Kick off Fall with 5 Game Changing New Features from ThingLink!

Interactive Video is here!

In case you haven't heard the news, ThingLink's Fall Kick-Off introduces 5 game changing new features!  Here's news from the ThingLink Blog... 

"We are proud to announce the release of five new features, highlighted by ThingLink for Video.  Just like ThingLink images, this platform allows you to tag and share YouTube and Brightcove videos.  Tag your videos with all of our rich media tags."

Read more on the ThingLink Blog

Digital Differentiation on Simple K12

A Simple K12 Webinar Tomorrow

Do your students find it difficult to process and sift through a lot of Internet information to find what they need? Searching for information and making sense of it is a process that involves critical thinking. There are many free digital tools available to help students sift through an overwhelming abundance of web content to efficiently find the reliable information they need. In this webinar, we will focus on resources and strategies that provide educators with tools to help all students become savvy searchers and independent learners with a focus on tools that meet the diverse needs of all learners.

Curate a Collection of Interactive Images

To demonstrate the power of a new ThingLink feature known as Add to Channel, I used this blog for a bit of crowdsourcing yesterday.  I asked readers to submit  links to images about outer space through a simple Google Form. Then I demonstrated how to use the form to instantly capture and curate the interactive images into a Space Channel! 

Crowdsourcing to Collect ThingLink Space Images

To demonstrate the power of a new ThingLink feature known as Add to Channel, I am offering readers of this blog a chance to crowdsource. After I collect some links through this simple Google Form, I can instantly capture and curate the interactive images into a Channel! Image curation has never been easier with Add to Channel, and collecting the links is a breeze with a Google Form.

Using ThingLink for Powerful Professional Development

My toolkit is filled with interactive graphics I've created and packed with resources. I use these to successfully jump start the learning of busy educators in places near and far. I frequently update and adapt the resources in my toolkit. They grow with me.

I will be sharing some of my favorite  ThingLink Powered PD resources during a webinar on Tuesday, September 23rd at 8:00 PM EDT. Dan Gallagher will be providing assistance as our webinar moderator so I can share what I've created clearly and efficiently for participants to enjoy. 

Can't make the live broadcast? Sign up to receive the archived video. 

Get Inspired by a ThingLink Community of Educators

Earlier this week seven members of our ThingLink Community of Educators shared inspirational examples of innovative ways to use ThingLink as a tool for differentiated learning through a live webinar.  The collection of resources has been archived and shared through this interactive channel to explore and enjoy.

Be sure to click on the video icon in the center of each image to view the live broadcast, then explore each author's original image on the following slide.

Create & Curate Collections of Everyone’s Images

ThingLink channels have just gotten better! Now ThingLink users can curate and create collections of anyone's images with a new Add to Channel button available under every public ThingLink image. This feature allows users to easily add anyone's image to their own channel.

Add Any Image to Your Channel

Now when users view any image on ThingLink , the Add to Channel link appears below it. Just click on the link and add that image to any of your channels.

Ways to Use Add to Channel

• Collect and curate content of all kinds.
• Create a collection of interactive images to build concepts or launch a project.
• Share and reuse images created by members of your PLN.
• Redesign curriculum by creating interactive learning guides.
• Quickly capture links to student assignments and assemble them into organized channel.

Integrate a Google Form

I tested the usefulness of this feature when assembling a channel of interactive images for our ThingLink Interactive Image Slam yesterday. The links to images for sharing during the broadcast were collected through a Google Form. Clicking on the link in the form took me straight to the image I needed. I clicked on Add to Channel and voila, an instant  collection of images was created! Explore this example and enjoy this new ThingLink feature.

Interactive Image Slam Channel

Explore the images created and shared by talented members of the ThingLink EDUCommunity during the first interactive image slam. If you have a great image to share and would like to participate in a future image slam, please fill out the form found in the channel.

Watch this channel grow as more images are added and recorded video from the broadcast is tagged on top of the images!

Try a ThingLink Interactive Image Slam

Join talented members of the ThingLink EDU Community for one of our ThingLink Interactive Image Slams next week. Get inspired by others and sign up to for a chance to slam one of your own images.

Meet Our Guest Panelists

September 16th at 8:00 PM EDT

• Dan Gallagher
• Ana Siqueira
• Jamie Forshay

September 18th at 7:00 PM EDT

• Sue Fitzgerald
• Jodie Johnston
• Lesley McClendon 
• Cheryl Hughes

Build a ThingLink Classroom: Tips & Tricks

Want to learn how to efficiently manage ThingLink in the classroom?

ThingLink EDU is packed full of features to help teachers efficiently manage a safe and secure online learning environment powered by ThingLink interactive images. Google Docs is an extremely efficient tool for organizing and managing your workflow in ThingLink in the classroom. 

Webinar Preview - Using Slides to Construct Knowledge

I am a big fan of using Google Docs Slides as a tool to construct knowledge. Built in functionality provides students with opportunities to engage in research, credit sources and work collaboratively to create and demonstrate learning.

Tomorrow I will be hosting a webinar on Simple K-12 During the webinar I will be sharing a few fun and creative ways to put this powerful multimedia capable tool to work in the classroom. Here is a sneak peak.

Share and Inspire Through ThingLink Interactive Image Slams

Talented members of our rapidly growing ThingLink Education Community have discovered ways to leverage the power of ThingLink for a variety of innovative uses across all content areas and grade levels. ThingLink Interactive Image Slams are informal webinars designed to provide educators with a opportunities to share creative ways to transform teaching and learning with ThingLink.

3 Great Ways to Use a Google Form

I am a big fan of using Google Docs forms to collect and organize information. Forms offer efficient ways to monitor and manage digital resources. There are many ways to put this fun, multimedia capable tool to work in the classroom

Discover three great ways to use a Google form.

ThingLink & Google Docs Together at Last!

Great news! Great news! ThingLink now supports a rich-media tag to embed a Google Doc right on an interactive graphic. Now it’s easier than ever to transform teaching and learning with just two tools, ThingLink EDU and Google Docs! 

Read more and explore my sample Rainforest Project example on the ThingLink Blog.