We've covered a ton of incredible ways to upgrade your instruction and assessment using technology and multimedia tools. We’re waving goodbye to those old worksheets, maps, and student printables and saying hello to a more engaging and interactive learning experience! Here are some tips for success to help make the transition into multimedia instruction seamless.

Multimedia instruction aims to give learners an immersive, dynamic, and engaging learning experience. The whole point is to help them truly understand and remember what they're being taught. So, if that's what we're aiming for with instruction, why not carry those qualities over to our assessments? Our assessments should mirror our instruction. They should be just as immersive, dynamic, and engaging. By doing this, we can ensure that students are being assessed in a way that aligns with how they've been learning.

You likely have a stack of textbooks sitting somewhere in your classroom. And if your students are like mine, busting out the textbook often is followed by moans of unimpressed students who would rather NOT be reading from a textbook. So - allow me to introduce a few multimedia alternatives that will turn those moans into cheers!

We’ve talked a lot about how we can infuse multimedia into everyday learning, but - let’s not stop there! We can also use multimedia tools to level up our classroom management. Having a clear classroom management system is critical in any elementary classroom. I’ve got some awesome tools that you’ll want to keep in your bag of tricks to keep things fresh and exciting in your classroom!

Today, let’s talk reading! Your reading block is likely one of the most important parts of your day! Since that’s the case, let’s make sure it’s engaging, fun, and full of interaction. Infusing a little multimedia magic in your reading block is just what the doctor ordered!

Let’s face it, student worksheets keep students accountable and allow teachers to track progress. And - I’m not suggesting we throw them away, but allow me to introduce some multimedia alternatives that you can throw into the mix to keep things relevant and fresh when you’re looking to add a splash of multimedia to your instruction. If you’re just getting started with adding multimedia layers into your instruction, this is a good place to start. Let’s transforming would-be worksheets into multimedia experiences gives students new opportunities to apply their learning.

No doubt about it, learning how to read and navigate a map is a crucial skill. But let's face it, those days of unfolding massive trifold maps (and struggling to fold them back) are long gone. It's time to embrace the 21st-century upgrades for all our map exploration needs! Say goodbye to the old-school ways and get ready for some exciting new multimedia-infused options. We've got a world of digital tools at our fingertips to make map exploration a breeze.

Let’s first look at how you can upgrade your multiple choice worksheets. I want to share 3 multimedia alternatives. One of the easiest ways to add an interactive layer to your instruction is to gamify your activity. And, lucky for us, we have tons of options available to use to accomplish this. But - it can be overwhelming when we have too many options, so I’ll share my top 3 tools:

WHY should you be using multimedia in the classroom? WHY is it worth paying attention to (especially when your teacher plate is already full!) WHY does multimedia instruction keep popping up in conversations about education? Well - that’s where our conversation is going to take us today. Let’s talk about the benefits and impact of multimedia. As you might suspect there has a been a lot of research and study done to show how multimedia and technology impacts the brain.

As we know, worksheets, textbooks, etc.. have long been a staple in the classroom, but in today's rapidly evolving educational landscape, it's important to embrace new technologies and teaching approaches to keep our 21st century students engaged and motivated to learn. By incorporating multimedia elements such as videos, images, and audio recordings, we can make our instruction more dynamic, interactive, and effective. In this blog series, I'll be sharing some practical tips and tools for creating multimedia-enhanced learning and assessment, as well as some classroom technologies that can help take your teaching to the next level.