TeachersFirst Edge
New web 2.0 tools appear each day. Many of these tools were not originally intended for classroom use, but they can be powerful learning tools for today's techno-savvy students and their more adventurous teachers. These sites appear (and frequently disappear) very quickly, launched by creative techno-geeks out there in the world.
Many of these tools require a higher-than-average set of teacher tech skills or some extra monitoring to assure student "safety." TeachersFirst Edge reviews these "tools on the Edge" carefully, and with specific ideas for using them safely and effectively in teaching and learning. Reviews point out any safety or policy concerns for the tool and offer links to management tips for each concern.
Especially popular is this subset of the Edge: BYOD Dream Tools: Free tools that work on any device. Look for the device agnostic tool tag in any review.
This is the world your students already know. Try teaching in their vernacular. A little adventurousness makes for powerful learning.
See General Tips for using Edge Tools - a must for first-time users
Browse the full listing of detailed safety/school policy tips or save time by reading them as needed from each tool review.
If you try one of these tools and find it especially useful, be sure to leave a comment on it to share your students' successes with other teachers. If you know of another tool that teachers would find beneficial, please suggest it via our webmaster account, as a "suggested resource."
Here's the Edge:
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Clickview - Evan Clark and Edward Filletti
Grades
K to 12tag(s): artists (83), decimals (85), fractions (158), grammar (135), poetry (192), reading strategies (103), statistics (121), STEM (281)
In the Classroom
After watching a ClickView math video, present students with real-world problems related to the video's content. Have them work in pairs or small groups to solve the problems using the concepts they learned. Host a "Math Video Showcase" where students present math tutorial videos they made to the class, allowing for peer feedback and discussion. After viewing a video about art techniques or historical art movements, students can create their own artwork using the methods discussed. Following a ClickView science video, organize a hands-on experiment related to the video's content. For example, if the video discusses ecosystems, students can create mini-ecosystems in a jar. After watching a video on a literary topic or a story, have students create their own short stories or scripts incorporating themes, characters, or settings from the video. Share the stories using a digital storytelling tool such as Book Creator, reviewed here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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kudoswall - Nikhil Vootkur and Jag Vootkur
Grades
K to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (147), assessment (149), careers (141), classroom management (123), portfolios (24)
In the Classroom
Assign students to research a career and build a portfolio demonstrating the skills and experiences needed for that job, using AI features to draft mock resumes. Have students create digital portfolios to highlight their academic and extracurricular achievements from the school year. Students can use Kudoswall to set goals and document their progress through photos, videos, or written updates. Older students can practice creating professional resumes and portfolios to prepare for college or scholarship applications.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Boxie - Boxie Technologies
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): collaboration (94), critical thinking (118), digital escapes (5), feedback (12), reading comprehension (148)
In the Classroom
Show an instructional video related to a subject and place pins at moments where important concepts or skills are demonstrated. Students read the text and interact with the pinned questions, responding to prompts encouraging critical thinking or comprehension checks. Encourage students to reply to their peers' pinned comments, fostering deeper collaborative learning and peer feedback. Use Boxie to design a digital escape room within a PDF, placing pins that contain clues, puzzles, or tasks for students to solve.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Owler AI - Owler A.I.
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (147), assessment (149), feedback (12), Teacher Utilities (159), writing (323)
In the Classroom
Use Owler AI as a starting point to provide feedback to students on writing projects. Then, edit the contents to add personalized information or remove unnecessary portions. Share this tool with students to use when writing to receive feedback before submitting for a grade. Encourage students to reflect on feedback by submitting the original and revised documents and adding a short paragraph that explains changes made due to feedback given. Enhance student learning by creating a bulletin board with writing tips shared by students or use Figjam, reviewed here to create a digital bulletin board with sticky notes.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Connections - ConnectionsGame.org
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): gamification (79), vocabulary (239), word study (60)
In the Classroom
Use Connections as an engaging tool for students to study and discuss connections between words. Create a custom game introducing new vocabulary for science and social studies units. For example, when teaching about US presidents, add categories with the presidents' last names, first names, wives' names, and birthplaces. In science, create categories for students to categorize animals by habitats or class of animal. Include your connections game as part of a choice board or playlist; learn more about creating choice boards by viewing the archive of OK2Ask: Engage & Inspire: Choice Boards for Differentiation, Part 1, reviewed here. Ask older students to create Custom Connections to include with multimedia presentations. Add the link to presentations made with Google Slides, reviewed here or as a link on an interactive image made with Genially, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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NotebookLM - Google
Grades
K to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (147), note taking (36), Teacher Utilities (159), timelines (55)
In the Classroom
Use NotebookLM to support and engage students in many different ways. Upload lessons and documents to create and share study guides with students. Create and share an audio podcast at the start of a new unit to engage students in the upcoming lessons. Use NotebookLM to create a study guide, copy it, and paste it into a quiz tool that uses AI, such as Quizlet reviewed here to create flashcards and study materials for your students or Gibbly, reviewed here to create a quiz. Create a short tutorial using Free Online Screen Recorder, reviewed here on the features and how to use NotebookLM to share with parents for use at home to create study guides for classroom lessons.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Playbrary - National Reading Movement
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (147), digital storytelling (152), game based learning (182), gamification (79), literacy (116), literature (218)
In the Classroom
Engage students while reading and learning about classic novels using Playbrary's interactive features. For example, before reading a book, ask students to participate in the choose-your-own-adventure to get an introduction to the characters and settings of the story. Have students compare different story outcomes in the game to the actual story outcomes using tools available on Figjam, reviewed here. Visit the Figjam community to find several templates for your book study by searching for literature, such as a literature study template and a character trait study template. Extend learning using additional AI tools for educators, such as Twee, reviewed here and MagicSchool, reviewed here to generate additional book-related activities such as character analysis guides and project-based learning activities.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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resume.co - resume.co
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (147), careers (141), portfolios (24), writing (323)
In the Classroom
Use this resource to teach students how to write effective resumes as part of life skills and job preparation courses. Ask students to complete a personal resume as a way for them to highlight their talents. Have students complete a resume for their "dream" job, focusing on the unique abilities that make them the best candidate. Have students create a resume for a fictional or real character in history. For example, create a resume for a past president that includes a list of his accomplishments in office. Share Infographic Visual Resumes (A Pinterest Pinboard), reviewed here as additional inspiration for creating visually appealing resumes.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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TeacherServer AI Tools - TeacherServer
Grades
K to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (147), professional development (408), Teacher Utilities (159)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save TeacherServer as a helpful tool for increasing productivity and efficiency in any classroom. Generate and edit lesson plans, use other tools to differentiate learning for students with different ability levels or abilities, or provide choices for students to share their learning. Include ideas from the parent section to share ideas for supporting students at home, write professional emails, and provide customized strategies for many different student needs.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Lumio - Smart Technologies ULC
Grades
K to 12tag(s): assessment (149), blended learning (37), communication (138), Learning Management Systems (20), questioning (35), remote learning (56), Teacher Utilities (159)
In the Classroom
Use Lumio's many included features to deliver personalized learning opportunities for all students. Begin learning about Lumio's features by exploring the activities available in Lumio's library and editing the content to fit the needs of your students. Once familiar with the tools and delivery system, upload and create personalized lessons for students. Quickly adapt activities and content to fit the needs of multilingual learners, gifted students, or special needs students within any content area.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mootion - HK Mootion Ltd
Grades
K to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (147), communication (138), digital storytelling (152), multimedia (46)
In the Classroom
Mootion offers many choices for classroom use! Paste students' stories into Mootion to create videos and watch them come to life, autogenerate stories about historical events and characters to engage students in your upcoming lessons, or create a story using vocabulary words when introducing new science units. If you do not share the video during class, download the MP4 file to your device and upload it to YouTube to make it accessible to all students anytime.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Gamma - Gamma Tech, Inc.
Grades
K to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (147), multimedia (46), presentations (17), slides (42), Teacher Utilities (159)
In the Classroom
Use Gamma to create engaging presentations to introduce and review content quickly. For example, ask Gamma to create a presentation introducing a new novel to students, including background information and vocabulary. Instead of creating a presentation, use Gamma to create an interactive website as a flipped learning activity and include links to online resources and assessments created with Microsoft Forms, reviewed here or embedded quizzes made with Blooket, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teachable Machine - Google
Grades
K to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (147), game based learning (182), gamification (79)
In the Classroom
Share Teachable Machines with students who enjoy working with computers and ask them to develop models for different learning activities. For example, ask students to use the image model to create examples of categories of animals for young students and provide them with a picture bank of animals. Use the picture bank to see if animals are categorized correctly as a learning activity. For older students, use this site to build learning games. Find more ideas at Github's Awesome Teachable Machine List, found here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Poe - Poe.com
Grades
K to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (147), chat (41), DAT device agnostic tool (147)
In the Classroom
Using AI generators helps save time and increase productivity; Poe saves even more time by making it easy to compare output from several AI generators in one place. Use this resource to create quizzes, rubrics, lesson plans, and more. Many of the included resources offer the option to add files and increase productivity further by attaching a worksheet and asking it to modify the content to differentiate learning or to suggest ideas for presenting the content in a different format. Be sure to ask for information as precisely as possible by including grade-level information, the subject you teach, content standards and teaching objectives, and options for differentiating instruction. Math teachers can ask chatbots to explain the content differently or ask for ideas on applying math topics to everyday life. In social studies or science, ask to generate a vocabulary list or create a story based on your lessons incorporating essential vocabulary terms. ELA teachers might use these tools to get suggestions for interventions to support struggling readers or to find additional resources to support current lessons. Use the image generators to produce images for creative writing activities, to develop descriptive writing skills, or to include in multimedia presentations. Always verify any information provided by any AI tool before using it. These tools constantly evolve, and many features regularly change (or upgrade).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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AhaSlides - AhaSlides Pte Ltd
Grades
K to 12tag(s): data (147), Formative Assessment (74), polls and surveys (48), questioning (35), quizzes (90)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this handy site for many different classroom uses. Engage students when introducing a new topic by creating a poll to assess learning quickly or find students' interest in a subject. Use a poll as an exit ticket or as a formative assessment. Enhance learning by adding a link to a poll as part of a blended or flipped learning activity. For example, when delivering a flipped learning lesson using Microsoft Forms, reviewed here, include a link to a poll that asks students to reflect upon their understanding of the content learned.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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iorad - iorad Inc.
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
The number of classroom uses for this tool is countless! Use iorad to create guides for students to log in to software, games, and computer programs. Create step-by-step guides for students on adding or editing images in tools such as Google Slides, reviewed here or Genially, reviewed here. Ask students to include iorad tutorials within multimedia presentations to demonstrate information, such as how to search Google for Creative Commons Images or narrow searches to fit into a custom time frame. Create tutorials to share with parents for use at home as a guide for accessing online tools needed for homework or practice. If you need a guide for completing any online activities, iorad is the perfect answer!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Prodia - Prodia
Grades
K to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (147), editing (92), images (261)
In the Classroom
Use Prodia to generate images for many different classroom uses quickly. Generate pictures to use as creative writing prompts, as artwork for newsletters and slide presentations, and create images to teach vocabulary in foreign language classes. Use image creation tools to help students explore how to write descriptive and effective prompts that generate their desired outcome. Ask students to create images to include with any writing project, and share student writing in digital books using Book Creator, reviewed here. Use Book Creator's many features, including images, student writing, audio recordings, and more, to create interactive books to share with peers and family members.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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MirrorTalk - Swivl
Grades
K to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (147), assessment (149), DAT device agnostic tool (147), Formative Assessment (74), preK (263), social and emotional learning (95), Teacher Utilities (159), teaching strategies (42), thinking skills (15)
In the Classroom
MirrorTalk can be used in many ways to support student learning and reflection. Begin the school year with a prompt that encourages students to reflect on the previous school year and set goals for the new year. Create prompts as exit tickets for students to reflect on the day's lesson and as a formative assessment for you to modify upcoming lessons as needed. Use this tool as part of a retrieval practice strategy to encourage students to recall facts about new concepts learned in class. Learn more about retrieval practice by watching the archived OK2Ask: 3 Cool Tools for Retrieval Practice, reviewed here and by visiting this blog post, Using Retrieval Practice to Boost Student Learning, found here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Blogger - Google
Grades
K to 12tag(s): blogs (65), communication (138), digital storytelling (152), writing (323)
In the Classroom
Use Blogger to create and share your class blog with students and parents. Include updates on classroom lessons and upcoming events, and share pictures of students at work (with appropriate permissions). Add this site to your list of website creation tools for students to use for many projects. For example, ask students to share poems, lab reports, or quick journal entries and add an image or links to additional information. If students create pages, check with your district's policy on publishing student work. Have students take turns writing weekly blog posts that share information about what they learned at school or ask them to share writing or research projects with family and friends. Use images you and your students take, or find free image resources on TeachersFirst Special Topics Page: Free Image Resources, reviewed here.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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ClassQuestion - Adam Blalock
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): assessment (149), data (147), Formative Assessment (74), polls and surveys (48), questioning (35), quizzes (90)
In the Classroom
Use ClassQuestion to receive instant feedback for many different classroom purposes. For example, use this tool to create exit tickets to help determine students' understanding of content and guide further lessons. Use this tool as a debate and discussion starter by asking students to take a stance on a topic, then divide students into groups to develop their position further. Gamify learning by turning review sessions into opportunities for students or groups to earn points for correct responses. Input data collections from students to quickly create graphs; for example, create a poll of students' favorite foods and share the results with students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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