IHMS Tech Tips

An infographic is a visual image used to represent data or information.  We all know that our students are easily distracted and have short attention spans.  Why not cater to those qualities by using infographics as a teaching tool?  Using visuals when teaching is beneficial to students because  " as images are processed simultaneously, we process them  60,000 times faster  than we process text" (Piktochart). While infographics are primarily used to visualize data, there are also many other ways to incorporate them into the classroom.   Piktochart has a few ideas: Giving infographics as research material:  To supplement reading from the text, have students analyze the infographic given to them and debrief as a class. Explaining rules or clarifying processes:   Teach steps for students to follow on how to turn in homework or when to have their laptops out and open. Making comparisons:  Compare two cities, companies, stories, etc. Sharing data or showing tren

The Google Cultural Institute is a collection of online exhibitions including video, images, and text. Their goal is to preserve and promote this important primary sources.  The site "includes (and increasingly subsumes) the Google Art Project , which features high-resolution images of artworks from museums in over 40 countries; the World Wonders Project, which presents three-dimensional recreations of world heritage sites; and archival exhibitions, many in partnership with museums around the world."   You can find primary sources for countless historical events and figures and take virtual tours of well-known landmarks like Machu Picchu or the Museum of Modern Art. You can search for items in a variety of ways (see right). I could see this being used for a flipped classroom or to supplement your current lessons. Students could find historical places mentioned in stories or research famous artwork seen in textbooks. Students could create a gallery of sources to

The concept of hands-on learning is not a new one, however adjusting to the idea that when your students are playing PokemonGo they could be meeting objectives might be.  Using games (board games, online games, apps) to teach students is a concept that will engage your students in a way that more traditional classroom games (math war, Oregon Trail) have in the past. Common Sense Media discusses three strategies for using games in your classroom: 1. Use the games your students already play. Start with the games your students (and you!) already like playing. Use after-school play as a litmus test for engagement, and consider titles with the potential to drive deep, critical thinking. 2. Treat games like experiences, not instruction. Prep just like you would for a field trip or film screening. Set some context, then explore with your students. Resist the urge to offer instruction too soon; help students reflect and unpack the experience afterward. Even if students

Storify is a free curation tool that allows users to find information using a specific hashtag or keyword(s).  When searching, Storify will pull Facebook posts, YouTube videos, tweets, news articles, sound bites, GIFs, etc.  If it was posted with the hashtag you are using to search, you can pull it up.  Storify does require that you log into your social media accounts if you intend to search there.  For this purpose, you could use a classroom account so students are not logged into their own and getting distracted. Students can use the tool to curate content on current events, historical events, people, etc.  Let the students be creative. One blogger shares her ideas on how to use Storify in the classroom: Research Logs : Storify can be instrumental in organizing sources. If it’s online and public, it can be incorporated into a Storify story. This is especially beneficial for students who are working with a lot of online material. Plus, sources can be annotated directly in th