Molly Heinhuis

EDT 627
GVSU Winter 2019
24 March, 2019

Resource Summary Kit

In today’s educational world, it is clear just how useful technology can be within learning-
-not only in variety and width but in depth. For this reason, it has been becoming conspicuously
clear to me that having something like a “resource kit” can go a long way for my future in
teaching and education. Not only will it be helpful to know a variety of technology resources to
use, but also knowing how to use them as a tool whether than a substitution. The standards
really allow us to assess our use of technology, but our own personal understanding is what we
can use to assess our ability. I believe this assignment to be a merger of those two things: a
place to assess my understanding and ability. Do I have the knowledge and understanding to
use these resources as a beneficial tool for my student’s learning and progress? This preceding
thought works as my driving question for this summary of resources.

1. Piktochart (piktochart.com)
a. Description
i. Piktochart is a website that allows for its users to create personalized
infographics. The website provides programmed themes for uses to utilize
and personalize to fit their needs. With an account users are also able to
save works in progress or completed works to their dashboards.
b. Plan of Use
i. Example Lesson:
1. I think PiktoChart can be a great tool for complementing many
ELA projects and goals. There are CCSS standards for ELA that
require students become skilled in synthesizing information and
pulling knowledge from many different sources. I think making
infographics using Piktochart gives students the space to work on
this skill. For example: Secondary ELA classes often require
students to write a research paper. Often times this requires
research that supports claims and reasoning. I think with a
research paper it would be great for students to then pull from that
research to make a Piktochart as a way to better understand all of
their knowledge while working on crafting their paper.
ii. Learning Objective (students will be able to…)
 1. ...to practice finding main ideas and synthesizing multiple different
sources in order to combine content for a personally designed and
created infographic.
c. Student Learning Support
i. Student Standards (ISTE):
1. S6c: Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by
creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations,
models or simulations.
2. S6d: Students publish or present content that customizes the message
and medium for their intended audiences.
d. Student Accuracy and Suitability
i. Affordances:
1. Piktochart is a program that I do not believe students will be
familiar with, but I think that it is very user friendly. It has a simple
structure with clearly labeled tools.
ii. Constraints:
1. It will be something that may require some support on my end. But
with the use of technology (projector, computer) it would be an
easy resource for me to model using. With that, I think that it will
be very suitable.

2. Padlet (padlet.com)
a. Description
i. Padlet is a website/interface that can be referred to as online sticky notes.
This website has different themes that allow for these “sticky notes” to
interact with each other in different ways. Sticky notes can be posted from
different users within the same padlet, and it allows for great collaboration
online. There are different basic feature layouts whereas students can
have their sticky notes interact in different ways: random placement,
columns, connecting arrows, etc.
b. Plan of Use
i. Example Lesson:
1. Padlet is a great way to create collaborative work in a
technological space. I recently had students create a padlet
themselves which discussed the layout of a podcast. They were
given a certain amount of elements that can be found in a podcast
and were asked to place these things in pertaining columns of
their padlet. It was a great way to make an ELA assignment more
hands-on and collaborative with structure.
ii. Learning Objective (students will be able to…):
1. ...to work collaboratively to better understand and grapple with the
elements of a podcast and one of the structural layouts they can
embody.
 c. Student Learning Support
i. Student Standards (ISTE):
1. S3c: Students curate information from digital resources using a
variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that
demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.
d. Accuracy and Suitability: Students seems to have an adequate
understanding of how to use padlet because of past experience in other
classrooms.
i. Affordances:
1. Also, I believe that it is similarly set up to many google drive
applications. So using common terms like “make a copy” “share
the padlet” etc, seems to be beneficial.
ii. Constraints:
1. There are a lot of pre-made themes or layouts that may not leave
enough room for student personalization.

3. Google Forms (docs.google.com/ forms)

a. Description
i. Google Forms is a great tool for asking questions and getting answers.
There are many different formats with which you can create a google
from: it can be a quiz, a survey, a signup sheet, a login page, etc.
b. Plan of Use
i. Example Lesson
1. There have been a few ways we have used google forms thus far,
and I hope to project these google form strategies in my future
classrooms. Google forms is used most frequently for us to create
quizzes--specifically for the student’s SAT vocab. It is a great way
to check for understanding in a quick and efficient way. Also, we
used google forms in order to survey the student’s interests and
group work personalities before deciding groups for our projects.
This was very useful for educators to gage their interests and
group work abilities.
ii. Learning Objective (students will be able to…)
1. ...to continue building vocabulary and understanding of new SAT
vocabulary, as well as to assist in self-assessment and progress.
c. Student Learning Support
i. Student Standard (ISTE)
1. S7c: Students contribute constructively to project teams,
assuming various roles and responsibilities to work effectively
toward a common goal.
d. Accuracy and Suitability: While google forms is something that my current
students are very familiar with, I think it will be important to utilize it frequently in
order for its accuracy and suitability to avoid becoming ephemeral.
 i. Constraints:
1. Editing on google applications can be a little bit different from
Microsoft, which can cause a little bit of difficulty. However, with
gained familiarity it is not a problem.

4. FlipGrid (FlipGrid.com)
a. Description
i. FlipGrid is an online tool that allows for its users to record short videos.
These videos can be a response to a teacher’s question, an instructional
video, or a response to another user’s video.
b. Plan of Use
i. Example Lesson:
1. Flipgrid is a tool that takes group communication and collaboration
to a new level. There are many ways that I hope to utilize this in
future classrooms. I believe FlipGrid could be used similarly to
discussions on blackboard. Book reports in the form of booktalks
could be a great assessment with FlipGrid without sucking a ton of
class time. Also, it would create a space for other students to view
booktalks and take time to respond to classmates videos.
ii. Learning Objective (students will be able to…)
1. ...to practice their speaking and synthesizing skills by providing
book talks for other students to view and respond to.
2. ...to strengthen verbal speaking skills through the use of
technology and understanding of new technology.
c. Student Learning Support
i. Student Standards (ISTE):
1. S1c: Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and
improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety
of ways.
2. S2b: Students engage in positive, safe, legal and ethical behavior
when using technology, including social interactions online or when
using networked devices.
d. Accuracy and Suitability: FlipGrid is very easy to use and similar to many
social media apps students are well equipped in using. This is used with very
young ages as well, so I believe it will also be suitable for students in higher
levels of education as long as the lesson is adjusted accordingly.
i. Affordances
1. When you first log in to FlipGrid they offer many instructional
guidelines and tutorial tabs that assist you in seeing what it is
capable of.
ii. Constraints
1. FlipGrid would require personal student use of technology which is
not always available.
5. Classroom Screen (classroomscreen.com)
a. Description
i. Classroom Screen is a very useful resource for teachers. It provides easy
access to many things a teacher may need during an interactive lesson:
timer, name selector, voice level gage, etc. When the website is accessed
those tools are readily accessible for teachers or students.
b. Plan of Use
i. Example Lesson:
1. I can imagine this tool being used to help streamline many lessons
in future classrooms. This classroom screen provides a timer, and
I use timers very frequently in my classroom setting. I most
recently used a timer when I was facilitating ELA stations. Also, I
like this tool because it makes these things also accessible for
students. Students often times lead presentations that follow up
with questions, and this timer would be very user friendly for them
as well. Also, on classroom screen there are things like name
selectors which are useful during a mini-lecture when you want
students to share out. Lastly, I foresee myself using the volume
level predictor to show students where their noise volume is
versus where it should be.
ii. Learning Objectives (students will be able to…)
1. ...to utilize technological resources in order to strengthen their
leadership skills or self management of behavior.
c. Professional Development Support
i. Educator Standards (ISTE) :
1. E6b: Manage the use of technology and student learning strategies in
digital platforms, virtual environments, hands-on makerspaces or in
the field.
d. Accuracy and Suitability: Classroom screen is extremely user friendly
and i do not foresee my students have problems with the usage. I think it
will be important to use it the right way in order to assure suitability for
higher grade levels.
i. Constraints: Not always applicable for higher level ages.

6. Quizlet (Quizlet.com)
a. Description
i. Quizlet is an online tool that allows students the resources, or space for
creating resources, to study a variety of subject areas. Students have
access to different pre-made flash card sets, or games that assist them in
checking their understanding.
b. Plan of Use
i. Example Lesson
 1. Quizlet is a great tool to complement other mini-lessons. It can be
used as a formative assessment, a summative assessment, a
exit-slip for new content, or a time filler for independent studying.
Many of my students will be able to utilize quizlet in order to help
them prepare for assessments or understandings of content.
ii. Learning Objective (students will be able to…)
1. …to independently practice and self-assess of understanding and
comprehension, as well as next steps needed based on progress.
c. Student Learning Support
i. Student Standards (ISTE):
1. S1a: Students articulate and set personal learning goals, develop
strategies leveraging technology to achieve them and reflect on the
learning process itself to improve learning outcomes.
d. Accuracy and Stability:I think there are many classrooms that utilize quizlet. I
think it offers a large amount of flexibility which leaves room for it to be suitable
for a wide variety of student age level.
i. Affordances:
1. Similar to many other quizzing websites that students have used;
there will be familiarity and commonality in the layout.
ii. Constraints:
1. Can make things a little less collaborative for students.

7. NewsELA (newsela.com)
a. Description
i. NewsELA is a database of information and news articles aimed for
classroom use and student technological literacy. It takes away the
guessing game of reliability, which is very useful in the very porous nature
of today’s search engines
b. Plan of Use
i. Example Lesson:
1. I recently had a classroom assignment at the beginning of our new
unit where students were given time to do “independent
exploration” in order to gain new understanding and width of
scope for our new content topics. I think that NewsELA was great
for an activity like this because it allowed for guidance which still
left room for independence. The students were able to spend their
time independently focusing on good sources of new information.
ii. Learning Objective (students will be able to…)
1. ...to strengthen ability to synthesize and form thoughts from
differing various sources.
c. Student Learning Support
i. Student Standards (ISTE):
 1. S3d: Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world
issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing
answers and solutions.
d. Accuracy and Suitability: NewsELA functions just as any other content
search engine and has extremely accurate and suitable content for the
students to obtain new knowledge and answer personal questions for
literacy growth.
i. Affordances
1. Clear headers, and well organized. Students would be able to
search for content, and clearly find needed sources.
ii. Constraints:
1. Does not offer a ton of opportunity for students to grow research
skills. NewsELA offers students reliable and various content all
from this one source, so it does not challenge them in
independently researching.

8. Audacity (audacity.com)
a. Description
i. Audacity is a recording and editing app that allows for lots of
different production products.
b. Plan of Use
i. Example Lesson
1. Students will currently be using audacity in order to help them
create their own podcasts about the idea of consumerism. Using
audacity allows for them to practice their tech skills as well as take
control of the creation fo their final unit product.
ii. Learning Objective (students will be able to…)
1. ...to record, edit, and finalize their group podcast which discusses
the impact of consumerism.
c. Student Learning Support
i. Student Standards (ISTE):
1. S2c: Students demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the
rights and obligations of using and sharing intellectual property.
d. Accuracy and Suitability This technology source is very suitable for the unit
and grade level. It also is an accurate way to assess their skills with problem
solving the use of a new format and technology.
i. Constraints:
1. A background in editing can be necessary in order to fully utilize
the editing abilities within audacity. Also, there can be difficulty
when they are working within a group: there is not a collaborative
aspect similar to google apps and sharing and saving can face
obstacles.
9. Khan Academy (Khanacademy.org)
a. Description
i. Khan Academy is a website mostly geared towards helping students
become more independent with their progress and levels of
comprehension. Khan academy provides lessons and assessments for
students in varying levels and content areas. It allows students and
teachers to track work done, learning, and progress statistics for
individual students in individual content areas.
b. Plan of Use
i. Example Lesson
1. Our students are given specific Khan Academy lessons to focus
on every week in order to help prepare them for SAT in the next
upcoming months. They are given goals for the week and then
given credit for the completion of the practice exercises.
ii. Learning Objective (students will be able to…)
1. ...to invest independently in their progression and preparation for
SAT in their junior year.
c. Student Learning Support
i. Student Standards (ISTE) :
1. S1a: Students articulate and set personal learning goals, develop
strategies leveraging technology to achieve them and reflect on the
learning process itself to improve learning outcomes.
2. S1c: Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and
improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety
of ways.
d. Accuracy and Suitability
i. Khan is able to become suitable for all different ages and content areas
because it has such a width of content itself. Students are able to easily
use it, and it provides accurate representation of their skill level and
progression.
ii. Affordances
1. Clearly labeled headers and tabs.
iii. Constraints:
1. A little confusing to navigate at first use, but with familiarity gets
easier to use.

10. InsertLearning (insertlearning.com)

a. Description
i. InsertLearning is a resource that allows for assignments geared around
the synthesis of a specific online resource to be created and completed
online. This is a great tool for providing students guided practice in
annotating articles or double checking the reliability of online sources.
 Teachers can create assignments embedded into a specific URL and
then assign them to students--all from the InsertLearning dashboard.
b. Plan of Use
i. Example Lesson:
1. I think this would be a great source when teaching students to
question the reliability of a source. Teachers are able to insert
questions in specific spots which would help guide students
through practice. In the strategy of “I do, we do, you do” this
allows for technology to become a part of the “we do.” Students
are working on their own, but the teacher is still able to be a part
of Learning Objective (students will be able to…)
2. ...to be able beginning the process of questions a sources the
practice through the use of InsertLearning.
c. Student Learning Support
i. Student Standards (ISTE):
1. S1d: Students understand the fundamental concepts of technology
operations, demonstrate the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot
current technologies and are able to transfer their knowledge to
explore emerging technologies.
d. Accuracy and Suitability I think this website is extremely suitable for helping
students strengthen their technological literacy. However, it may be tricky for
them to understand at first. It has many commonalities with other sources like
google classroom, and schoology, so that may be of assistance in students
navigating their way around the site.
i. Affordances
1. Appears just as any other website, but with added questions and
tasks weaved in. This helps it to be very easy to navigate.
ii. Constraints:
1. They have pre-set types of lessons that you can create, so it is not
totally open for personalization based on your student’s specific
technological needs or instruction requirements.

11. Listen/Notes (Listennotes.com)

a. Description
i. ListenNotes is a search engine for podcasts. It gives you podcasts on
different topics, it provides a description, and in some of them it also
provides a script for that podcast.
b. Plan of Use
i. Example Lesson
1. In my placement classroom this semester, our students have been
working to create their own podcast. In order to further understand
the content material we are discussing--consumerism--as well as
how a podcast looks, sounds, and functions, students have been
listening to other podcasts as a form of mentor texts. It has been
 super beneficial in them being able to understand the layout,
structure, and elements required.
ii. Learning Objective (students will be able to…)
1. ...to strengthen skills in synthesizing information from different
sources in order to build strength in understanding and content
knowledge.
c. Student Learning Support
i. Student Standards (ISTE):
1. S3d: Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world
issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing
answers and solutions.
d. Accuracy and Suitability: ListenNotes is extremely suitable to student use
and works just as any other search engine. I do not foresee students having any
issues with the utilizing it.
i. Affordances
1. Functions as any other search engine which makes it very easy to
understand and utilize. Clearly labeled headers and results.
Allows you to listen to podcast straight from listen notes.
ii. Constraints:
1. Could require 1:1 ratio of student technology.

12. Youth Radio (YouthRadio.org)

a. Description
i. Youth Radio is a podcast created by youth around the current events and
issues that surround the youth and student of today’s world.
b. Plan of Use
i. Example Lesson
1. Students recently were able to listen to a podcast on youth radio
in order to obtain a variety of learning goals: practice visual note
taking, gather ideas and insight into podcasts before creating their
own, and expand knowledge on Economic content objectives.
ii. Learning Objective (students will be able to…)
1. ...to better conceptualize the way a podcast can function and
sound like.
c. Student Learning Support
i. Student Standards (ISTE):
1. S3d: Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world
issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing
answers and solutions.
d. Accuracy and Suitability: This source provides a lot of content that is
suitable to a higher level grade and a class that involves current events or the
synthesizing of new information.
i. Affordances:
 1. Clearly labeled and well organized content which allows for easy
and efficient navigation
ii. Constraints:
1. Podcasts are not updates super frequently.