http://activelylearn.com
What is it?
Actively Learn is an online reader that allows teachers to embed questions in a digital text. In a nutshell with this website, “Teachers can use Actively Learn resources, web articles and PDFs. They embed questions, notes and multimedia to guide their students through the text.” –from their site.
How does it work?
This is a fairly easy tool to use. First thing you need to know about it though is that it works best with google chrome, safari or firefox. (browser you use to access the Internet). It will work with Internet Explorer but I found that it can be a little temperamental when used with that browser.
Now, let’s get into the Nitty gritty of this site shall we? First thing you have to do is create a free account by creating a username and password. After you do this, you will see a screen that looks similar to the one below:
Click on the link below to see a quick video explanation for how this tool works:
http://vimeo.com/80112189
Now, one of the things that make this tool great is having the ability to add content to any selected text-the text can be from a website, pdf, or document. The way it works is that you can click on any section of the text and then you will be asked what content you want.
Ideally, Activelylearn was designed for students to be able to access the content from individual computers. If this isn't an option for you, you can share the content you create in your work space on a LCD projector and do the activity as a whole class activity. Students can access the content by either entering a class code or having a link to the content. Either way, students will have to registrar with a user name and password before they can access the content. You don't need an e-mail account to registrar so if you would prefer to create the username and password information for your students you can do that.
After a student has answered all the questions and provided feedback, they can log out of their account. ** Make sure that students click on log off and not leave class. I found if they click on leave class, it doesn't registrar their results for grading.***
Once a student has provided feedback, you will be notified and can provide a grade and feedback for the student.
Click on the link below for a quick tutorial how to do this:
http://vimeo.com/81369454
https://read.activelylearn.com/docs/teacher.pdf
This is a tool that I was excited to learn about. It is easy to use and can greatly increase the comprehension our students. Hope you found it a tasty snack! Yummy, lots of protein.