The ever-evolving Nearpod

Attended a live Nearpod webinar just now, partly to catch up on the latest features of Nearpod, and partly to experience what it's like to join a Nearpod lesson as a student.  (10:00 a.m US EDT time - 11:00 p.m. HK time).

I was actually an early adopter of Nearpod. But just now, I was amazed by the new features they have in store. I especially like:

- 'Time to Climb' - a gamification feature

- Add Activity on the spot during a live lesson

- the idea-sharing sticky-notes board

- real-time feedback for individual students

- choose individual students' work to share with the whole class

Nearpod has even joined Zoom, so that you can launch a lesson directly through Zoom!

Some edtech tools have remained the same for years (e.g., Socrative), but some keep improving and evolving, and Nearpod is definitely one of the ever-improving ones.

Prezi Video - one of my favourite apps for producing instructional videos

If you need to produce instructional videos from time to time, whether they are for flipped learning or not, Prezi has recently added a feature which can be useful to you. It's called Prezi Video.

Those of us familiar with Prezi will know that a Prezi is usually for real-time presentation, or browsed by viewers on their own. Now with Prezi Video, you can open a Prezi you have created, and use the app's video recording function to record yourself presenting the Prezi. For every move, you can choose between (a) you appearing on the left of the screen and your Prezi on the right, (b) just the Prezi, and (c) just you yourself. And because you can record move by move, you don't need to memorise long speaker notes.

If you don't have your own Prezi's, you can use the video templates or reusable videos they provide. All you need to do is to choose a template, edit the text content, and start recording.

But of course Prezi differs from PPT because of its layers feature and the zooming in/out effect. It can also embed many multimedia materials. If you present and video-record a Prezi that has these effects, the result can be quite spectacular!

Finally my salutes to Prezi. For many other apps, a feature like Prezi Video will come under the premium plan. But Prezi is still making it free.

https://prezi.com/video/

Merriam-Webster's save-word function

Glad to see that Merriam-Webster Dictionary has added the 'Save word' function to its desktop version. https://www.merriam-webster.com/

Merriam-Webster used to have the 'Save word' function for its mobile version only. (The other 2 dictionary mobile apps which also have the 'Save word' function are Dictionary.com, and Collins Cobuild Intermediate [paid].)

In the past, to use the 'Save Word' function while working on a desktop computer, one could only go to Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary, which of course has a smaller collection of words.
https://learnersdictionary.com/

Interestingly, the desktop version of Dictionary.com does not have the 'Save word' function. And Collins Cobuild Intermediate does not have a desktop online version.

The 'Save Word' function is useful (at least to me) because quite often, after I have looked up the meaning of a word, I may forget its meaning after some time, and then have to look it up again!

The 'Save word' function will create a list of new words which you wish to go back to later for review. This is good for building one's vocabulary. And if you still forget the meaning of a word while reviewing your saved word list, simply click on it, and the definition will pop up again.

Loom vs Screencastify

Thanks to

Vivien Chan

, who alerted me to the video messaging app called Loom. (Yes, Loom, not Zoom.) I've quickly checked it out. In a way, it works quite like Screencastify, which is for screencasting. It can be used as a desktop app or a Chrome extension. But to me, it has 4 plusses over Screencastify:

1. As soon as you stop recording, the share URL is already in your clipboard, so you can share your video with someone immediately. (Screencastify takes 2 more steps.)

2. If you want to appear in the video as a picture-in-picture, you can 'move yourself' to any place on the screen.

3. There is a 'record a reply' function. If your recipient is also using Loom, then when they open your URL and view your video message, they can record a reply immediately, and you will be notified of the reply. (That's why Loom calls itself a video messaging app.)

4. While the free Screencastify can only record up to 5 minutes, Loom doesn't have this limit.

Loom is now making the Pro plan permanently free for teachers. So if you often do quick screencasting and/or video messaging, Loom is worth a look.

http://loom.com/

The edtech paper chase

多謝Priscilla Cheong 先前的edtech certifications summary, 我又走去讀Flipgrid Level 1, 得到這個badge。

然後讀Nearpod Certified Educator, 課程已上了，但是之後要設計一堂新的Nearpod 課，兼且在一班15人以上的堂實行，才可申請成為Nearpod Certified Educator, 這部分要等到九月才可完成了。

其實Edpuzzle, Flipgrid, 和Nearpod 我都用過，但上這些課程，總發現一些新功能我之前沒有留意。

下一步我有興趣的，是National  Geographic Certified Educator, 但新班要九月才有，然後要利用它的Resources 設計一教學單元，最後製作一個project report presentation。我不是教地理，但我發現National Geographic 的resources 很多適合做Reading Across the  Curriculum, 和Multimodal Reading,  希望九月新班完成後可以找到學校讓我try out 我的教學設計。

https://flipgrid.com/certified
https://nearpod.com/certified-educator
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/education/professional-development/educator-certification/