Week 9 Journal

How can I use Pearltrees to differentiate content in the classroom?

Wow, 2 1/2 weeks behind on my blogs and it seems like an eternity! I can't believe how fast time has gone by this past few weeks. March Madness isn't just about basketball- it's life in general! And now we're into April, with only a month left of class. There just isn't enough time to do everything that needs to be done **'sigh'** .

Going back to the Week 9 question, Pearltrees is a fun tool to use for differentiating content in the classroom. This quick Review of Pearltrees suggests using pearltrees for collaborative projects and teacher presentations. The article also has some great explanations of what Pearltrees are and how to use them. Our class Project using pearltrees was an informative way to experience how students could use the tool. It was fun to form trees and add pearls or notes to the trees. Click here to see how the Diffimooc Projects pearltree looks. There are all sorts of project pearls; when you click on a pearl it shows all the Pearls or links within that project.

Pearltrees

The main advantage of Pearltrees for students is that it is a highly visual and flexible way of organizing information. Teachers and students can add to and change the pearltrees to make more sense of the information and form new connections. This may be more in-tune with students' non-linear thought patterns and visual learning style. It is a concept map capable of including every concept you could think of!

A relatively new tool, Pearltrees has significant potential for use in the classroom as it grows and improves.

My PLN helped me by joining my pearltree team and picking my pearls. I also picked their pearls and was able to follow their links. This was a nice way to see resources other people were using, without having to find another blog or site.