I love to learn by really diving into something. Sometimes things just click, and I pick up a new technology quickly. Sometimes it takes a second, but after doing some digging (everything has at least 15 how-to videos on YouTube these days, right? I mean, that’s how I fixed my dishwasher!) I can get things running smoothly and find practical applications for just about anything.

With that in mind, I decided to dive into a few new-to-me technologies: Edpuzzle, Nearpod, and QR Codes.

Edpuzzle is a platform that allows the user to create, edit, and design video lessons, with the added bonus of embedding formative assessment. I decided to take a video I had created in my Designing Accessible and Inclusive Instruction class and add a quiz question.

Here’s a screencast of the finished product:

This is a nice way to engage the learner in what could be an otherwise boring video.

As much as I liked Edpuzzle, I liked Nearpod more. It had a much nicer interface, and I found it more user friendly. I was able to easily take an old presentation, upload it to the website, and enter in a poll. This is a great tool for adding in quick formative assessments (whose data I can view in post-session reports!), and I will definitely be bookmarking it for future use.

Nearpod also had a really nice set of instructional videos on YouTube.  I really like to find out as much as I can when learning something new, so I really appreciated this gold mine.