Limiting digital tools to a top ten list leaves many great tools overlooked. There are always more useful tools that have a place in the classroom. Add your favourites to the comment section below.
Inklewriter
https://writer.inklestudios.com/
Learn More: Mr. Barltrop’s Tutorial
Inklewriter is the most straightforward Choose Your Own Adventure writer that currently exists. From the moment students open up the site they are invited to view a streamlined site that is as usable on a computer as it is a smartphone.
Uses: Students can create new versions of texts studied in class, or map out alternate paths that history could have taken were one small difference made.
The changing course of our world can be expressed, and different branching hypotheses can be made based on the various choices or results that might be encountered. There is no limit to the choices one can make.
Lexipedia
http://www.lexipedia.com/english/taste
Lexipedia is a visual word web, where you can type in a word, and related words will pop out from it. You can choose to view related Nouns, Verbs, Adverbs, Adjectives, Synonyms, Antonyms, and Fuzzynyms.
Users can click on any of the displayed words to make them the new centre of the web, which creates a new web for them to browse.
Uses: Aside from acting as a Thesaurus, this tool also allows students to understand and
forming relationships between different words and word types.
PowToon
https://www.powtoon.com/PowToon is an incredibly powerful piece of animation software that is entirely browser based. At the basic level, users can choose from a selection of templates that are made available to them and simply add text and images through the integrated software.
However, those looking to unlock the full power of PowToon can change where and when images are added to an animation. They can also select from a number of different animation styles.
Uses: Students familiar with audio and video editing software will have an easier time adapting to the PowToon suite. However, due to the step-by-step process of creating a number of basic animations, this tool can be used to create professional looking animations for any subject area.
Tagxedo
http://www.tagxedo.com/app.html
This is the final Word Bubble website we will look at. However, there are many more. And each have their own uses. The benefit of Tagxedo is that you can either enter text, or a website. You can also choose a number of unique shapes to use in the display of your word bubble.
Uses: Before studying the battle of New Orleans it might be interesting to turn the Wikipedia page for said battle into a Tagxedo image. You can also choose a relevant shape, like the United States of America to display your creation.
Wordle
Wordle allows you to create a word bubble created by any text you paste into the website. The text will be sized according to use. The more times a word is repeated, the larger the font size will be.
Uses: By showing students a wordle before they engage with a text, they are able to infer what they think it will be about. It will also allow them to focus their reading on the relevant aspects.
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