I’ve been a fan of thinglink for a while, and sometimes I just take it for granted that there are many educators out there who haven’t come across it or don’t really know what it does. It is a powerful free app that turns images into interactive spaces for learning. Besides being an mlearning powerhouse, I love the fact that Thinglink is cross platform. It has the app, and also the web-based site, so it is a very flexible tool for the classroom. After creating an account on Thinglink, upload an image and add text, videos and even other images to your uploaded material. Your photo becomes a touchable non-linear, user-controlled learning powerhouse.
Here are five ways you can use thinglink to spark curiosity, allow choice and develop autonomous learning experiences in your classroom:
Interactive image as a study guide – In this example of the “Butterfly Basics”, students can move around the image, watch the videos, read the texts, understand the concepts, then the teacher gives some guidelines for the reflective part in which the student needs to connect what he/she learned with life principles operating conditions.
https://www.thinglink.com/scene/601975993111937025
Interactive image as a challenge – Andrew Moriates created a “start your own adventure” type of activity for a training session on Google Apps for Education. This type of game-based learning could be highly motivating for students and might help them in the process of more autonomous and cooperative learning.
https://www.thinglink.com/scene/574294163860750336
Interactive image for language learning – In this wonderful project that connected the physical and digital world, Spanish teacher Hedy invited her students to go on an exhibition of contemporary figurativism in Argentina. The students were allowed to take photos. Then, they had to choose one of their favorite pieces in the exhibition and transform it into an interactive image, adding information about it and making comments. A fun and engaging way to practice language. Here are some examples:
https://www.thinglink.com/scene/450007776094060544
https://www.thinglink.com/scene/449661244933144577
https://www.thinglink.com/scene/449662340770562049
https://www.thinglink.com/scene/452154271081693185
Interactive Image for collaborative practice – You can give control to student for them to write on your image. In this example, I added the image and asked them to talk about the future.
https://www.thinglink.com/scene/277258594108309505
Interactive Image as a digital tour guide – Students can take the viewer into exploring the various elements of a piece of art. Below is a fantastic example of this kind of activity:
https://www.thinglink.com/scene/379297521916182528
Interactive Image as a Digital Toolbox – You can create an interactive image as a starting point for any topic. This is a vivid example of the endless possibilities. You can click in any extension that calls your attention.
https://www.thinglink.com/scene/599702918475546625
Can you think of other ways to use Thinglink to make your classes more engaging and interactive?
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