Each week in our newsletter we highlight a favourite free or low-cost app/tool/resource/piece of software that we think might be useful or fun in your classroom or school. Every few weeks we round them up here on the blog.
We’d love to hear what you think about them if you give them a go, and any others you’d like to share – leave a comment in the box below. Catch up with all the tools in Give it a try, part 1 , part 2, part 3 , part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9 and part 10
Don’t want to wait for the roundup? Sign up to our newsletter to get a new ‘give it a try’ in your inbox every Thursday lunchtime.
The life-changing magic of decluttering Google Drive
If your new year’s resolution was to declutter and get organised, where better to start than your Google Drive? Here’s a great list of tips and tricks, from the magic of ‘shift+z’ to emojifying your folders (possibly not for everyone, that one).
Accessibility tools
We’re sharing a bumper Richard Byrne Give it a try this week: his seven-page handout that outlines a wealth of accessibility tools to use to improve the accessibility of documents, slides, videos, and on websites.
ProjectEVOLVE
SWGfL has updated its digital literacy resource and turned it into ProjectEVOLVE, a well-organised tool which resources each of the 330 statements from “Education for a Connected World” with research, activities, outcomes, supporting resources and professional development materials covering an age range from three years to 18. Eight strands tackle all aspects of online life from self-image, relationships and reputation to bullying, privacy and security.
Facebook’s ‘Off-Facebook Activity’ tool
Facebook has launched its ‘Off-Facebook Activity’ tool, which lets users manage and delete the data that third-party apps and websites share with Facebook. But is it all it seems? Not quite. Nonetheless, here’s a step by step guide to using and managing the information Facebook collects on you from other sites and apps.
AI Bingo
Designed at MIT to teach children aged 9-14 about AI, this AI Bingo game features lists of datasets and predictions and children have to match them to the corresponding AI task. We haven’t tried it yet and we’re sure it must be less complicated and more fun than the instructions make it sound…we’d love to hear what you think if you try it.
Educandy
Recommended by the ever-reliable Richard Byrne, Educandy offers an easy way to create interactive learning games. It offers eight options, from word searches and crosswords to memory games and noughts and crosses, and the games can be played on individual computers, tablets, via the Educandy app or on the interactive whiteboard.