Thinglink

Thinglink allows users to upload a base image, then add tags, which provide previews and links to documents, images, videos, websites, audio, maps, and your text. This tool facilitates easy creation and sharing of multimedia projects for students, and it also helps teachers and schools create dynamic ways of disseminating information. Students can make their own accounts or use ones moderated by their teacher. Examples below; mouse over images to see tags.

Resources

Learn to Use Thinglink in Under Five Minutes A screencast with an effective guide to getting started.

How to Use SoundCloud to Record or Post Audio A screencast giving a good basic intro to SoundCloud. Take the URL of your recording and just paste it into your Thinglink's tag link insertion field.

Rob's Google Maps Annotations Directions Create a custom map adding your images, text, and lines, then make a tag for your map in a Thinglink project.

Creative Commons A good place to find images.

How to Use Fotor to Create a Collage A screencast giving a good introduction to Fotor. Edit images and create various kinds of collages, then use your collage as a foundation image in Thinglink.

Thinglink Teacher Accounts Launched Various features to give teachers more control.

Thinglink Blog--Education Various helpful posts for teachers.

73+ Interesting Ways to Use Thinglink in the Classroom PDF with many ideas and tips

Thinglink EDU Examples Pinterest board with many examples

Thinglink Education Pinterest board with many examples

Here's a sample I made to show how Thinglink can incorporate docs, videos, audio recordings, maps, text boxes, images, and links. Tips: the larger the base image, the better. Place tags in a meaningful arrangement, and select images that allow meaningful tag placement. (Note: the Google doc links are to an old account, so they no longer work.)

Lord of the Flies Project

I made this collage with Fotor, a great web-based editing and collage-making tool, as well as four different avatar creation sites. It was part of Thinglink's "Design Your Digital Self" activity.

Joseph Kern's fantastic resource What Thinglink Can Do for Education

Some ideas for Thinglinks:

Art: explain the elements of composition by tagging them on a work of art; present a portfolio in the form of a collage with tags leading to artist’s statements and full-sized images.

Community service: publicize service opportunities by tagging a collage of images with links.

English: explicate a poem with text and image tags; explain vocabulary; present an essay with resources about the author and setting of the novel; take a class photo with each student holding a favorite book, then tag the books with their brief reviews; create a collage with tags explaining the elements of the hero’s journey.

History: take a screenshot of a Google map, then tag it with explanations of historical sites or events; present an essay on a historical event along with images, videos, and links to related material; take a class photo after a field trip, then tag each student with a quotation about the trip; make a webquest by tagging a collage with questions and resources.

Language: use vocabulary to describe the elements in a photo you took or found; tag a picture with audio recordings showing mastery of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation.

Math: tag a photo of a casino with explanations of probability; explain a formula and its uses in architecture.

Music: take picture of the cast of a musical, then add tags of recordings of each cast member singing; tag a piece of sheet music with explanatory text and video.

PE: tag an image of a pitcher or free throw shooter with the aspects of form that make her successful; explain a defensive strategy by tagging players on a court.

Science: clarify the location and ground rules for the classroom’s lab equipment; explain the function of parts of a cell or other structure; analyze the physics of something, including original videos of different scenarios.

Life Cycle of a Butterfly by Susan Oxnevad