This adventure involved some new technologies and one “old friend.”

First up: Sutori.  It was a nice program (I did really like how my test presentation looked in the “present” mode!), but I wasn’t thrilled that videos auto-played in the presentation.  I don’t understand how anyone can think this is a good idea. FULL DISCLOSURE: this is probably super helpful in some specific instance that someone will tell me about, but I find it to be one of the more irritating things on the Internet.

That said, I can see how this would be a nice way for students to collaborate.  There are a lot of options (quiz questions, matching, forums, etc) for interactivity and formative assessment, which makes it an engaging experience for the learner and provides valuable feedback for the instructor. 

I also tried making a timeline with a different program, TimelineJS from Knight Lab.  This is an open-source tool that you can use to create interactive timelines with nothing more than a google spreadsheet (no signing up for any services or subscriptions!)

Timeline JS gives very clear, step by step instructions on how to create your timeline.  I was also able to insert some basic html tags to create links within my timeline.  I found the whole process pretty simple, and I really liked the look of the finished product. 

Time for a little humor! The next program I explored was IMG Flip. 

Yes, a meme-maker. I love memes.  I have an entire folder on my phone dedicated to them.  I absolutely love the idea of bringing them into the classroom.  Adding a little bit of humor can go a long way in class!

Lastly, I revisited my old friend, Canva. Canva is a tool that I have a love-hate relationship with, but I do use it a lot because it has beautiful, customizable templates.  Sometimes I need a little inspiration to put together a presentation, and Canva is really great for that.  I especially love that you can download your work in different formats (pdf, powerpoint, etc).

Here are some examples of things I’ve created in Canva: