What tech tools should you use?

This is a question we often hear from educators: with so many tech tools out there, which are the are best to use?  

For us, the answer is simple: use what works for you.  Your school may subscribe to a particular tool, or your colleague may have a favorite, or you might find something interesting online. Use it! Our instructional model is designed to work with any and every tech tool out there.

With that said, we think that any Modern Classroom educator should use, at a minimum, the following three tools:

• Something that records your screen: We like Screencast-o-Matic: it's simple and works on any device.  You can also use Screencastify, Loom, PowerPoint, Quicktime, or anything else. Find a program you like and stick with it. 

• A site that hosts your videos: Ideally, you can upload your videos to a platform that allows you to embed questions, like Edpuzzle. You can use Playposit as well, or a general video-hosting site like YouTube or Vimeo.

• A learning management system (LMS): Most schools already provide a LMS for you to use. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, figure out how to use it and use it well@  (You can see our tutorials for several common LMS's here.) If your school doesn't have an LMS, you an always create a simple Google Site, like those in our exemplar units.

Can you use other tools in addition to these? Of course! If a tools work for you and your students, then it works for us.  And if there's something you use that you really like, please let us know so we can share it with others!