This is a great video for anyone just starting out with Hyperdocs. Sam Kary explains how to build a Hyperdoc from scratch, beginning with the 5E Lesson Plan Design. He recommends not starting out with Google Slides because it is hard to see the sequencing of the document. He suggests using either Slides Mania or Slides Carnival to create your template. Then he shows how to import those templates into Google Slides and how to link different resources to the slides. He shows how to link things such as Jamboard, YouTube videos, Google Classroom assignments, and just overall how to make your slides look more engaging and interactive for the students.
This was a great video by a Technology Specialist in Atlanta. The purpose of the video was to explore resources that teachers can use to create interactive lessons. She goes through little tutorials for programs like Jamboard, AnswerGarden, Pear Deck, and Wizer.Me. (I actually used this tutorial to help me create my first Jamboard that I used in my Hyperdoc assignment.) I was semi-famiiar with Jamboard and Pear Deck, but the other programs were new to me. AnswerGarden is an app that allows you to get effective feedback from students. The teacher provides a question and, as students respond, it creates a word cloud of the answers. Wizer.Me provides digital worksheets or allows you to create your own. Both of these seem like good programs, but like with so many others, you get to use certain features for free to get you hooked, and then you have to get a paid subscription once you get going with it. All of the programs she explained are compatible with Google Classroom, which is the platform I use in my classroom.
This article explains that the best presentations are interactive and that anyone can create engaging lessons even without prior experience. The main way you can do this is through customizable templates that you can edit and personalize. Most of the tools that they mention and link come with stock images and videos, allow you to collaborate with others, and allow you to share your presentation with students. Some of the top tools mentioned in this article are Google Slides, Flipsnack, Haiku Deck, Visme, Canva, and Online White Boards.
This is another great resource from Common Sense Education. In this article, they explain what Interactive Lessons look like and ideas for how you can create those lessons. They mentioned several of the programs that Ms. Stroup also mentioned, but then added a few more I have not heard of such as Buncee and Lesson Up. My favorite feature in this article was a chart comparing all of the programs. It compares price, grade levels, platforms they are compatible with, and pros and cons of each. As I continue looking into each of these, I will come back to this chart to help me decide which ones to use.
Code.org is a resource that I have used before in my classroom that I think goes right along with this standard, specifically the area where they create new solutions and increase their problem solving skills. This website has a collection of 1-hour code tutorials that students can complete on their own or with a partner. In addition to hour of code activities, there are also teacher resources for helping students with coding and additional online courses for students who wish to go a little deeper into coding.
I love using Canva so when I saw this resource I knew it would be a good one! They have so many ready-to-use templates and ideas for every grade level. I liked this resource because it had some "not so typical" ways to make lessons interactive such as Brainstorming Sessions, Entry and Exit Tickets, Jigsaw Activities, and Peer and Self-Review Activities. These were all new to me because, although I've heard of them, they each had a different spin to them. The best part of them is that you can easily access the templates so it is something that is already created and you can tweak it to your standard or grade level (and Canva makes everything so pleasing to look at!) Although not every single activity mentioned on this page includes technology, they are all interactive.
This is a great resource to learn more about Hyperdocs. I counted it as a resource/ activity instead of an article because of all of the great resoures and examples that you can click on and explore. It helped me better understand Hyperdocs. I had previously just thought of it as a Doc with Hyperlinks like in the chart above, but after looking at some examples and reading the info in this it made me realize that I also needed to include some "show what you know" spots in mine so I went back and added those!
I said that last week was my favorite, but finding and creating Interactive Lessons to use with my students is another skill I have learned that I will definitely be using in my classroom! While the activities that I created this week were very time-consuming to initially create, I feel like with more practice and use it will become easier and quicker for me to create new lessons. And I definitely think my students will love the lessons and be more engaged with them. In the article "What is an Interactive Presentation and How is it Different?" the authors explain that in the world of education, "presentations are a way of life. As the learning landscape continues to grow into one that leans into digital and touchscreen experiences, the need for more dynamic and engaging presentations is expanding with it" (n.d.). This is the "why" of what we worked on this week. We must be ready to create presentations that are more engaging in the world of education that we are teaching in. When I first started out this week, I thought that the activities might be too hard for my second graders, but as I got deeper into it, I realized just how much my students would love these lessons! There were several things that I have used in professional development sessions like Jamboard and Nearpod, but this class has "forced" me to dig in and learn how to use them to create interactive lessons that I will actually use in my own classroom. My only wish is that I was not taking 2 classes right now, and overwhelmed by the work of my other class, so I could spend more time practicing and playing with each of the programs that I have learned.
Canva. (2023). 25 interactive classroom activity ideas. https://www.canva.com/learn/interactive-classroom-ideas/
Code.org. (2024). Learn computer science. Change the world. Code.org. https://code.org/
Common Sense Education. (n.d.). The best interactive presentation and lesson tools for classrooms. https://www.commonsense.org/education/best-in-class/the-best-interactive-presentation-and-lesson-tools-for-classrooms
Hall, J. (2020, May 30). How to create interactive lessons (resources) | training. Tech Tips 411. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXWqZKGi_-I
Kary, S. (2021, June 23). Beginner’s Guide to HyperDocs. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZY91DhNI1I
Kharbach, M. (2023, November 9). Best interactive presentation tools for teachers and students. Educators Technology. https://www.educatorstechnology.com/2022/07/list-of-20-free-tools-for-teachers-to.html
Teach It With Tech! (n.d.). HyperDocs. http://teachitwithtech.weebly.com/hyperdocs.html
Tiled. (n.d.). What is an interactive presentation and how is it different? https://www.tiled.co/hub/interactive-presentation