Enhancing teaching and learning with technology

This website examines traditional teaching activities and provides suggestions on different Edtech tools that could be used to enhance the learning experience.

The teaching activities have been applied to Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DoK) framework, which is a useful way of categorising teaching activities according to the demands being placed on the student. Webb proposed there were four different levels of complexity or depths of knowledge: recall of information, the development of skills and concepts, strategic thinking and extended thinking.

Image showing Webb's 4 depths of knowledge. An arrow starts at level 1 which is recall and reproduce and ends at level 4 which is extended thinking. The arrow points both ways to emphasise that students can progress through the levels at a varied pace and do not have to pass through one before they can progress onto another.

Webb advised that educators should design their teaching activities around the desired cognitive demands to be placed on the student. Level 1 recall and reproduce involves the least complex activities and level 4 extended thinking involves a high cognitive expectation. Students do not have to move through the levels in any set order but Webb did note that activities should not always be from the same level.

Click on any of the activities below for ideas on how to enhance with free online tech tools.

Image of a mind map showing 6 different teaching activities linked to recall and reproduce. They are: flashcards, timelines, definitions, video Q and A, Headlines and true/false quizzes

Suggested Teaching Activities and Technology – Level 1

  1. Crosswords – with Crossword Labs
  2. Headlines – with Mentimeter
  3. Quizzes – with Socrative
  4. Flashcards – with Quizlet
  5. Definitions – Ninjawords and Wordnik
  6. Videos – with Edpuzzle
  7. Timelines – with Preceden

Mind map showing 6 teaching strategies linked to skills and concepts. Five W's, graphic organiser, story builder, jigsaw method, comic strip and presentations

Suggested Teaching Activities and Technology- Level 2

  1. Presentations – with Presenter Coach, Popin, Panopto and QR codes
  2. Five Ws – with Draw.io and Google cardboard
  3. Graphic organisers – with HMH and Clarisketch
  4. Story builder – with Google Docs and Animoto
  5. Comic strips – with Canva and Giphy
  6. Jigsaw method – with QR codes, Google Scholar, and Miro
Mind map showing 6 strategic thinking activities: debates, analyse this, T charts and venn diagrams, optimist and pessimist, classify me and ethical considerations

Suggested Teaching Activities and Technology – Level 3

  1. Mood boards– with Canva and Padlet
  2. Optomist/Pessimist – with Popin and Grammarly
  3. Case studies – with Paperity
  4. Field trips – with Mindmeister, GoogleMaps and GmapGIS
  5. Inference and Deduction – with anchor charts
  6. Transcribe and relate – with Twitter and Wordnik
  7. Ethical considerations– with Microsoft Forms
  8. Debates – with Debate graph
  9. T-charts or Venn diagrams – with Creately, Google and Canva
  10. Analyse this – with The National Archives, Google Docs, Google Scholar and Peergrade
  11. Classify me- with iSpot, iNaturalist and BioBlitz
Mind map showing 6 extended reasoning activities: ill structured problems, problem based learning, enter a contest, theme parks, promotional stalls and create a country

Suggested Teaching Activities and Technology – Level 4

  1. Escape rooms – with Socrative, Quizizz or Thinglink
  2. Reverse case study
  3. Hoax design – with Pocket and Evernote
  4. Past artefacts – with GoSoapBox
  5. Then and Now – with Adobe Spark
  6. Conclusions – with iRubric
  7. Ill-structured problems – with Google and AnswerGarden
  8. Project-based learning – with Edutopia, Socrative and Mendeley
  9. Enter a contest – with STEM learning, SketchUp and Edtech competitions
  10. Theme parks – with QR codes
  11. Create a promotional stall – with Canva and Meistertask
  12. Create a country – with Mindmup, Snazzy Maps, SurveyMonkey and Poll Everywhere