Education suffers from a glutton of tools that basically do the same thing. One has cool images where another has a built in GIF editor. Another has cool games built into it, where there's cool fonts.

But do you really do something different?

Focus on what you know and integrate them with the purpose to enhance the educational experience for students.

Adapted from Common Sense Education (Credit: Adam Vinter, Omaha Public Schools)

Practice using the tool with a tester group of students. 🔎

Get ahead of what could go wrong. Even if you've had professional development, it helps to replicate what it'll be like when it's used in a live classroom. You can even get some students to help you (think about those last 15 minutes in class with your early finishers)! Have them poke around to troubleshoot so you'll know what to do when you use it with the whole class.

Start slowly IN class. 🐢

Consider disabling extra features (chat, social features, GIFs, video responses, etc.) until you have a better grasp of what the tool can do OR find one that isn't as flashy for you or students (Google Slides is a great place to start). As you and your students become more familiar, you can begin to unlock more features when they help the learning experience.

Set expectations WITH your class. 📋

Just like putting procedures in place for lining up or taking tests, students need expectations and routines for using tools. Per Adam's recommendation, try the stoplight poster below to show students when it was OK to be using their Chromebook. Giving clear guidelines up front will help you and your blood pressure.

Get good at using ONE tool. 🔨

Once a tool is working for you, master it. Remember: The latest isn't always the greatest, and you have only so much time to teach a tool, not the skill it's meant to help.

Contact me to collaborate on your next project, troubleshoot what you do currently, or to just answer a question you have!

Email: bkrause@ltcillinois.org
Website: https://calendly.com/bkrauseltc
Phone: (815) 362-4791
Twitter: @bmkeducation

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