Lindsay Ricke is a science teacher at Martha Layne Collins High School. Integrating technology in her students' learning is nothing new -- in fact, Ms. Ricke was recently part of instructional coaches live tweeting from her classroom using the hashtag #theyet -- but her recent use of Smore caught my attention and I had to give her a #ShelbyTUITshoutout.
I have talked about and even embedded Smores previously in Edtech Elixirs, but I haven't really taken a moment to explain what they are. Basically, they are online flyers, but that simplifies what they are capable of showing. Yes, Smores can publicize events, but they can also be used as student productivity tools. Think of them as interactive posters. You start with a template and can choose from several categories. Pictures, YouTube videos, hyperlinks and text can easily be added. You can print the finished Smore or save it as a PDF, and since it's published to a URL, the flyer can be shared online or through email. For teachers or students, Smores could also be a viable alternative to other visual digital presentation tools, like PowerPoints or Prezis.
Yet Ms. Ricke came up with another idea. Instead of just doing lab reports on a pencil and paper worksheet, she had her AP Chemistry students use Smore. Not only does the use of multimedia enhance the finished product (students took pictures and even video of the stages of their experiments), but since their reports are published, their work now has more validity than the typical "teacher as audience" and can be returned to later for reflection or to help study content. Two student examples are below. (Note that in the first example, students shot their own video, uploaded to Vimeo, then embedded it in their Smore; in the second, they found an appropriate video on YouTube showing aluminum reacting to copper.) Very impressive!
Ms. Ricke, thank you for integrating technology as often and as well as you do!
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