ComicLife
Comic Life is an iOS app that you can use to create your own digital comic book as well as many other types of projects including certificates, newsletters, how-to pages, and yearbook pages.
You can start your project from scratch, or, you can use one of the app’s pre-designed templates.
You can easily:
1) add images to your project from your own camera roll or from Flickr
2) add text in a wide variety of styles (and languages-You can even type in Hebrew!)
3) add speech or thought bubbles to characters, and
4) add fun comic book sound effect graphics like “Pow!” and “Crunch!”
Once you’ve imported your text and graphic elements, you can easily design and customize how they all come together by resizing, rotating and styling each element. You’ll also want to experiment with all those great comic-looking fonts.
Once your comic book (or other type of project) is finished, you can print it or export as a pdf or jpg, and/ or open it in certain other apps, including Google Drive, Dropbox or Explain Everything.
Download the app from the iTunes store for $4.99.
In Your Classroom
- This is my go-to whenever I need to create a how-to page. It’s easy to include screenshots for my readers to refer to as they follow along.
- Students can easily use Comic Life to create comics about any topic they’ve studied. For example, if you are teaching the story of B’reishit in time for Simchat Torah, ask your students to create a comic depicting the six days of creation.
| This is a “Technology Tuesday” post via Behrman House, edited by Ann D. Koffsky . You can find more Behrman House Technology Tuesdays here. |
Quizizz
The Technology:
Quizizz is a website that you can use to create your own multiple choice, online quizzes. Its easy-to-use interface and growing database of pre-made quizzes makes it a favorite for teachers.
To use Quziziz to create your own quiz, click on “create” and begin entering your questions and multiple choice answers. Be sure to note whether each answer is correct or incorrect. Your questions can be in English or Hebrew. (Yes, Hebrew is supported!) If you’d prefer not to type in each question on the site itself, you can choose to import a .csv file instead.
Quiziz also allows you to choose a cover image for the quiz, determine if you want your quiz to be private or public, and select the duration for how long players have to answer each question.
Once you’ve created a quiz, you can play it live in your classroom, or share the link with students so they can play it at home. Students play at their own pace and can review their answers as they proceed.
It’s free to sign up to use Quizizz. Once you’ve created your account, you can also search among the quiz database and find other user’s public quizzes to play.
In Your Classroom
- There is no question that kids love online quiz sites! Quiziz is a great addition to the quiz format because unlike many other quiz-making tools, Quiziz allows students to determine their own pace. This makes Quizizz particularly suitable for reviewing material at home.
- Don’t forget about the quiz database. A search for “Israel” returned hundreds of results. Note that you don’t have to use an existing quiz in its entirety; you can modify it and just include the questions that meet your needs.
This is a “Technology Tuesday” post via Behrman House, edited by Ann D. Koffsky . You can find more Behrman House Technology Tuesdays here.
Sketchnoting
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The Technology: Sketchnoting/ Paper
Taking notes by hand can often be more effective than typing them into a laptop or tablet. Similarly, sketchnoting, the act of drawing a visual story while listening to a speaker or reading a text, can also be an excellent way for students to remember and synthesize new information. There are many apps that support sketching on a tablet, but my favorite is Paper. It gives you basic, digital drawing tools like markers, pencils, and an eraser, and allows you to arrange your drawings into notebooks and easily organize your work. You can also integrate photos into your drawings. After you have completed your sketchnotes, you can save them to the iPad’s camera roll, share them via email, or post them to social media. Paper is free to download, but you will also need a stylus for your tablet. They can be purchased for as little as $6.00 on amazon. In Your Classroom
This is a “Technology Tuesday” post via Behrman House, edited by Ann D. Koffsky . You can find more Behrman House Technology Tuesdays here. |
Technology Tuesday: Tagul Word clouds
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What is a word cloud? A word cloud is an image that is formed from typed words, in which the size of each word indicates its frequency or importance. Here is an example of one: Tagul is a free site that can help you create your own word clouds. You simply import your words, either one at a time, or by pasting a body of text. And, you don’t have to limit yourself to English: Tagul will also work with Hebrew type, as long as you import a Hebrew font by going to “fonts” and then uploading your Hebrew font to it. (Note: I had greater success with Tagul when I used Hebrew that had no vowels or cantellation marks.) You can also customize your word cloud by choosing from a menu of possible shapes, colors, fonts and layouts. After you’re happy with the graphic, you can print it, download it, and share it with others. To use Tagul, create a new account, or use your Google or social media account. There is no charge to sign up and it is free for personal use. In Your Classroom
This is a “Technology Tuesday” post via Behrman House, edited by Ann D. Koffsky . You can find more Behrman House Technology Tuesdays here. |
Choosing An App
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Choosing An App Edited by Ann D. Koffsky It’s so enticing: a new (free!) app comes along and sounds great. But how do you decide if it’s worth using in your classroom? Be Selective There are good reasons to be very picky about what tools you provide your students. IPads have limited storage space and can fill up very quickly. You want to make sure your apps are filling the right need and will be a good match for your students. Decide: What is your goal? What are you trying to accomplish? Think about how you would complete sentences like, “I want my students to be able to create a presentation/game/slide show that shows…” and, “My students will use this app to learn more about…” Remember, just because technology looks inviting, doesn’t mean it will help you achieve your goals. Preview the content If you’re choosing an app that is designed to share information and teach content, (as opposed to an app that helps students create their own content) you’ll want to make sure to preview it from start to finish to verify:
A cautionary tale:When Tablet Magazine reported on several apps that were designed to teach about the Holocaust, it noted that the playful game experience might not be the most appropriate choice of tool for teaching about something so serious. Additional Resources:
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The New York Public Library’s Collections
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The Technology: The New York Public Library’s Collections The New York Public Library’s digital collections site gives you free access to their prints, streaming media, maps, photographs and more. And, there’s no account to create, no password to remember, and no subscription to maintain. You don’t even need a library card! You can explore their images by clicking on the featured collections icons, or you can choose to search by keyword. (When I searched by the term, “Jewish” the site returned over 4,000 results, including images of sisterhood cookbooks, an oral history of Milton Berle, and photos of fifth and sixth century amulets found in Jewish tombs in Jordan.) Photos can be easily downloaded, and cut and pasted into documents. The library provides the credit and citation information for you to include in any materials you use their images in. Keep in mind that the site does not provide an option for you to save your searches. If you want to retain an image to refer to later, you need to download it onto your computer, or do another search for it later. In Your Classroom
This is a “Technology Tuesday” post via Behrman House, edited by Ann D. Koffsky . You can find more Behrman House Technology Tuesdays here. |
Behrman House Technology Tuesdays – Plickers
I’m so excited that I’ll be sharing links and information about great mobile apps with Behrman House Technology Tuesdays subscribers! Click here to subscribe to this free email.
Here’s the article about Plickers that came out this past Tuesday:
(cross posted from Behrman House Technology Tuesdays)
The Technology: Plickers iOS App and Website
is a terrific iOS app that provides instant formative assessment (meaning you can get feedback mid-lesson) without using student response devices. All you need is a set of Plickers cards for your students, and one iOS device (iPad, iPod or iPhone) for the teacher. The app and registration is free.
The name comes from paper + clickers… Get it? Plickers.
Setting up your class:
- After you’ve signed up for an account and logged in, download the cards you want to use from the website. The standard size prints two cards per letter-sized sheet (that size worked well for the fifth graders with whom I tested this). For younger students, you might want to print the cards out full size. Do consider printing the cards on card stock, but only laminate if you have matte laminate. Otherwise the glare will impact the scanning function.
- Set up your classes on the website. You’ll have to add students manually and assign them to cards (each card is numbered).
- Create questions. You can create questions, save them, and then add them to classes at a later date. Questions can’t be open-ended – they need to be multiple choice or true/false. (And, yes, you can type in Hebrew on the website.)
With your students:
- Introduce them to Plickers by handing out and examining the cards with them. See the letters A – D, one on each side? That’s how you answer a Plickers question: be sure that the letter you want to choose is at the top of the card when you hold it up.
- Open the Plickers app on your device and tap on a question.
- Ask your question and instruct the students to hold their cards up to answer.
- Here’s where Plickers does its magic: stand in the front of your room and use the scanner (it’s the camera icon) in the app to scan the cards. The scanner will read the cards and provide data in real time. It tells you which student is giving you which answer – instantly!
To use Plickers, sign up for a free account. Then download the app.
In Your Classroom:
- While I love technology, I also love when there’s a low-tech solution! This is a terrific way to get instant feedback without having to deal with student devices and the inevitable glitches that accompany them. We’re talking about cards, here – there’s nothing lower-tech than that.
- This is a lovely way to find out who doesn’t “get” something without having to put your students through the potential embarrassment of admitting it. Nobody can see what card someone is holding up.
- Not only do you get real-time data, but you can also go back to the Plickers website later to get archived data to review later. There is some very powerful information there.
About
Debbie Harris is the director of educational technology at the Sager Solomon Schechter Day School in Northbrook, IL. Involved in Jewish education for over thirty years, she has an education degree from Northwestern University with a concentration in instructional media and a master’s degree in professional Jewish studies from Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership. She is skilled in using and teaching desktop publishing, video editing, presentation and animation software; and consults and presents regularly on integrating technology into Judaic studies. Her students podcast, blog, edit video and create claymations. She co-chaired the technology track for CAJE 33 in Vermont, is a SMART Certified Trainer for SMART Notebook, and a 2011 recipient of the Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education.
When not learning, teaching or writing about technology, Debbie likes to sketchnote and craft. She likes to knit, do calligraphy, sew, watercolor, paint fabric and just generally play with fun toys like scrapbooking supplies and anything with texture. Debbie travels to California every summer to paint tallitot with high school aged campers. Finally, she is incredibly proud of her two daughters; Lori, who teaches English at a community college; and Allie, who is the director of the URJ’s Camp Newman in California.
Look for her at:
Debbie Does Desktop
Flickr
Twitter
Diigo
YouTube
Ravelry
Email Debbie here
MuseForJews 