Elevating Instruction with Lumio by SMART
I think a lot of you out there can feel me when I say this past year was the year of frantically searching for (hopefully free) digital resources for both synchronous and asynchronous instruction. Naturally I discovered my absolute favorite free resource in May.
Allow me to hook you real quick: I discovered a free platform that can integrate multiple file types into one lesson, has interactive games and activities you can integrate directly into a teacher or student paced lesson, and gather valuable data through custom assessments.
When I first heard of SMART having their own digital learning tools, I just assumed it partnered with SMART boards which is 100% not true. Lumio can be used with PCs, Chromebooks, iPads, and so on.
As teachers, we are both constantly seeking out resources and trying to figure out which ones will best fit our needs. Because of this, I’ve come up with my top five reasons why I love Lumio (besides the fact that it’s free because hello.)
Top Five Reasons to Check Out Lumio:
1. It takes the place of several apps/websites I was already using and mashes them together. Within a single lesson, my students can participate in a collaborative conversation, use manipulatives to solve a problem independently, take an assessment, play an engaging game, listen to audio, watch a video, and more.
2. Students can collaborate with one another. Tools such as the Shout It Out activity allow students to brainstorm as a group. Students can also play games against one another as a mid-lesson energizer (and assessment, shh.) My students LOVE Monster Quiz!
3. Many tools allow for hands-on manipulation and exploration. The “infinite cloner” tool, for example, is a game changer for students when practicing basic math processes such as addition or multiplication. Students have the autonomy to drag out any image of my choosing to help them manipulate and visualize a variety of situations. It also comes preloaded with so many graphic organizers as well! Students can also draw and write directly onto the slides that you choose.
4. Real-time assessment data is accessible to the teacher in a variety of forms. As the teacher, I can watch student progress with sorting activities, games, slides with manipulatives, and more. With the Response function, I can also easily insert questions throughout my lesson to gather data on any subject with simple student responses to multiple choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, or short answer questions.
5. Lessons are completely customizable. I love that I am able to start from scratch, or search the community for free lessons to edit as you wish! I created an Introduction to Multiplication lesson you can see as an example. The fact that you can use any lesson that is already created but enter your own random assessments or brainstorms throughout is a game changer.
Lumio is absolutely a new free addition to my teacher toolkit that I will utilize in lessons often. Do you have any questions about Lumio? How would you use this tool in your classroom?
