It is a great way to get your students “outside” the classroom without ever actually leaving it. Cardboard is a virtual reality simulator, and with the apps you can virtually tour museums, college campuses, ride rollercoasters, explore national parks, outer space-the options are pretty extensive. Once you have Cardboard, there are a variety of free apps (for Android and Apple devices) that you can download and start using. However, the Cardboard options are fairly inexpensive (about $15 per pair) and smartphones are seemingly limitless, so the supplies for this are both readily available and inexpensive.

Google Cardboard does require you to purchase “ Cardboard” and have a smartphone available for use. This is most definitely a fun way for students to review material in an interactive and easy-to-use environment. There are many public quizzes available to be used and/or customized. What’s neat about Quizizz is it keeps a detailed report and summary log of the quizzes created and how students have done with them. Students can use their phones, laptops, or other wireless devices to access the game and view the directions and questions sent to them via a login code for that quiz provided by the teacher. Quizizz is a free game that allows teachers to create quizzes for students to complete in live competitions (in class) as well as assign for homework. Word clouds are excellent ways to visually portray words and messages in a unique and eye-catching format, and with Tagul there are so many customization options-from colors, to fonts, to shapes, to designs-the possibilities are endless as to what students can create. It is free for personal use, and your word clouds can be saved and synced via an account you make or through a Google, Facebook, or Twitter account. Tagul is an online word cloud creator that, unlike others, doesn’t require Java to run so it works across all platforms. Although I teach at the high school level, most of these can be used with elementary and middle grade students as well. I’ve compiled a list of my top five favorite tech tools for the classroom. Regardless of what context they’re used for, they all serve the same purpose: student engagement within the classroom. Some of these tools lend themselves very well to being the foundation of a project, while others serve as brain breaks or class activities.

Being a technology teacher, I try to look for tools that engage my students.

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