K-12 Teaching in the 21st Century

Create:  Module 2 - Personalization

I decided to work with a technology called "Thinglink" that I found in the course Delicious site this week to work on an idea for personalized learning.  I checked out DIY and Meograph and liked both technologies, but decided to go with Thinglink mainly because I like the idea, as an educator, to be able to use a tool to personalize learning that is quick and could be done at the last minute to fit the unique needs of a particular class or class session. I've used Prezi, Weebly and Voki before and wanted to have something on hand that could be used with little prep time in order to supplement a lesson, or fulfill an academic need, that comes up during the time of learning, in order to personalize the learning.

Thinglink is a technology in which you can take an image and layer it with information, such as text, other images, videos and the like.  This way, an educator can let a picture tell a thousands words, so to speak, by pointing out the significant elements relating to the content material of class, within a single image.   

There is a search feature directly within Thinglink to help provide material to use to layer on the main image, however, I found it to be somewhat limited in the material it provides for still images.  You can check out my Thinglink below.

I think this would also be a good technology for students to use.  I envision an assignment in which each student needs to create an Thinglink on a topic.  For instance, if in a Social Studies class studying Native Americans, students could choose amongst topics, such as a headdress, sweat lodge, rain dance, hunting rituals, etc., on which to create a Thinglink consisting of three text blurbs, one short video, an audio piece, or whatever elements a teacher deems important.  Then, the students can share with one another or embed their Thinglinks in a class wiki, in order to use everyone's work as a study tool for a test.

I like this technology and would use it again.  I would love to learn about how other educators are using this technology, so please feel free to share your projects.  Thanks!