ICoach 2022-2023 Post 5: Digital Resource Class
by Sarah Mowery 2 years, 2 months agoAnswer the following questions about the class you completed.
- Which digital resource class did you complete? What made you decide to complete this class?
- What features of the resource are most appealing to students? To educators? To parents?
- One of your co-workers has approached you in the hall for help with INFOhio resources. Write two to three sentences you would use to explain why they should use this resource to support student learning.
1. The digital resource class that I completed was Bookflix. I wanted to complete this class because it has been a struggle to keep relevant and exciting materials available for students due to financial limitations with our library budget.
2. I think seeing animated books is very appealing to students, for educators, knowing that students can read along with the story is very exciting and for parents having stories available in different languages helps with our ESL families.
3. You should use INFOhio’s Bookflix because the stories are aligned to our state standards, the lesson plans available for use as well as pairing fiction and nonfiction texts. Bookflix is a teacher’s best friend. Let’s meet at lunch to continue learning about all of the wonderful attributes Bookflix has to offer.
Loive #3!
Thanks!
Which digital resource class did you complete? What made you decide to complete this class?
I completed the World Almanac for Kids digital resource class. I chose this because I have an upcoming collaborative lesson that I am working on with a teacher and I was planning on using this resource with this class.
What features of the resource are most appealing to students? To educators? To parents?
The games, videos, and other interactive features of this resource, such as the "Did You Know?" section are most appealing to students. The Teacher Resourcespage is most appealing to educators, as well as the read along feature and standards alignments. To parents, the most appealing feature might be the Homework Help, as it provides answers to commonly asked questions that studesnt might encounter while they're completing assignments.
One of your co-workers has approached you in the hall for help with INFOhio resources. Write two to three sentences you would use to explain why they should use this resource to support student learning.
World Almanac for Kids is a great way to access standards-aligned articles and resources for your content area. It presents information in an engaging and interactive way for students, and it offers a variety of teacher resources, including lessons and printable materials.
Excited to hear you were able to use the resource with a class and teacher right after completing it!
1. I chose to learn more about Bookflix. I decided to complete this one since it is focused on early elementary, which I have the least experience in since I was a middle school teacher. I also really liked the idea of using paired texts with younger students because I know that is a skill that we worked on in middle school as well.
2. I like the puzzlers for the students. Kids love games and these are well-done and visually appealing. I also like the read-along feature for emerging readers. For educators, I think that there are several features that are appealing such as the Spanish toggle feature for our ELL students as well as the connection to Ohio Learning Standards. For parents, I think that because Bookflix is a trusted resource, they can rest assured that their students are reading quality texts.
3. Bookflix can really tackle a lot. Instead of accessing two or three different programs, you can get it all with Bookflix. Read-alouds, read along, skill-building games, vocabulary, and parent resources are all in one spot and it is FREE and trustworthy!
Love your selling points for BookFlix!
1. I completed the What is Inquiry class. We are trying to move students into more project based models to have more authentic learning experiences.
2. Go! Ask! Achieve! is an excellent resource for the entire Inquiry process for students to organize their thinking, consider legitimate sources, and prepare to share their product or prototype. Teachers will love having a digital assistant to help students stay focused and on-task for this big project.
3. If you're considering an Inquiry unit, or even a "Genius Hour" I would highly recommend the resources curated on Infohio in the 9-12 band called Go! Ask! Achieve. It will help your students organize and tackle an extended project and lead them through the steps painlessly. Resources and links are in this one-stop-shop!
I looked through several different resources to familiarize myself with them. Some of them I have used in the past and wanted a refresher and others I had not used at all. I spent more time on the MS/HS classes because I was not as familiar with them. I will focus this response on World Book Student. There are so many features of this resource that would be appealing to students - current events and the games jump out at me. Students would be interested in learning more about topics that they see in the news. Games always appeal to students and would be beneficial to teachers as well as a way to teach students in a fun way. Teachers and parents would like that the research conducted can be saved to a personal account and pulled up at home as well as at school. I would recommend this resource to teachers due to the abundance of material. Science and math teachers could reinforce standards with the games. All subject areas could conduct research projects. History teachers would love the back in time articles to give a new perspective and different lens to their lessons.
1) I chose the Points of View Reference Center because there are several teachers in the building that have their students work on topics that have opposing viewpoints, and I thought this would be a good resource to share with them. I wasn't aware it was available, and it has a lot more features than I first thought.
2) There are several features that would be appealing to students: The "Browse by Category" and "In the News" will help students generate topics. Many times, students have difficulty selecting a topic, and the number of current issues will be helpful to them. Also, the summary and the point and counterpoint will give students a basic, yet solid, understanding of the topic before diving in deeper.
Similar to students, I think educators will find the current topics, the summary, and two points of view an excellent way to introduce an argumentative essay. The reference shelf is helpful since it has the curriculum standards for all the states, and it is easy to access. And, the Guide to Critical Analysis is a helpful guide that teachers could have their students follow as they begin work on their research.
Parents will appreciate that emails and posters regarding the resources can be sent to them (along with the school's username/password) so they can help their students access the material at home.
3) Points of View Reference helps students navigate how to think critically about both sides of an issue and find quality and factual resources that support their point of view. The resource aligns with the content standards and works seamlessly with Google Drive and Classroom. I would also suggest trying the Frayer Model as an exercise to help students see issues from an opposing point of view.
1. The resource I chose to learn more about was PebbleGo Next. The reason I looked into this class is because I have had a lot of elementary teachers ask me for interactive and engaging activities that they can use in their classroom. PebbleGo Next covers subject areas that we do not have a lot of extra resources for, so it is nice that it is free to use and covers science and social studies.
2. I think the students would really like the games featued on this website. The puzzles, quick math, and zoom could all be fun little activities for students to use. For educators, the activities available as part of the lessons are engaging, provide good content, and ask for higher levels of thinking from students. The activities and critical thinking questions both provide good opportunities for students to engage with the content being taught. Parents would appreciate this site because of the extra resources, like videos, read-aloud feautures and a dictionary, that can help provide support to their child if the student is completing work at home.
3. PebbleGo Next is a great resource for supplemental social studies and science concepts. There are games, lessons, and activites you can complete with your class. These materials would make for a great full class activity day, but also have enough support for students to be used as an independent activity as well!
1. World Book Student and Advanced. My seniors have a research paper they need to complete for graduation. We are moving toward doing more biographies.
2. The layout of the page of World Book Student, not so much Advanced. To educators-the same thing. As well as the extra resources available and the ease of navigating them. To parents-the fact that the students can access this resource at home.
3. We could use this for research and the kids would be able to actually navigate this cite instead of having to backspace and go to every different little page. This is a one-stop-shop for their articles and they can even cite the source and other sources here. It would be so much easier than using what we are now.
1. World Bood Student and Advanced. I chose this resource because we can utilize it in the English curriculum at the Career Center and I wanted a more in depth look at this resource.
2. The layout of the WB Students page is very user friendly and super easy to navigate for students of different learning levels. For educators, the ease of navigating is again a key; but also, the citation options are amazing. For parents, having resources their students can use at home 24/7 is great. Students and parents no longer have to worry about making it to a public library outside school hours.
3. World Book is easy to navigate and has a variety of resources available like primary documents, magazines, regular encylopedia articles and videos. Citations are already done and students can save things to Google classroom or email information to themselves. You can also post links to your class Canvas page which makes things easy to find.
Explora. Students use the library for research.
It is easy to navigate.
Explora has a wide range of topics and areas for the students to use.
I chose Explora because I assist MS and HS teachers with research projects. Students will like the visual appeal, the citation tool, and the ability to save to their drive. Staff will appreciate the credible sources, the lexile levels, text features, and the audio format. Parents will like their child to have the ability to utilize this resource from home. I would share with colleagues how Explora is a great resource for credible sources that also lends itself to students across academic levels. I would also share the teaching resources/educator link that might assist them in their planning and use of Explora.
I chose to explore with Explora 6-8 and Explora 9-1 for my digital resource. I believe that my time and attention at school in the library is focused on elementary grades, K-5, but I want to be proficient enough to offer InfOhio resources to my middle and high school teachers.
Features on Explora that will be most appealing to students is the read-along, and being able to adjust readability. Teachers would like it for the same reasons, but also for the webquest activities to help develop students' research skills beyond Google. As for parents, I believe that they will appreciate not having to assiste with reading material to their child(ren).
There are many options for content based subject matter that has some great features including read-along, change lexile level. There are also webquest activities to help hone research skills. Articles can be shared in your Google classroom as a way to establish prior knowledge or pique curiositiy on a specific topic.
I completed the World Almanac Kids resource due to how it covers a wide array of topics ranging from Math and Science to Children’s Literature.
The aspect of this resource that would appeal most to children is the visual aspect and that it also has educational games available. For educators, it would have to be the Teacher Resource section which includes many useful handouts, lesson plans, and other material that can be used in the classroom. For parents, this resource would appeal to them as it is a reliable source for information as well as having its content tailored to be kid-friendly which is still informative.
World Almanac Kids is great for in and outside of the classroom. This resource has games that are educational yet fun as well as teacher resources such as lesson plans, corresponding worksheets, and project suggestions!
Explora Grades 6-8 - as a social studies teacher I am always interested in resources that provide full text articles, images, videos, and primary sources.
1. I chose to complete the BookFlix class. I chose this one because I am an Instructional Technology Coach and have had several teachers ask about using it with their students, so I wanted to learn more to help them.
2. The video story feature as well as the read-along feature will be very appealing to students. I think the lesson plan and puzzlers will be most appealing to educators. The Spanish options will be appealing for some of our ESL students and teachers. Families will find the fact that students can access this resource at home appealing, as many of our students love Epic, but cannot use the free version at home after school hours.
3. INFOhio has so many great free resources for you and your students to supplement what you're already doing in class! The sites are safe for students to use and are easy to navigate and access. You can find lesson plans, search for specific topics, and even share links directly to their Google Classroom.
I used World Book Student and Advanced. I felt that as the Librarian in a High School this would be the most utilized resource.
I believe that the resorces are easily laid out and user friendly.
World Book student is a great resorce for students to use. The ease to find what they are looking for and navigate through makes this a first stop digital resorce.
1) The digital resource class I completed was World Almanac for Kids Elementary because I want to understand how the site works and how students will use it. I want to be able to implement this for research projects, so this was a good class to choose.
2) The features most appealing to students will be the games and videos. Students love getting to play games and watch videos to learn information. The features most appealing to educators will be the printable handouts and graphic organizers. It is helpful to have materials that fit with the topic we are teaching. The features most appealing for parents will be the homework help because their child can use that while they are working at home.
3) World Almanac for Kids Elementary is such a great resource for research! You know that you can trust the information that students will be looking up and they will be able to find a large amount of information on their topic. This is a great resource for research projects!
The digital resource class I chose was Digital Pathways for K-5. I chose this one because in my job title I consistently work with teachers in grades K-5.
The features I like the most are BookFlix and PebbleGoNext. I think all the resources are wonderful, but I found that these two hit the demographics of the students I work with the best. They are at all different levels and some read aloud. For the educators, they are easy to navigate and connect their classes. The parents will also love them because they can be used at home for some independent reading time.
Bookflix and PebbleGo next would be great resources from INFOhio to use. They are engaging and keep the students interested in reading. They both have great accommodations with read-alouds and direction. They stories are at multiple different levels and easy for the students ti access.
I choose to complete the World Book Kids because I feel like it is a great resource for students to start learning online research skills.
I think the most appealing aspect for students is that is is colorful and easy to use. The most appealing aspect for educators would be ease of use and ability to download content directly into Google Classroom.
This resource is easy for students to use. It has lots of content for you to help extend the students knowledge and resources that will make lesson planning easy.
I chose the 6-12 Digital Content Learning path becaus I work at the high school level.
2. What features of the resource are most appealing to students? To educators? To parents?
The features are attractively displayed and easily accessible for all users. The content is
high interest with various levels of reading ability, and they provide rich material with
extensive content areas for both teachers and parents.
3. One of your co-workers has approached you in the hall for help with INFOhio resources.
Write two to three sentences you would use to explain why they should use this resource to
support student learning.
You should really should check out the INFOhio Digital Contant learning path for grades 9-
12 website. It has an abundance of resources for all content areas. When you choose an
area of interest, you're provided with support and guidance on how to use the site, in
addition to suggestions for other websites that may assist you in that particular area.