Happy (almost) Summer Break! This is our favorite time of the year to share our Summer Bucket List with you! We’ve got some great ideas for you to test out this summer and see if there’s any neat tools or concepts you’d like to incorporate in your class next year! This year, our list is two parts, so look out for part 2 next week!
- Test out an audience response system: Geddit, Socrative, Infuse Learning and TurningPoint are all great free tools to use! Geddit, Socrative and Infuse Learning are all device-based response systems meaning they can be accessed on any device with an internet connection—smart phones, iPads, laptops, etc. These are a great way to put those mobile devices to use in the classroom, and get students interactive and engaged during class. Another tool we offer here at UIS is TurningPoint, where students use actual clickers during the lecture.
- Experiment with the iPad: We have iPads for faculty to check out! And the apps have come quite a long way since they first came out. Literally, there is just about everything you can imagine needing an app for. Check out our website where we share tons of apps for all different purposes.
Additionally, UIS equipped classrooms with AirServer, a tool that allows instructors to project the screen of their iPad or iPhone during lecture. This is a great way for instructors to move about the classroom, stay engaged with students, and also promotes interactivity within the classroom setting! So pick up an iPad this summer and become familiar with some of the apps that may greatly enhance your classroom this fall! - Try something NEW! The best way to keep your class fresh semester after semester, year after year, is to keep up on what’s new in the classroom and what methods and tools students are really taking a shine to! Follow some tech blogs this summer, read some journals, and connect with other educators who may offer fresh insight and new ideas on what NEW things you can try in your classroom this fall!
