Put a dazzle on your lessons with Infogram!

Many would say that every lesson's most essential element is the content and that the dazzle should always come last. In school, students are told to complete a powerpoint first then mess with font/designs last. However, I beg to differ. I believe that the overall presentation is the most essential element of any lesson. How will we even capture an audience's attention without something eye-catching? If the lesson fails to capture the audience's attention, what good is even the best/most meaningful content in the world? 

It is important to understand that being a teacher or a student is difficult and time-consuming in our world today. I often hear of students pulling all-nighters to study or work on a project or teachers finding themselves grading a stack of paper well after their work hours. Due to all of these factors, many students and educators may skip over dazzling a project in order to crunch out the content. 

With technology improving day by day, we should aim to utilize the plethora of free online tools we actually possess! Technology is present so we can do things in a more efficient manner. In terms of dazzle for a presentation, I really recommend Infogram. It allows users to create presentations with both dazzle and content in a timely manner. As a student, I have a basic free account, however, there are many other free and paid options for different types of user.

To put it simply, Infogram is a site with many templates for projects. In my opinion, they are almost always aesthetically pleasing and already pre-made. 

URL: Infogram.com

Enjoy!

Connections Academy!

Connections Academy

Why do I recommend this online tool?: It is an American company and it is tuition-free where supported.

"Connections Academy’s K–12 accredited online public school program is tuition-free and aligned with your state’s educational standards. All required texts and instructional materials are included and provided to all students at no additional cost.”

(It MAY not be in all states!)

Only additional costs are Field Trips and personal study supplies: paper, notebooks, pens, pencils, printer cartridges, etc.

https://www.connectionsacademy.com/

By: Bill Martin

Let's be Innovative! InsertLearning!

As a student, I have always appreciated the teachers that tried their best in being innovative in the classroom with technology. Even though deviation from traditional methods of education may be difficult for the more experienced teachers, I strongly recommend it. In my opinion, having the ability to adapt is the strongest trait for any teacher. The purpose of this blog today is to back up a May 10th posting about "Flipping the Classroom". Well... What do I mean by backing up that posting? Simply, I wanted to share an excellent online tool for educators to utilize in their everyday class preparation. This online tool I am about to share backs up the theory mentioned in the "Flipping the Classroom" posting. 

Insert this into your repertoire of online educational tools: InsertLearning 

This tool is actually quite simple to use and it should save any educator a great deal of time in terms of class preparation. How this tool works is that if a teacher sees an article online that he/she finds worthwhile to share as an educational tool, then he/she can immediately create a worksheet on the spot! 

The most exciting part of using this online tool is that any educator can use this tool free of charge! All that is required is the Chrome browser to be installed. This tool is an extension of the Chrome browser and can be found on the Chrome Web Store or directly from the InsertLearning webpage.

Have fun exploring this new tool!!!