What is Symbaloo?
Symbaloo is a free educational tool that lets you organize all of your online resources and tools into one easy place! On Symbaloo, each "tile" serves as a direct link to a different site. You can color-code your tiles to group them into different sections. Your collection of tiles is called a "webmix." Symbaloo is free to use, and you can create as many webmixes as you like! You can create a webmix for teaching tools and resources, and a separate webmix for student and parent resources. The internet is not the safest and easiest place to navigate sometimes, so having all of your online student resources in one place for them is very ideal. Each of your tiles provide a direct link to any online practice problems, activities, games, and educational videos that you would like your students to access. You can even set Symbaloo as a desktop background on school computers, embed it in your classroom website, or email the link home to parents!
Setting Up Symbaloo
You must use the Google Chrome browser for Symbaloo to work properly. Go to the SYMBALOO EDU WEBSITE and click on the "Create Your Free Account" box to sign up. After signing up, you should receive an email from Symbaloo within the next day or two. The email may appear in your spam box, so be sure to check there just in case. It is important that you receive and open this email, because you need to confirm your Symbaloo account in order to be able to share your webmixes. Once you are into the site, take some time to explore. There are pre-made webmixes that you can look at as examples and to get ideas from. Once you are ready to make your first Symbaloo webmix, click the plus sign on the black bar towards the top of the page.
Making Your Symbaloo Webmix
After clicking the plus sign, a window will pop up where you can name your Symbaloo webmix. Type in your title, and then click the orange "Add!" button. Now in front of you, there will be a blank board (called a webmix) with rows and columns of grey squares. To start off, click on the black "Options" tab toward the top, center of the page. Under the "Rename webmix" tab you can choose a new name for your webmix at any time. Under the "Change wallpaper" tab you can change the background appearance to one of Symbaloo's various wallpaper options, or you can upload your own image to use as the wallpaper. The "Change webmix size" tab lets you add/remove rows or columns of tiles.
Creating Tiles
To make a tile, hover over any blank tile with your mouse (it doesn't matter which tile you choose because you can drag/drop tiles at any time) and click on it. You have two options for making your tile: "create a tile" and "search a tile." You can use the "search a tile" option to search for tiles that Symbaloo already has. If Symbaloo doesn't have a tile for the resource you want to use, you can "create a tile." In the "create a tile" option, simply copy/paste the URL of the website you wish to incorporate. From here, you can click "Save," or proceed forward to design your tile.
Designing Tiles
If you clicked "Save" before designing your tile, no need to worry because you can edit your tile at any time! Simply hover over the desired tile, right click, then select "edit." Here, you can title your tile. If you wish for the title to appear on the tile, check the "Show text?" box. You can also choose whether you want your title's text color to be white or black. Towards the bottom of the window, you can choose what icon will appear on your tile. You can either "Choose an icon" (from Symbaloo's library of icons), or you can "Upload an image" of your own to appear on the tile. As for the tile's background color, that is also up to you! I used the background colors to color-code my tiles to group them by subject (for example, all of my science tiles are green). Once you are finished designing, click "Save." You have just made your first tile! Remember, you can edit the tile at any time, and you can click on the tile to drag/drop it anywhere at any time.
Finishing Up!
Once you have finished adding tiles and your webmix is complete, you can share your Symbaloo with others! To share your webmix, click on the black "Share" button towards the top, center of the page. You can choose to share it publicly (in which your webmix will be placed into Symbaloo's Gallery for anyone to view), or you can share it privately (in which only anyone you provide with the link can view your webmix). I opted to share it privately, and then clicked on "Share my webmix." There are four ways that you can share your webmix. You can select "share via email" to email your webmix; you can use the "embedded code" option to embed your webmix somewhere; or you can share your webmix to Facebook and Twitter. Below, I embedded my webmix into this Google site by copying/pasting the embedded code provided by Symbaloo into the HTML option of this Google site in the editing page. Check out my completed Symbaloo webmix below!
Symbaloo is a free educational tool that lets you organize all of your online resources and tools into one easy place! On Symbaloo, each "tile" serves as a direct link to a different site. You can color-code your tiles to group them into different sections. Your collection of tiles is called a "webmix." Symbaloo is free to use, and you can create as many webmixes as you like! You can create a webmix for teaching tools and resources, and a separate webmix for student and parent resources. The internet is not the safest and easiest place to navigate sometimes, so having all of your online student resources in one place for them is very ideal. Each of your tiles provide a direct link to any online practice problems, activities, games, and educational videos that you would like your students to access. You can even set Symbaloo as a desktop background on school computers, embed it in your classroom website, or email the link home to parents!
Setting Up Symbaloo
You must use the Google Chrome browser for Symbaloo to work properly. Go to the SYMBALOO EDU WEBSITE and click on the "Create Your Free Account" box to sign up. After signing up, you should receive an email from Symbaloo within the next day or two. The email may appear in your spam box, so be sure to check there just in case. It is important that you receive and open this email, because you need to confirm your Symbaloo account in order to be able to share your webmixes. Once you are into the site, take some time to explore. There are pre-made webmixes that you can look at as examples and to get ideas from. Once you are ready to make your first Symbaloo webmix, click the plus sign on the black bar towards the top of the page.
Making Your Symbaloo Webmix
After clicking the plus sign, a window will pop up where you can name your Symbaloo webmix. Type in your title, and then click the orange "Add!" button. Now in front of you, there will be a blank board (called a webmix) with rows and columns of grey squares. To start off, click on the black "Options" tab toward the top, center of the page. Under the "Rename webmix" tab you can choose a new name for your webmix at any time. Under the "Change wallpaper" tab you can change the background appearance to one of Symbaloo's various wallpaper options, or you can upload your own image to use as the wallpaper. The "Change webmix size" tab lets you add/remove rows or columns of tiles.
Creating Tiles
To make a tile, hover over any blank tile with your mouse (it doesn't matter which tile you choose because you can drag/drop tiles at any time) and click on it. You have two options for making your tile: "create a tile" and "search a tile." You can use the "search a tile" option to search for tiles that Symbaloo already has. If Symbaloo doesn't have a tile for the resource you want to use, you can "create a tile." In the "create a tile" option, simply copy/paste the URL of the website you wish to incorporate. From here, you can click "Save," or proceed forward to design your tile.
Designing Tiles
If you clicked "Save" before designing your tile, no need to worry because you can edit your tile at any time! Simply hover over the desired tile, right click, then select "edit." Here, you can title your tile. If you wish for the title to appear on the tile, check the "Show text?" box. You can also choose whether you want your title's text color to be white or black. Towards the bottom of the window, you can choose what icon will appear on your tile. You can either "Choose an icon" (from Symbaloo's library of icons), or you can "Upload an image" of your own to appear on the tile. As for the tile's background color, that is also up to you! I used the background colors to color-code my tiles to group them by subject (for example, all of my science tiles are green). Once you are finished designing, click "Save." You have just made your first tile! Remember, you can edit the tile at any time, and you can click on the tile to drag/drop it anywhere at any time.
Finishing Up!
Once you have finished adding tiles and your webmix is complete, you can share your Symbaloo with others! To share your webmix, click on the black "Share" button towards the top, center of the page. You can choose to share it publicly (in which your webmix will be placed into Symbaloo's Gallery for anyone to view), or you can share it privately (in which only anyone you provide with the link can view your webmix). I opted to share it privately, and then clicked on "Share my webmix." There are four ways that you can share your webmix. You can select "share via email" to email your webmix; you can use the "embedded code" option to embed your webmix somewhere; or you can share your webmix to Facebook and Twitter. Below, I embedded my webmix into this Google site by copying/pasting the embedded code provided by Symbaloo into the HTML option of this Google site in the editing page. Check out my completed Symbaloo webmix below!
MY SYMBALOO WEBMIX
I set up my Symbaloo webmix to include activities and resources of the STEM subjects. The STEM subjects are science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and they are the subject areas that students struggle with most. Resources that my tiles provide links to include... explanations of topics of our study (and beyond), activities, practice tests, flashcards, games, tutorial videos, and more. My hope with creating this webmix is to increase student interest and performance in the STEM subjects by providing various helpful and engaging resources in these content areas. In my webmix, I have also included tiles for student research and studying in general, as well as tiles for my teaching resources.
The green tiles are student science resources, the orange tiles are resources for computer science technology, the red tiles are engineering resources, and the blue tiles are resources in mathematics. The yellow tiles are other study resources for students to use to enhance study and research in general. As for the pink tiles, they serve as links to my teaching resources. The only "miscellaneous" tile would be the purple one in the top, left corner. This purple tile links to my professional teaching wiki. (In my future classroom, I will use the top, left corner of the webmix to link students straight to my classroom website so they can easily access it. Designing that tile as a different color from the rest also helps it to stand out).
How can I use Symbaloo in my classroom?
For future use in the classroom, I would create separate webmixes for student resources, parent resources, and my personal teaching resources. I would like to set Symbaloo as a desktop background, homepage, or bookmark on the classroom computers. I would also be sure to embed my Symbaloo into my classroom website for students and parents to be able to access at home, (and I will email the link home to parents, as well). Then, students can use Symbaloo both inside and outside the classroom! In order to supplement classroom curriculum, I would create a different webmix per subject. I would make a different webmix for mathematics, science, technology, reading/writing, engineering, art, and music. In addition to curriculum related tiles, I would also like to incorporate additional tiles for extra practice in subjects outside of the curriculum that students are interested in and wish to explore more on their own. In addition, I would have separate webmixes for parent resources, my personal teaching resources, and general study resources for students (a tile that would be included in a webmix of general study resources would be Quizlet, for example). Symbaloo would certainly be ideal to incorporate into the classroom because it easily organizes all online resources into one convenient place!
I set up my Symbaloo webmix to include activities and resources of the STEM subjects. The STEM subjects are science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and they are the subject areas that students struggle with most. Resources that my tiles provide links to include... explanations of topics of our study (and beyond), activities, practice tests, flashcards, games, tutorial videos, and more. My hope with creating this webmix is to increase student interest and performance in the STEM subjects by providing various helpful and engaging resources in these content areas. In my webmix, I have also included tiles for student research and studying in general, as well as tiles for my teaching resources.
The green tiles are student science resources, the orange tiles are resources for computer science technology, the red tiles are engineering resources, and the blue tiles are resources in mathematics. The yellow tiles are other study resources for students to use to enhance study and research in general. As for the pink tiles, they serve as links to my teaching resources. The only "miscellaneous" tile would be the purple one in the top, left corner. This purple tile links to my professional teaching wiki. (In my future classroom, I will use the top, left corner of the webmix to link students straight to my classroom website so they can easily access it. Designing that tile as a different color from the rest also helps it to stand out).
How can I use Symbaloo in my classroom?
For future use in the classroom, I would create separate webmixes for student resources, parent resources, and my personal teaching resources. I would like to set Symbaloo as a desktop background, homepage, or bookmark on the classroom computers. I would also be sure to embed my Symbaloo into my classroom website for students and parents to be able to access at home, (and I will email the link home to parents, as well). Then, students can use Symbaloo both inside and outside the classroom! In order to supplement classroom curriculum, I would create a different webmix per subject. I would make a different webmix for mathematics, science, technology, reading/writing, engineering, art, and music. In addition to curriculum related tiles, I would also like to incorporate additional tiles for extra practice in subjects outside of the curriculum that students are interested in and wish to explore more on their own. In addition, I would have separate webmixes for parent resources, my personal teaching resources, and general study resources for students (a tile that would be included in a webmix of general study resources would be Quizlet, for example). Symbaloo would certainly be ideal to incorporate into the classroom because it easily organizes all online resources into one convenient place!