Way back in the middle of the last few years, there was a wave of what was called Web 2.0 tools that got me excited about using new technological tools in my classroom. Those tools gave students the ability to create cool things that were previously limited to the domain of specialists.
Today, I’m still excited about tools that allow students to create great things. The feeling of starting with an idea and then turning it into something others can see and use is a feeling of empowerment. That’s what we can give students when we introduce them to digital creation tools.
This week you can give your students that feeling of empowerment by helping them use one of the tools below to create cool things in their classroom.
create an app
When it comes to building a mobile app, the MIT App Inventor It is always my first recommendation. It’s free, and the people at MIT who host it provide many great resources to help teachers. Even if you’ve never created an app yourself, the resources MIT offers can help you help your students create a fully functional mobile app. Here is a tutorial from MIT App Inventor I posted
Build a virtual world
CoSpaces is a popular platform that offers students the ability to create their own animated virtual worlds. Students can start by building a simple animated scene using the pre-designed art available to them on CoSpaces. Once they have the basics down, they can move on to building a complete virtual world environment. Here is the official CoSpaces introductory tutorial for teachers
Design a Virtual Local History Tour
For a few years, I was a big advocate of students using Google’s VR Tour Creator to create virtual tours of local history landmarks. When Google shut down that tool, I switched to using Expeditions Pro. Look at this video to learn how you can create your own virtual reality tours with Pro Expeditions.
Create a video game with Construct 3
build 3 is a game creation platform that students can use to develop their own games. The games that students can create with Construct 3 are not simple quiz-based games like many other platforms offer. Construct 3 offers students the opportunity to create games that might remind them of some classic video games like Mario Brothers, Zelda or Space Invaders.
There are a couple of aspects of build 3 that make it attractive for classroom use. First, the visual, drag-and-drop nature of Construct 3 makes it accessible to students with no prior programming experience. Second, for students who have some prior programming experience, Construct 3 includes options for development via Javascript while still having the convenience of a block interface.
post animations
I started this year by introducing you to Adobe’s Animate from Audio tool. That’s a fun tool for doing simple animations. I like students to create animations to illustrate their understanding of various concepts they have learned.
Enroll in my Animated Explanations course if you want to learn even more about making animations and teaching with animations in your classroom.
Learn how to create and sell digital products!
If you’re looking for a way to put a little more money in your pocket this year, How to Create and Sell Digital Products in 2023 is the course for you! It is one of three on-demand courses I currently offer.
50% Off 50 Tips Tech Tuesday
50 Tips for Tech Tuesday is an eBook I created about 15 months ago. I’m working on an updated version that will be released in March. In the meantime, I’m “closing” sales of the current version by offering it at 50% for the rest of this month. use this link to get it at 50% discount.
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