Last year, we introduced you to the combined power of Genially and Explain Everything, and the response was incredible! Messages flooded in from teachers excited to learn how to use Explain Everything and insert their new creations into geniallys.
The collaboration between these tools continues to flourish, and today we’re bringing you an updated second edition on how to use both tools to create successful interactive classes.
The Role Of Integrations For Blended Learning
The future of our education models is still up in the air, but blended learning is here to stay, and it has certainly shaken things up over the last year. Teachers have updated their toolboxes to include digital platforms, and to help ease the growing pains, many have opted to try just a few tools that fit together like puzzle pieces.
So, how many pieces do you need? Just a few! The more each tool can do, the less time you have to spend wrestling with a learning curve.
And the better they fit together, the less headache overall.
Afterall, We’re Back!
We’re back in session now, and teachers are hard at work establishing expectations and routines for their classes. Now’s the time to continue solidifying students’ first impressions for this part of the school year and to show your students that the learning environment you’ve created is one where they are encouraged to participate and contribute.
Achieving high student motivation and engagement from the very start will save you grunt work later in the year, whether you’re teaching in the classroom, virtually, or with a blended learning model. What’s a great way to do that? With interactive classes and learning materials.
A Quick Review. What are interactive classes?
In education, interaction is really just another word for participation. We all know what participation looks like in the traditional classroom: students raising their hands and participating in class discussions.
Online, interactive classes often have students engage with learning materials that require their input. Effective interactive options allow students to shape their own learning, turning them into protagonists of their learning process.
Interactive learning materials may ask students to choose how they want to explore the ideas in front of them, adding gamified elements to encourage greater engagement. They’re a more intuitive way of learning, championing exploration above rote memorization.
How Genially Makes Classes More Interactive
Genially’s interactive options are endless. You can create interactive presentations, simple activities, choice boards, yearbooks, and even virtual escape rooms for a bigger thrill.
Here’s an example of an interactive choice board for To Kill A Mockingbird:
The promise of Genially is that you’ll be able to make just about anything with a single tool and bring it to life with interactivity and animation effects. You can choose from hundreds of entirely editable templates to save time or start from scratch for full control from A to Z.
You can check out 10 of our most popular templates for teachers here.
You can also insert Google Drive files, Youtube videos, PDFs, and other kinds of supporting materials into your creations.
You can even insert other geniallys into a genially! What does that mean? It means that you can use Genially to hold just about every kind of learning resource in the same place, and you’ll be able to organize whole units within a single creation.
Being able to keep everything in one place will help students stay focused and relaxed knowing that everything they need is here. No need to flip between 100s of links and websites. You’ve built a system they can count on.
One Step Further: Genially + Explain Everything
Where does Explain Everything fit in? Explain Everything is wonderful for making videos with continuous, pre-recorded audio. This is especially useful for putting together explanations of key concepts for an upcoming unit as it allows you to have something ready that students can digest themselves without teacher supervision.
To combine tools, insert your Explain Everything video into a Genially creation for double the power. To see how, go to minute 44 of this Explain Everything + Genially webinar. You might use Genially to create a repository of course content where each until contains an Explain Everything video walkthrough.
We’re Rooting For You
We hope that tools like Explain Everything and Genially can bring new life to your classes this year, and we’re here to help.
For full courses on how to use Genially for education, check out the Genially Academy. You can also consult our Help Center for specific questions and tutorials.
To a great year ahead!
