When I first saw the title of this post, “6 Ed Tech Tools to Try in 2021” I was initially turned off by it. I know that it’s always valuable to learn and explore new things and discern how they may be applicable to your teaching practice. However, I also feel overwhelmed this year with juggling virtual school, Bellarmine classes, church commitments, volunteering. I do not want to try anything new because virtual teaching is already so new. I want what is already familiar because it feels safer right now when I have so much going on. I know this isn’t always the most healthy perspective, but that’s how I’ve felt often this year so I wanted to acknowledge that and how it correlates with posts like this one.
That said, I’m still glad I read the post because it describes such neat tools! The top three that caught my eye are described below.
1. Google lens- This app allows the user to point the camera on their phone at an object and the app tells them about the object. It can also be used to translate text between languages. From some quick searching, it doesn’t seem to be functionable with an iphone so that is a bummer. I thought of my 19 year old friend who I tutor. He’s a refugee and a native French speaker. I think the language translation could be handy for him.
2. Mote- This extension allows a teacher to provide verbal feedback on any item within google suites. I don’t think that is applicable for teaching math. But, it made me think about how historically feedback is written. It feels funny to think about giving verbal feedback, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad.
3. Embracerace- This website is a curated collection of resources that help kids learn and talk about race. Growing up in a 95+% white community,I didn’t see the importance or value of learning/talking about race until I was probably 20. Now, I’m trying to learn everything I can and have thought about down the road how to parent my kids in a way where conversations about race are the norm. There’s a need for this resource.
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