Thinglink: How to Use with AAC Users

Thanks to an excellent post from PrAACtical AAC (https://praacticalaac.org/praactical/praactical-resources-creating-interactive-images-for-aac-learning/) my creative juices were flowing in how to make this awesome interactive resource a learning tool during distance learning! Its challenging, to say the least, to think of activities that fit in to this chaotic situation while also providing families support to integrate strategies we typically use at school. Initially, our lesson plans were pages long so we could give materials, provide the instructions, and then provide scripts or pathways on where and how to use the vocabulary. I know it looked overwhelming to me so I can only imagine how that felt to the reader of our "simple at home lesson plans"; enter Thinglink!

Thinglink (https://www.thinglink.com) is a free resource that allows you to take an image or a photograph and embed hotspots that open to text, a picture, a video, or a website URL. Based on the example that PrAACtical AAC gave, I started simple by taking a snapshot of a users main page and embedding URL hotspots to Speech and Language Songs. The intent is that a student can select a core word to "explore" and a communication partner can open the hotspot to video the video. The video provides ample sentences to practice creating and we now have a simple core word practice activity! Here is the link to the completed board: Unity 28 Sequenced Main Page with Hotspots

As I continued exploring, I discovered the tour feature; the tour feature allows you to link visuals to create a dynamic display of pages that link to one another. Using this feature I was able to link several boards to create an interactive morning meeting for my pre-k class to enjoy remotely at home. Starting with their 'hello', each page connects to follow the order of events they are used to in the classroom with options presented on the screen so parents know what to model and engage in and hotspots linked to the familiar songs they like to sing and dance to in our morning meetings! Here is the link to the completed tour: Morning Meeting Interactive Activities

Beyond the ability to add in URL to songs and videos, my next favorite feature is the ability to add in my own videos. This feature has been great for adding in my screen recordings use to show families how to model vocabulary or even simply find the vocabulary to target in a given activity. Using this feature, I have made tours for preposition practice as well as a visual for practicing sentence creation.
Here are the links to the completed activities: Spring Prepositions  Sentence Building

Overall, I am loving Thinglink! I am especially finding it an essential tool for my remote learning/ distance learning plans. I hope you find this review helpful and find your own creative way to use Thinglink for your students! Should you want a 'how-to' overview, check out my video on YouTube to explore the features: How To: Thinglink and AAC