Edmodo’s 5 Favorite Spotlight Resources

Edmodo’s rounded up some of our favorite Spotlight apps and resources ever in order to feature as part of our Best of 2016 series. Since we’ve never had a Best Of series before, we’ve scoured Spotlight for our favorite stuff regardless of the year that it was uploaded. Through a mix of user ratings and some personal favorites, we’ve found 5 of our most loved Spotlight resources to share with you across all subjects and even some with professional development applications.

Math Games

Created by TeachMe, Math Games

“Math Games allows students to practice math skills in over 1200 different ways, with more than 1.5 million questions. It also provides detailed progress reports and student/classroom management tools that allow educators to focus on what matters most – teaching.”

We were incredibly impressed by TeachMe’s math games, especially since they’re aligned to Common Core standards and separated by grade level, and more than 1.5 million questions is nothing to sneeze at.

Virtual Manipulatives

Recommended by Rory Morse

“This website is loaded with manipulatives that you can use to enhance your child’s abilities in many areas of Math.”

This is another setllar math resource, this time from Utah State University. With dozens activities ranging across five different categories divided into four grade levels, there’s sure to be plenty of resources that are a great fit for any classroom.

EDpuzzle

Created by EDpuzzle

“If you use videos in the classroom or you flip your class, EDpuzzle is a must have. Take any video from YouTube, Khan Academy, Learn Zillion, etc. or upload your own, then make it a lesson perfect for your classroom and more engaging for your students. Make any video a true lesson by making it to the point, personal and effective, plus get all the data about your students so you know if they truly understand the lesson.”

EDpuzzle is a fantastic tool that you can use to turn nearly any internet video into a lesson by including quizzes and pauses in the video to discuss certain topics. It’s a great way to turn a series of Khan Academy, PBS, or other educational videos into a set of interactive lessons. Plus, you can always set them up for substitute teachers to have a better lesson than “just another video” when you’re in the classroom. And, as an Edmodo app, you can assign EDpuzzle to any classroom you’ve set up as a group.

SAMR Model: An Interactive Guide

Created by Christi Collins

“SAMR is a model which is designed to allow educators to infuse and integrate technology into their teaching and learning practice. Developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, the model supports and enables teachers to create, develop, and implement digital learning experiences that utilize technology. The goal is to transform learning experiences so they result in higher levels of achievement for students. This resource is a thorough and interactive guide to implementing the SAMR model in the classroom.”

At first this guide looks like a simple image, but as soon as you hover over each icon, you have the opportunity to explore each tool and see how it connects to the SAMR model. Simple and deep, we love this guide for helping discover new skills and toolsets that can help you in your classroom.

Words With Friends EDU

Created by Zynga

“Words With Friends EDU builds off of the engaging gameplay of Words With Friends, with new educational features to help students learn high-value academic words – words that are used frequently in required reading, textbooks and assessments. For students, there are new vocabulary bonuses, badges, and avatars that make learning fun. For teachers, there’s a new suite of tools that track what students are learning as they play. Early results indicate the educational value of WWF EDU is strong, with students showing an increase in their use of academic words after playing just 6 games.”

Still one of our favorite apps, Words With Friends EDU is a fantastic adaptation of the popular game to the digital classroom. By focusing on vocabulary for students, it helps develop language skills and word choice, and as an Edmodo app, you can assign it to your entire classroom for in-class activites.

Have any favorite apps or resources that you didn’t see on our list? Feel free to share in the comments, or send them to your connections directly from Edmodo Spotlight.