Canva

Canva has been one of my favorite tools because it gives students voice and choice in how they demonstrate their learning. Rather than everyone creating the same final product, students can design presentations, infographics, brochures, or digital posters that reflect their own creativity while still meeting the learning targets. I have used Canva during research and writing projects to strengthen communication and presentation skills. It also helps build global competence by allowing students to create products that raise awareness about local and global issues for authentic audiences. My recommendation is to provide students with a few template options at the beginning so they can focus on communicating their ideas instead of learning the platform.

Padlet

Padlet has been an excellent tool for collaboration because it allows students to communicate and share ideas with students from other schools. I have used it to facilitate discussions, reflections, and collaborative projects where students compare perspectives and learn from one another. These experiences help students recognize that people from different communities may have different viewpoints while still sharing common goals. A helpful tip is to organize posts by topic or school so students can easily compare responses and engage in meaningful conversations. This was by far my students favorite digital tools this past year. We used it to collborate with our partner school and the students loved that.

Kahoot!

Kahoot! has been an engaging way to reinforce morphology and vocabulary while providing immediate feedback on student understanding. I used it to review prefixes, suffixes, roots, and terminology before assessments, making practice more interactive than traditional review methods. Although primarily an academic tool, it can also be used to introduce students to vocabulary from different languages and cultures, helping them recognize connections across the world. I recommend using the reports after each game to identify misconceptions and guide future instruction.

Chatgpt

I use ChatGPT as a learning partner rather than a replacement for student thinking. Students use it to review their writing, compare their work to a rubric, ask questions about revisions, and receive feedback before submitting final drafts. This supports curricular goals by strengthening writing, reflection, and self-assessment skills while encouraging students to take ownership of the revision process. It also builds global competence by exposing students to multiple perspectives and helping them communicate more effectively with diverse audiences. My advice is to teach students to question and evaluate AI-generated feedback rather than accepting every suggestion automatically. I truly believe to combat their use of it for cheating to teach them how to use it for betterment of their work.

Google Earth/ Google Maps

Google Earth and Google Maps help students connect classroom learning to the real world by allowing them to explore places beyond their own community. I have used these tools to build background knowledge before reading, investigate locations connected to historical events, and compare our rural Ohio community with places around the world. Students develop a stronger understanding of geography, culture, and the interconnectedness of people and places, which supports global competence. I recommend asking students to compare their own community with another location and reflect on both the similarities and differences they discover.