Distance learning seems to be the new buzz word these days and it doesn’t seem to be coming to an end. One thing that has been consistent for me are these three extensions that have been helpful in keeping my lessons engaging and saving me a ton of time. Previously, I spoke about 20+ extensions and websites to help with distance learning, but I want to break down three specific ones I’ve been leaning on a bit more these days.
Bitmoji
Using Bitmoji has made my lessons way more fun than the standard slide deck. Students love seeing my cartoon on the slides reminding them to do the exit ticket or explain their thoughts. Did you know that you can have your Bitmoji say anything that you want now? Just type what you want in the search bar and it will appear on the Bitmoji.
Loom
Loom is an awesome alternative to Screencastify. They both do the same task, record the screen with or without your camera, the only difference is the amount of time. You can record for more time with Loom than you can with Screencastify, which is the major difference.
When you’re done recording a Loom video, you have to download it as MP4 and then upload it to your Google Drive to share it with your students if you’re using Google Classroom.
Sir-Links-A-Lot
How annoying is it when you spend so much time making this amazing slide deck, document, form, sheet, etc., only to have someone edit the original? Seriously. MAKE A COPY! Well, instead of being all passive aggressive about it, you can force them to make a copy.
I bring you Sir-Links-A-Lot! This chrome extensions is great for when I am sharing documents with colleagues and students alike. Just click the extension and voila! You can create a force copy link right there to copy and send to whoever. To use this extension effectively, you will have to adjust the share settings of the document to anyone with the link so that they can create a copy on their own drive.
I hope that these extensions boost your students motivation and engagement in your lessons and activities for distance learning! If you want to see a quick video showing how to install these extensions and when to use them!
alexandra
