WEEBLY CLASSROOM
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Weebly is a free website builder that allows teachers and students to create wonderful websites.

Quite clearly, Weebly is not the only website builder out there. Sites such as Wordpress, Wix, and Jimdo can be very useful too. I am personally in favour of Weebly, simply because I've used it quite often and have not yet found significant malfunctions or missing features. I write all these blogs from my own experience, I do not get paid to promote a certain tool.

Besides being able to build websites easily and with a great design, Weebly also offers 'Weebly Classroom'. This tool allows educators to create their own websites, and to monitor the websites their students create. This tool can not only be very useful for IT, but also for blogging (foreign languages) or keeping track of progress in general.

Do you want to see what a website instead of a book looks like as material? Take a look here: http://ww2nl.weebly.com/lesson-1.html. I created the Liberation part of the website. Please note: The website is quite a bit outdated. A more recent website I created is www.mavobiologieverbrandingenademhaling.weebly.com. Unfortunately, this website is only available in Dutch.


Requirements
- Internet connection
- Flashplayer (for your browser)
- Devices

Pros
- Easy to set up
- Lots of possibilities

Cons
- For more advanced IT-users

SKYPE
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Skype is not nearly as well known amongst teenagers as it was a couple year ago, since Facebook, Whatsapp and other apps have taken on similar features. The most lovely characteristic of Skype for education, however, is that no information needs to be shared in order to have a conversation.

Some time ago I used Skype to connect my classroom to a classroom in the USA. We talked, helped each other learn, and interviewed each other. Apart from connecting on Skype, the teacher in the US and I didn't have to be friends on Facebook or contacts on a different platform that provides tons of personal information. Eventually some students started to connect, too. They did so via Skype as well, to ensure privacy and safety.

Besides using Skype to connect people around the world, even within your own country, I found out that using it within your classroom can be very interesting too. Think of a quest where one student has to walk around the school while the student remaining in the classroom has to provide directions. Apart from that, Skype can of course be used for collaboration outside the classroom, fake job interviews, and practising speaking a foreign language. For the latter, being behind a screen truly takes away some of students' fear of speaking.


Requirements
- Device
- STABLE internet connection

Pros
- No personal info needs to be shared
- Works well on all devices
- Students enjoy speaking via their device
- Connects people all around the world

Cons
- Requires stable internet connection

QUIZIZZ
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Quizizz is a tool that I've been aware of for a longer period of time, but I didn't get the chance to blog about it before. Such a shame, because it's an amazing, engaging tool!

Quizizz is quite comparable to Kahoot, but has a lot of different features. For example, Quizizz can not only be played live in the classroom, but can also be assigned as homework. Apart from that, the activity is student paced, and all the questions and answers are displayed on the students' screens. The game is very competitive too, as the ranking is shown after each question is answered.

Consequently, the teacher's screen is not occupied by the quiz itself. Instead it shows very useful analytics per student and it shows the average score of the whole group. This information can be used to determine which material is well-understood, and more importantly, which isn't.

An unexpected (for me), but yet very motivating part of Quizizz is the memes it shows after each answer has been submitted. The first time I didn't think much of it, but it turns out my students absolutely love it! It motivated them to answer even quicker and more effeciently.


Requirements
- Devices
- Internet connection

Pros
- Motivating
- Easy to set up/use
- Very useful for formative testing
- Can be assigned as homework

Cons
- If students are done quickly, they'll have to wait