Chromebooks

1. Narrate a Video Slideshow

• The development of visual and verbal communication skills deserves far more attention than they get in school. One vehicle that utilizes these skills is the creation of a narrated video slideshow. Create image based slides and add narration to each one. Try using Adobe Spark Video as your tool of choice.

2. Design an Interactive Image

• Using Thinglink, you select an image for your background and then add clickable hotspots over it. The hotspots can contain text, audio, video and links to the web. Map information to scientific images such as a skeleton, explain parts of a plant, or use it in language learning and map hotspots with audio in a foreign language.

3. Explain Yourself

• You don't truly understand a concept in depth until you have to explain it to someone else. Screencasting is a process that allows students and teachers to explain a concept by arranging objects on-screen as they record and narrate. One excellent screencasting tool is Explain Everything and they have a Chrome extension you can use on Chromebooks.

4. Create and Edit Video

• Use Screencastify to create the video and upload it to a Google Drive account. Then, use the WeVideo creator/ editor which has a full range of editing tools. It works across all devices and you can even have multiple editors collaborating on a project.

5. Take a Virtual Trip

• Google has two wonderful mapping tools - My Maps and Tour Builder. Find locations on a map and drop interactive markers. Add notes, images, links or video to each marker on your map. Save and share it with others. Map the history and culture of a country. Map the events of a book in a "lit trip". Map the journey of an explorer or make your own.

6. Record a Mock Interview

• Mock interviews allow students to identify with the life of another person. Have them work in pairs to ask and answer questions using a tool such as Adobe Spark Video or Soundtrap. Add an extra challenge and have students study someone's life and then use that knowledge to answer live, unscripted questions.

7. Guess a Mystery Location

• Guessing the location of a mystery classroom is a game that develops critical thinking and geographic skills. You use Google Hangouts to connect with another classroom. Each class tries to guess the location of the other by asking and answering Yes/No questions. You can find partners by using the Google Plus Mystery Hangout Community where you can connect with others searching for partner classrooms.

8. Create a Multimedia Poster

• Students have been doing poster board projects for ages. Now with digital posters, you can add design your poster using elements such as text, images, audio, video and links to the web. Create and share a digital poster using the web-based tool, Glogster.
• Thinglink works well too!