CognitiveToolChallengePart1Consumptiontools

TuesdayGroup

Createasimplereviewtosharewithyourclass.Considerthecost,timecommitment,easeof
useandfinalresult.
Addtothesectionandimproveifyoucan.Addacommentifyouhavea
question.Ifyouknowofanotherresource,addittothelistatthebottom.

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ABCSplash
ABCSplashisafree,easytousewebsitethatcontainsinformationrelatingtothe
AustralianCurriculum.Ithasonlinegamesandinteractiveactivitiesdesignedforarangeofyear
levelsandlearningareas.ThisWebsiteissetoutinaneasytonavigatelayoutandprovides
recentNewsandarticlesrelevantforEducationstudents.ThereisasearchbarthatsaysIam
inyear..andIwanttoknowabout..whichallowsforageappropriateresearch.Itisavailable
forAndroidwhichmeansitisportableandaccessibleanywhere.Itisfreewhichmeansitis
obtainableforeveryone.

KhanAcademy
KhanAcademyisafree,onlinelearningtoolwebsitedesignedforstudents,
teachersandparents.Astudentcanbeofanyageoryearlevel,withKhanAcademysethos
of,"free,worldclasseducationforanyone,anywhere".Studentsareabletoaccessthewebsite
andvieweducationalvideos,andcompleteexercisesforavastrangeofsubjects.Studentscan
createapersonaliseddashboardtocatertotheirlearningrequirements.Toaccompanythe
dashboard,studentscangetfeedbackfromtutoringresultsandworktowardsgoals.Khan
Academyisbeneficialforteachersandparentsindevelopingteachingtoolstobestcoach
studentsinlearning.WhilstKhanAcademycaterstoabroadrangeofsubjects,Scienceand
Mathematicsareafocus.(ShannonRaffaelli)

PhETInteractives
PhETisaninitiativeoftheUniversityofColorado.Itcreatesfreeinteractive
mathandsciencesimulations.PhETsimsarebasedonextensiveeducationresearchand
engagestudentsthroughanintuitive,gamelikeenvironmentwherestudentslearnthrough
explorationanddiscovery.ThesimulationsarewritteninFlash,JavaorHTML5,andbe
downloadedorusedonline.(PervezMistry)

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BrainPopisawebsitethathasresourcesorganisedbytopicsandincludeinformation,games,
mindmappingtool,activitiesandaquiz.Theamountislimitedifyouwanttousethesiteforfree
buttheinformationavailableisverygood.Thefullaccesstothewebsiterequirespaymentbutit
isagoodinteractivetoolforstudentstobeabletolearnintheirownspaceandawholeschool
licenceisavailable.Thesiteseemstobeeasytonavigateforbothstudentsandteachersand
wouldmakeagoodresourceforuseinaclassroom.(RachaelFlutter)

TEDTalks
Tedallowsforthespreadingofideasthroughtheuseofavarietyoftalksonavarietyoftopics.
Itisanidealresourcefortheclassroomandallowsstudentstoexplorethecreativeideason
display.

Atechnology,entertainment,designorTEDtalk,isagreatresourceforteachers,notonlyto
learnfromotherprofessionalsbuttoshowstudentsforinspirationandtoconveycontent
knowledge.ATEDtalkisavideocreatedfromapresentationatthemain

TED
conferenceor
oneofitsmanysatelliteeventsaroundtheworld.

TEDtalksarelimitedtoamaximumlengthof18minutesbutmaybeonanytopic.Thisiswhyit
isahandytoolfortheclassroomasitcouldeasilyfitintoalessonplan.Itisahighly
motivationalresourcesas"TEDlooksforengaging,charismaticspeakerswhosetalksexpose
newideasthataresupportedbyconcreteevidenceandarerelevanttoabroad,international
audience.(
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/TEDtalk
)

TherearecountlessamountsofTeachingTEDtalksavailable:

https://www.ted.com/about/programsinitiatives/tedtalkseducation
(NesciGrabe)

Khanacademy

Benefits:
Veryusefulforstudentsunderstandingofconceptsthatareparticularlyimportantorthat
thestudentisstrugglingwith.
Itprovidesthestudentswithasourceotherthantheteacher.
Forvisual/spatiallearnersitprovidesanextrasourceofinformation.

CognitiveToolChallengePart1Consumptiontools
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Itisusefulforstudentswhohavelowattentionspansandstruggletolearnusingatext
book.
Iftheteacherdoesntfeelconfidentexplainingatopicorisawayandthereisarelief,
thevideosareanalternativemethodtointroducetopicsastheyexplaintheminsimilardetailto
normalclassroomteaching.
Khanacademyisanextremelyusefultoolforstudentsunderstandingmorecomplexissuesthat
aretaughtinupperschool.TheproblemwithusingKhanAcademyisthatitdoesntprovide
studentswithpracticequestionsorlinkstoextrainformation.Theotherandmoreimportant
issueisthatitisntlinkedtothecurriculum,meaningitcanonlybeusediftherehappenstobe
informationrelevanttothestudentscurrenttopic.

CoolAustralia
CoolAustraliaisanawardwinningnotforprofitdedicatedtosupportingeducatorswithtoolsto
fosterlearningforlife.Wehelpintegratetopicsaroundsustainability,ethics,economicsand
wellbeingacrossthecurriculum.Thisenablesteachersofallagegroupsanddisciplinesto
engageyoungAussiesinreallifelearningwhilstachievingAustralianCurriculumandEarly
YearsLearningFrameworkoutcomes.

CoolAustraliacreatesunitsofworkandlearningactivitiesthatcanbedownloadedfromthe
CoolAustraliawebsiteandtakenstraightintotheclassroom.Thelearningactivitiesareyear
levelspecific,fromEarlyLearningtoYear12.AllarelinkedtoAustralianCurriculumstandards
andtheEarlyYearsLearningFrameworkoutcomes.TheyprovideanonlineDigitalLibraryto
supportlearningandteaching.Itcontainsvideos,images,infographics,researchandnews
articles.CoolAustraliadeliversonlineprofessionaldevelopmentintheformofonlinecourses
andwebinarstofurthersupporteducators.Sometimestheyprovidekeynoteaddressesto
audiencesacrossthecountry.TheyalsocoordinateEnviroweekayearofaction,aweekof
celebration.
http://www.coolaustralia.org/
(TinaKokott)

CognitiveToolChallengePart1Consumptiontools
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BBCbitesizeisawebsiteevidentlyrunbyBBCthatprovidesavastcollectionofinformation
coveringanythingfromArchitecturetoSpanish.Italsocoversforkindergartentoyear12
educations.Itprovessomegeneralinformationthatisneededforthesubjectbutalsoprovides
resourcessuchalessonplansandlessonactivities.Onlydownsidetothiswebsiteisthatit
cateredtowardstheUnitedKingdomeducationsystemandappearssomewhatrudimentaryin
theinformationitprovidesandtheavailabilityoflessonplansandetc.(Edward)

PhetInteractiveSimulations
Phet(PhysicsEducationTechnology)InteractiveSimulationsisanopeneducational
resource"Toadvancescienceandmathliteracyandeducationworldwidethroughfree
interactivesimulations."incorporatesresearchbasedpracticesoneffectiveteachingto
enhancethelearningofscienceandmathematicsconcepts.Thesimulationsare
designedtobeflexiblesothattheycanbeusedaslecturedemonstrations,labs,or

homeworkactivities.
Theyuseanintuitive,gamelikeenvironmentwherestudentscan

learnthroughscientistlikeexplorationwithinasimplifiedenvironment,wheredynamic
visualrepresentationsmaketheinvisiblevisible,andwherescienceideasare
connectedtorealworldphenomena.Thesesimulationsaresharedintheeducation
communtiy.

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