmarks. Mine are actually well organized with titles that help me remember what their value is in my life. But this week, I was introduced to diigo and I think this is going to be an awesome tool for this OCD teacher.

This is a website organizer that you can easily share with others. Compile a list of your favorite science websites, type a comment to state what you like best about each one, and share your library with others. Find a few awesome webpages, highlight or add a sticky note to indicate importance, and (again) share with others. 

One of the best features of diigo is the ability to tag the websites or webpages. I can give a general category of AP Chem, but then I can give a secondary tag of Thermodynamics and a super general category of chemistry, and if it is about a lab experiment, I can tag it as such. So one article, four tags. And, as my library grows, I will be able to search a tag and find all the resources relevant to that particular tag. For someone who loves organized lists, this is a game changer.

Does diigo sound like something you need in your life? Watch this video about how to create an account and how to use diigo:

I think this social bookmarking tool could be useful in my Advanced Chemistry Research class. I knew from last year that we needed a way to keep all the articles in one place, so I started a class blog for students to post articles and summaries. The problem arises because I did not have them put tags on their articles, so when they look for something now, they have to scroll and scroll and scroll ... and (because they are teenagers) eventually just give up. I am considering having students post their article link on diigo with a 20 word or less description, with tags. I will probably have to provide a list of possible tags, so that there will be some consistency among the class. In my head, this sounds like it would solve some of our issues. I need to see it in action to confirm its value. (Of course, the tell tale sign is if the kids like it and find it useful. Otherwise, I am just creating busy work for them.)

I was also reintroduced to Padlet this week. It is a great tool that could easily be used in the classroom. It is a collaborative board on which each student can place a "sticky note" to add to the class effort. The page is automatically saved and students can see each other's posts. It sounds a lot like the Twitter feed I mentioned earlier, but this is one one board.

I think I might use this and have the kids add a question on one day - something that they learned in class, but written as a question. So, if we learned that sodium forms a +1 ion, the question posted could be "What ion does sodium form?" These questions will all post on a padlet page. The next day as bell work, I could ask them to answer a question (not their own). Do you think that will work? I will have to try again. Sometimes the grandest of ideas flop in my world. 

So, three new tools to use in the classroom, each with potential to increase student engagement and to improve study skills. I'll have to post an update in a couple weeks to let you know which ones were keepers in my science world.

If you try something awesome with twitter, padlet, or diigo, let me know how it goes.