Using Glide to Create Useful Learning Provider Mobile Apps

Glide - https://www.glideapps.com/ - is a free tool that educators can use to create a mobile app by simply creating a spreadsheet in Google Sheets. 

There are many different ways that educators, learners & administrators might use Glide in their organisation. 

Here are some ideas from Richard Byrne (adapted for post 16+ learning providers) to consider...

1. A mobile study guide: Educators and/or Learners can create an app that lists each section or unit of their curriculum. In each section they can provide videos, podcasts, or simply link to additional documents for review. 
2. A mobile version of school handbooks: When various stakeholders have a question about your organisation, their first instinct is probably to pick up their phones to search your learning provider's website or to call the office. A mobile version of learning provider's handbook could make it easy for stakeholders to quickly find the answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs). 
3. A mobile reporting system: If Educators have learners and/or stakeholders using Google Forms for logging information about multiple goals like independent reading, outdoor play, or behaviour goals, they should consider placing links to all of those forms in one convenient app. 
4. Room Use Schedule: Many Educators work in Organisations that have more educators than learning environments so it can be always kind of a guessing game as to who was using which room and when. An app that makes it easy to find out who is using which rooms at which times would help considerably! With Glide you could create that kind of app. 

To discover how to "Create your first app with Glide" watch the video clip at  https://www.youtube.com/embed/BzwN6RJpsAY

If you give “Glide " a try or have already used "Glide“, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at…
1. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
2. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this year’s posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post.

"I post about items that I either like using myself or have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out."

Create Spelling Games Via Flippity

Flippity's Spelling Words - http://flippity.net/ - is a free Google Sheets template that you can use to create individualised spelling games for learners. 

To do this you simply have to…
• make a list of words that you want each of your learners to practice. 
• put those lists under your learners' names in a Google Sheets template that is provided by Flippity.

To get started users can…

• either go to Flippity.net and select the Spelling Words template or use Flippity's Google Sheets add-on and select Spelling Words. 
• Once users have made a copy of the template they then have to write their learners' names across the second row of the spreadsheet. 
• Below each learner's name users will enter the list of words that they want them to practice spelling. 
• If users would like to, they can enter a sentence along with each spelling word in order to provide learners with some content for its use. 
• There is an option to have learners' results emailed to you. To do that users enter their email address below each learner's name in their spreadsheet.
• Once users/Educators have completed the steps listed above, they select "publish to the web" from the "File" drop-down menu in Google Sheets and then click the "get link here" tab that appears at the bottom of their spreadsheet.
  That link is the one that you will give to students to play the games. 

How to Play a Flippity Spelling Words Game:

Flippity Spelling Words games has three primary modes for learners…

1. "list" which simply reads each spelling word aloud to learners. 
2. "practice" in which learners hear a word read aloud and then have to type it. 
3. "quiz" mode in which learners again hear the words read aloud and have to type them. It is the resulting quiz scores that users can have emailed to them. 

For learners to play a Flippity Spelling Words game they have to…

• go to the URL that the user generated in the last step of the creation process outlined above. 
• select their names from the list of names that appears on the screen. If a learner chooses the wrong name, he/she can simply hit the back button to choose a different name. 
• progress through the games at their own pace. 

If learners master the spelling games that users have created for them through Flippity Spelling Words, they can choose the "more" tab on their games and see a set of related activities that are based on the same set of words. 

"Those additional games included a memory/ matching game, a snowman/ hangman game, a word scramble, and a word search."

If you give “Flippity's Spelling Words " a try or have already used "Flippity's Spelling Words “, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at…
1. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
2. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this year’s posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post.

"I post about items that I either like using myself or have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out."

FREE BOOKS – No catch

Open Education Resources (OER) such as Rice Universities “Open Stax” - https://openstax.org/ - project creates post16-level and AP certified digital textbooks that are free, sharable, and every bit as “authoritative” as traditional paper textbooks. 

The advantage of OER of course, is that no one single entity owns the material and texts can be…

·        augmented,

·        reorganised, and

·        rewritten to fit the needs of the user be it a single learning environment Educator or an entire Learning Provider Adoption.

No big time textbook publisher that I am aware of has that kind of model in place.

“OER is disruptive, money saving & shifts the power away from the publisher and towards the Educator and/or Learner."

If you give “Open Stax" a try or have already used "Open Stax “, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at…

1.        https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and

2.        https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this year’s posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post.

"I post about items that I either like using myself or have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out."

Create Interactive Maps

ZeeMaps - https://www.zeemaps.com/ - allows learners to create, publish and share interactive maps.

ZeeMaps allows users (Educators and/or Learners) to visualise geographic data and customise their maps the way they want.

NOTE:-

1: Although it displays Google Maps, Zeemaps is not affiliated with Google and has its own servers where all created maps are stored.

2: ZeeMaps is a freemium service with a free basic version that offers some decent features. The pro version provides more advanced functionalities.

Some of the main things offered by ZeeMaps include...

• You do not need to create an account to make maps
• Add searchable custom fields for map entries
• PDF or PNG map images for presentations or brochures
• Add video, photo, or audio with your markers
• Customise marker icons with your own images
•  Highlight countries, states, cities, zip codes, counties, or hand-draw region
•  Up to 31 marker groups and sub-groups with clickable map legend
•  Show clickable list of entries to the left or right of your map
•  Keep maps private for confidential data with HTTPS support
•  Search for entries matching field values, with distance
•  Manage your map entries with powerful editing grid

If you give “ZeeMaps " a try or have already used " ZeeMaps “, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at…

1.        https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and

2.        https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this year’s posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post.

"I post about items that I either like using myself or have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out."

Lets make…

Instructables - https://www.instructables.com/teachers/ - A Good Website to Promote Project-based Learning for…

•          Grades K-5
•          Grades K-6-8
•          Grades K-9-12
•          Maths
•          Art
•          Science
•          Electronics
•          Engineering
•          Arduino
•          Robotics
•          3D Printing
•          Workshop

…and more.

Instructables is an educational website and mobile app where Educators can have access to a treasure trove of instructional videos and how-to guides covering a wide variety of topics from science experiments to amazing inventions.

If Educators need some new ideas for their next learning environment maker project, Instructables offers a library of over 100k of do-it-yourself projects created and shared by members of the community which amount to 2 million members.  

"Additionally, Educators and their Learners can create their own projects and upload them to the site and share their ideas with others"

Instructables has a special section for Educators where individuals can browse for projects created by others and which they can use with their learners in the learning environment.

‘Instructables supports teachers by providing free pro memberships and awesome project ideas for your classroom. It provides plug and play hands-on projects to let you supplement your curriculum with the best projects that other teachers have to offer. You don't need to be a traditional classroom teacher to participate, either. If you are an after-school teacher, a scouting leader, a librarian who runs programs, or anyone whose job is explicitly educational, you are invited to participate.’

To find out more watch https://www.youtube.com/embed/k12h_FOInZg

If you give “Instructables " a try or have already used " Instructables “, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at…

1.        https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and

2.        https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this year’s posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post.

"I post about items that I either like using myself or have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out."

Enhance Learners Creativity via STEM/STEAM design projects

Curiosity Machine - https://www.curiositymachine.org/challenges/ - is an interesting website that connects scientists and engineers with younger learners inspiring them to be creative inventors. 

The site provides a wide variety of open-ended engineering design projects that are appropriate for K-12 learners. 

These challenges are hands-on projects inspired by the cutting-edge work of scientists and engineers.

In each challenge, learners are presented with a complex problem to solve, and they progress with support from a trained mentor who guides and encourages them to persist through failure and bring their ideas to reality.

The "Design challenges"...

• will take about 90 minutes to plan, build, test, and submit to the site for mentor feedback. A mentor will respond within 3-5 days, and then users can start the redesign process!

The "Redesign process"...

• can go on for as long as you can make improvements to the design--and the same mentor will be ready to offer feedback on every change you make.
  Mentors are professional scientists and engineers from all over the world who are dedicated to inspiring the next generation of inventors.

Anyone can create a Curiosity Machine account and access its videos and engineering design challenges for free.

For schools, Learning providers and other groups interested in support and training, the site offers a paid membership.

Watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/embed/t_x9fL0MF0w to learn more about Curiosity Machine.

If you give “Curiosity Machine" a try or have already used "Curiosity Machine“, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at…

1.        https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and

2.        https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this year’s posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post.

"I post about items that I either like using myself or have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out."

A Tool for Creating Interactive Videos

Vibby - https://www.vibby.com/explore/vibs and/or https://www.vibby.com/explore/vibsVibby - allows educators to re-use existing videos to engage their learners around the video content they've created or curated for them.

Vibby is a relatively new video platform that allows users, educators and/or learners to create interactive video learning experiences.

The purpose of Vibby is to enable users to design interactive video content geared towards engaging learners and enhancing communication.

When using Vibby individuals will be able to highlight, share and discuss parts of any online video. 

As educators, you can utilise this video platform to engage learners through discussions held around the content of the video.

"Learners can add their comments and exchange their thoughts about specific points in the video."

NOTE: Users can select any YouTube video and make it interactive by seamlessly highlighting the exact moments you want to draw your learners attention to. Comments can be added right on the video creating synchronous interaction among learners.

If you give “Vibby " a try or have already used " Vibby “, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at…

1.     https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and

2.     https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this year’s posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post.

"I post about items that I either like using myself or have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out."