What is it?
BiteSlide is a website that allows students and teachers to create more engaging digital school projects. It is very user-friendly - even for young students. It is engaging, encourages creativity, and builds 21st century skills for students. BiteSlide was voted EdTech Digest's 2013 Award Winner for Best Presentation Solution (K-12).
BiteSlide is a great tool for project-based learning because it simplifies the integration of technology and keeps the focus on the project and content (where it should be). It allows even young elementary students to collaborate on projects online - which is difficult to do because most collaborative online technologies are geared for older students. BiteSlide allows the teacher to essentially create a "Project Folder" in which the students can then create individual "SlideBooks" within that folder. There can also be more than one "editor" for each SlideBook so students can work together to create one. The smaller projects can then be combined to create an overall class project; students learn to collaborate by using technology and 21st century skills. During the creative process, a project's SlideBooks are open for teachers and other students in the class to view; if the feature is enabled, teachers and students can give feedback during the project creation phase (which promotes digital communication and collaboration!). There is also an option to involve and get feedback and comments from people outside the classroom (perhaps students' family members, friends, or even guest "experts"); this is a great way for students expand their presentations with authentic input from the outside world.
BiteSlide opens many doors for students to be more creative while learning and expressing themselves online because the site makes it easy but still has many options. The drag-and-drop options and easy-to-use tools help lessen the strain and frustration of using technology for students, so they can stay engaged and can keep their focus where it should be - on the research and content. BiteSlide can also be a gateway to getting students interested in more advanced digital creation tools/programs (such as ones that require coding) once they decide they like using digital presentation software but want more control over the options. BiteSlide is emerging as a great digital stepping-stone for young kids as an introduction to digital self-expression, collaboration, and communication!
If you'd like to see and learn more, check out this sample SlideBook project or the tutorial below that I created.
How can it be used in the classroom?
Since BiteSlide is extremely flexible, it can be used for just about anything you can imagine within the classroom. Here are just a few ideas for how it can be used:
*Digitally publishing stories and sharing the digital storybooks that students create
*Easily creating project presentations
*Creating digital KWL charts for learning units that can be easily edited (What we Know, What we Want to Learn, What we Learned)
*Creating digital student portfolios
*Creating digital scrapbooks/photo albums
*Creating informational posters (which can be printed out)
*Creating creative slideshows
*Journaling
*Online collaborative projects
*Yearbooks
So don't be shy -
Check BiteSlide out
and have some fun!
Comments (16)
Jody L said
at 12:57 pm on Jul 5, 2013
My only thought is to make the Check BiteSlide Out link a bit bigger to help it stand out.
Julie said
at 12:04 pm on Jul 8, 2013
I hope you don't mind that I made a couple minor tweaks to some spelling and mechanics errors I saw. I also wanted to ask you about the wording in a couple places:
1- "most collaborative online technologies are above the early elementary age." - This seems awkward to me. What about something like most collaborative online technologies are geared toward older students? Or technologies are too difficult for most early elementary aged students?
2- "BiteSlide opens many doors for students to learn to be more creative while expressing themselves" - I don't know that you need the "to learn" here: BiteSlide opens many dorrs for students to be more.... What do you think?
Even though you don't ever use the word wiki, it sounds like that is what BiteSlide is. Is that correct? Or am I misunderstanding?
Kelsie Markijohn said
at 12:49 pm on Jul 8, 2013
Thanks for the feedback, Julie. I'm still in the editing and adding final touches (and possibly a screencast I created). No, BiteSlide is not a wiki. It's digital books. Students can work together or individually to create digital books called SlideBooks to creatively display information. I am going to add a link to an example book I made.
Julie said
at 5:44 pm on Jul 8, 2013
The example project you shared really helps! That is a pretty slick piece of technology!
Ashlee Michael said
at 4:26 pm on Jul 8, 2013
Wow! You did an excellent job describing this dynamic presentation tool with a clear explanation about it's features. You also did a nice job persuading the reader with several advantages and examples of good uses in the classroom. The only suggestion I have is adding specific examples of how students are able to combine their projects, I'm left thinking levels of collaboration may just be through feedback provided within a comments section or discussion board like on this site.
Kelsie Markijohn said
at 1:07 pm on Jul 9, 2013
Thanks for suggestions, Ashlee. I will consider them as I finish up the page.
Ashlee Michael said
at 4:30 pm on Jul 8, 2013
One last idea...What if you kept the "Check It Out" link the same size and just moved it under the "Teacher Checklist" image to draw the reader's eye, it's just a little busy with the other 2 images you include at the bottom of the page. All the images you included really added depth to your article, awesome job (I need to go fix mine up now).
Julie said
at 10:51 am on Jul 9, 2013
Kelsie, I just tried clicking on your Tutorial link, and it did not work. All it did was open an empty tab in my browser. It did the same thing in the edit mode, so I'm wondering if the link is dead? I thought you would want to know!
Kelsie Markijohn said
at 1:01 pm on Jul 9, 2013
The link works....it just takes time to load.
Cammie Nelson said
at 9:18 am on Jul 10, 2013
No problem viewing the sample - it looks great. I like how you can embed videos. Unfortunately, the tutorial link wouldn't load for me either.
Kelsie Markijohn said
at 7:26 pm on Jul 10, 2013
Okay, I changed format for my tutorial screencast. I uploaded it to YouTube so hopefully it will load more quickly for viewers. I guess my original format seemed to take too long to load. Hopefully that will fix the problem. :)
Sara E Benge said
at 10:37 pm on Jul 10, 2013
Kelsie - your page is great! I feel like this is something I could teach my students (4th and 5th grade)! We are a technology school but definitely do not utilize all the available technology. This is a great program! Thanks for sharing!
Steven Walters said
at 2:03 pm on Jul 11, 2013
Would adding links to the image with research, create, and present take learners directly to the corresponding pages work for you?
Kelsie Markijohn said
at 5:01 pm on Jul 11, 2013
Check! Thanks for the suggestion!
Kristin Cole said
at 10:58 pm on Jul 12, 2013
This looks fantastic! I love the tutorial you created!
Ashlee Michael said
at 12:50 am on Jul 13, 2013
Thank you for adding some very explicit ways students can get give feedback from others to improve their work. I think it's great that outside experts can make comments too with this feature enabled. This will be really helpful when I start using this resource, thank you.
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