Post XIX. Memrise

Memrise is a beautifully designed web-based technology for memorizing things. It allows you to create your own sets of flashcards to be remembered or use the sets developed by other users.

What differs Memrise from services like Quizlet is that the study and self-assessment processes happen simultaneously. For example, you created a list of 10 new words to remember in the word-and-its-definition format. When you start a learning session, the software introduces you to the words from the list and then alternate the blocks containing the assessment items about the words you study with the blocks stating the words and their definitions. The idea behind Memrise technology is you better remember new words when you continuously repeat those words and solve problems related to them. The assessment items include matching a word with the correct definition option, typing in the word appropriate to the displayed definition, and answering multiple-choice questions.

At the end of the session, you get statistics demonstrating your progress through the session and the amount of points received for correct and quick answers. You can see the words you mastered and the words you need to work on more. 

I am learning HTML 5 vocabulary now via the flashcard set somebody developed. The results of one of my learning sessions are showed in the picture below. The flower image means I have mastered the word.

I really like Memrise for its pretty design. In addition, the software developers assure it is research-based. So, I believe Memrise deserves a tryout.

Do you use any memorization apps to enhance your learning activities?

Post XVI. PowToon

Nowadays, there are a lot of tools that aim to make content presentations not only informative, but also engaging.

PowToon is a web-based software of that kind. It is a constructor that allows you to create animated videos and presentations by using a set of predesigned templates. The process of the creation of a video is very simple. When you are in the construction mode of the PowToon software, you generate a group of slides just like you usually do while working on a presentation. Then, PowToon combines this collection of slides into a video so that each slide represents one video scene. PowToon has a drag-and-drop interface, which enables the creation process to be very fast. The software is integrated with GoogleDrive.

PowToon offers free and paid usage plans. The produced video presentation can be shared on YouTube and Facebook freely, but to download the video to your computer, you should pay for subscription. Unsurprisingly, paid versions of the software have more animated and still templates to choose from.

Watch a short video about the history of presentation software created using PowToon.

Do you like the idea of such entertaining presentations? As students, would you like your professors to invest their time, money, and effort in this software? As teaching personnel, would you try it on your lessons?

Post VIII. Horizon Report

This post may be of interest to those of you who would like to keep themselves informed not only about the learning technologies that have already been released, but also about emerging ones. 

Meet Horizon Report, a collection of current trends in the field of Learning Technologies. Let's consider its features. Horizon Report is published yearly. It is reviewed by a committee of experts so you can be sure the content is appropriate and up to date. Each report consists of three sections discussing the short-term, mid-term, and long-term tendencies in the field. The authors attempt the report to include as many information as it is possible - that's why there are separate editions for the Higher Education, K-12, and Museum Learning areas. For example, you can look at Horizon Report 2015 Higher Ed edition here. Also, each report is disseminated for free; thus, you can download a PDF file to your computer/device and read it later.

Do you know any projects similar to Horizon Report? I would be happy to add them to my reading list J

Post VII. Poll Everywhere

There are lots of wonderful business tools on the Internet, and some of them may be easily adapted for the needs of a teacher or a learning technologist. Poll Everywhere exemplifies such a tool. The idea behind it is quite simple: To provide a speaker with an opportunity to receive immediate feedback from his/her audience. The realization of that idea is even simpler. To start, the speaker creates an account on the PollEverywhere website; next step is to post the question the speaker would like to ask and (optionally) possible answers to this question. After that, those people whom the speaker plans to survey go to the speaker’s account, read the posted question, and click on the answer variant they perceive to be true. What is great is that Poll Everywhere plots real-time graphs, so the speaker has an opportunity to assess the collected data and decide on his/her further actions immediately. It should be also noted that the only resource the speaker needs is the Internet connection. The limited version of the tool (for 25 respondents) is free.

The short video below demonstrates how Poll Everywhere works.

I see several ways of applying Poll Everywhere to learning enhancement. First, it can be used for quizzes in the same manner as the clicker technology is utilized at FSU. Second, the tool is great for collecting feedback from students and adjusting instruction in accordance with their learning needs. Finally, Poll Everywhere enables a teacher to monitor some teamwork activities, such as brainstorming or problem solving. 

Do you have any other ideas on how Poll Everywhere and similar services can be utilized in education?

Post VI. Considering the Future of the Book

Electronic books have become an integral part of lives of many people, especially students. I remember reading “electronically” since the beginning of the Internet era in the 1990s. What is great about the electronic book technology is the new kind of reading experience it makes possible. We all somewhat got used to the helpful functions that are provided by published-online books and contemporary electronic readers. I am talking about bookmarking, notes’ adding, dictionary look up, etc.

However, the majority of electronic books and journal articles are essentially copies of their printed versions and, therefore, never use the whole potential the electronic book technology possesses. The technology has developed to the point when article elements, such graphs, videos and tables, can easily become interactive. The possibilities for learning enhancement are enormous.

Designers have already started considering how the future of the book could look like. The IDEO company presented three great ideas that I think are worth attention. Check out the video below, and if interested, you can find the more detailed description of those ideas here. Who knows - maybe, one of the presented projects is being developed now.

What do you think about them? Would you use Nelson (that's my favorite)?

Post II. Explain Everything

Last Fall semester, I needed to develop instruction in the form of a video lecture. There was also a restriction: No “talking heads” used. So, that project made me search for some creative ways of instruction development. As a result, I found a brilliant application called Explain Everything. It represents a whiteboard where you can put anything you would like (e.g., pictures, videos, drawings, text boxes, etc.) and screencast that “putting” process. I used the app on my iPad, but it also runs on Android and Windows. Its current price in the App Store is  $2.99 (not sure it is the same for Google Play).

If you ever need a lecture-capturing tool, Explain Everything is the answer due to being cheap and comfortable in use. You don’t need a stylus to work with this app; everything can be done with your fingers. Among the features that I like most is that the app allows me to access my Dropbox account for importing of any types of files located there and exporting of the videos I completed.

Check out the app’s promo video below to see how it functions.