Currently in World History, we are attempting to introduce a new technology tool to the students each unit. Recently, while looking at the Renaissance, we introduced "thinglink" to our students (www.thinglink.com).
The site allows you to annotate an image in the same way you would a reading. You put "tags" on the parts of the image that you want to annotate and then type your annotation. You can also include links to websites, embed videos from You Tube and inset any picture that is posted on the web.
Here is a link to a sample thinglink I made to show them as an exemplar.
The site is very intuitive and I figured it out in less than five minutes. The students picked it up even faster. Here is a quick little video tutorial I made to help them navigate the site:
After having the students annotate a piece of Renaissance art, I was thrilled with the results. Overall, this was the highest scoring summative I have given in my class this year. The students were REALLY into it, and it was clear that there was truly 100% engagement in the classroom.
If you are interested, here are the instructions and rubric that were used in class.
The biggest upside however was that my special ed students did especially well on this assessment. They were really excelled at sharing their knowledge and seemed to enjoy the creative process.
Overall, thinglink is a very cool and quick learn that I would suggest to anyone looking to try something new in their classroom!
