Thinglink, A Simple Tool Anyone Can Learn to Use

Last week my teammate and I offered a digital literacy workshop focusing on the uses of Thinglink in the classroom. We wanted to share a simple way for teachers to turn a static image into an interactive image and this tool is so easy to use. 

I was introduced to Thinglink last spring at the Illinois Reading Conference when the presenter posted all of his resources for the presentation on a Thinglink. I loved the idea, but it wasn't until my friend, Shawn McCusker, posted Four Ways to Think About Using Thinglink - Rethinking Thinglink, on his blog Go Where You Go that I really started searching for more resources to share with staff.  I also played with it on my own and saw all sorts of possibilities with this tool. Here was my first creation.(Hover over the image below to see the tags.)

Workshop Day:

Since the technology levels of our staff vary from one extreme to another, during our workshop, we had to hook our staff in and get them excited to try this.  We had them explore the Ultimate Word Wall Padlet created by Susan Oxnevad (see below) to help spark ideas on how they could use this in their classrooms. Just this little exploration brought out ideas that I never even imagined. Once hooked, we were able to have teachers find a picture online and create their own interactive image.    

Looking for ideas on how you can use Thinglink with your students?  Check out these resources:

• 87+ Ways to Use Thinglink in the Classroom - a collaborative slideshow created by Donna Baumbach

• Thinglink Toolkit
• Thinglink Teacher Challenge Ultimate Word Wall

Created with Padlet

• Thinglink How To Video - created by Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers