Widgets are the tools used to display questions or resources in Stile Lessons. Every piece of content is its own editable widget.
As a Stile teacher, you have access to most of the same tools that the Stile content team uses to create or edit your own engaging science Lessons. You can use these widgets to create and display questions, images and other interactive activities.
Note: If you're new to Stile, we recommend first having a look at our Getting Started series which covers the basics of how to set up and start using your Stile account.
Blank widgets can be found in the Add Content sidebar whilst in Prepare Mode, and are categorized based on their intended use. You may wish to use a blank widget when creating a Lesson from scratch, or when adding new questions or content to an existing Stile Lesson. You can also learn more about how to use Stile effectively and customize your Lessons by attending a Professional Learning workshop. Register for an upcoming Stile PL here.
Content widgets:
- Text;
- Image;
- Annotate image;
- Share file;
- Video;
- ClickView;
- Audio;
- Table.
Collaborative widgets:
Questions:
- Written response;
- Multiple choice;
- True or false;
- Mind map;
- Graph;
- Interactive canvas;
- Table question;
- Student upload;
- Open response.
Other widgets:
Text
The Text widget is just for text; it's not a question, and so it is neither marked nor editable by students. Most text in Stile is automatically narrated to assist a spectrum of literacy and ability. The audio narration will process once the changes to the text are saved.
For more information on the Text widget, click here.
Image
The Image widget allows the teacher to upload an image file to a Lesson. Students also have access to this ability through the Student upload and Open response widgets.
For more information about the Image widget, click here.
Annotate image
The Annotate image widget differs from the Image widget as it enables editing. Similar to basic image editing software such as MS Paint or Mac Preview, your image is customizable with text, colour and shapes. The text can be picked up by screen readers and translators.
It is equipped with the same tools as the Interactive canvas, with a few key differences:
- The end result is not interactive; it appears to students as a static image.
- The Annotate Image widget is not a question. No marks can be assigned.
Protip: The Annotate image widget is often used in Stile to display learning goals at the start of a Lesson. Copy and edit the learning goals from an existing Stile Lesson, or make your own using the Annotate image widget!
For more information about the Annotate image widget, click here.
Share file
The Share file widget allows the teacher to upload a file to a Lesson. Students are presented with a download button which saves a copy of the original file onto their device. Certain file types such as PDFs can render a preview within the Lesson, too. This widget is not a question, and therefore cannot be modified by students or marked.
For more information about the Share file widget, click here.
Video
Videos can be embedded from Youtube, Vimeo, and ABC Behind the News, or uploaded directly from the device. Students can add videos via the Open response widget.
Videos can be a great way to break up large blocks of text while still delivering valuable content. It can also provide a way to record experiments and demonstrations to view at home, if doing so in the classroom is not an option.
For more information about the Video widget, click here.
ClickView
Schools can access their ClickView subscriptions directly in Stile and embed videos into Lessons.
ClickView is available as its own content widget, separate from the Video widget. If ClickView does not appear in your content bar, then you can learn how to enable it here.
For more information about the ClickView widget, click here.
Note: Your school will need a ClickView subscription in order to use this widget.
Audio
The Audio widget allows teachers to add sound to Lessons, by either uploading an audio file or recording it live. Students have access to this same feature via the Open response widget.
The Audio widget is not a question, and so it cannot be marked or require a response from students.
For more information about the Audio widget, click here.
Table
The Table widget is used to display referential information. If you would like the table to be editable by students, then you can convert it to a table question.
When creating a table, the teacher has a broad selection of tools available:
- Add and delete rows and columns;
- Rich text formatting including special characters, quotations, hyperlinks, emphasis, sub/superscript, alignment and indentation, bullets and numbering and font style and colour;
- Image uploads;
- Cell resizing;
- Cell shading.
Students also have access to these tools when creating a table within the Open response widget.
Protip: The Table widget enables an easy method to build a rubric in your Lesson. Rubrics are powerful formative (and summative) assessment tools that help you provide focus, emphasis and attention to particular details as a model for students and to provide more explicit guidelines around expectations.
For more information about the Table widget, click here.
Live poll
Inserting a live poll into your Lesson is a fast and effective way to gauge your students’ opinions or understanding. In a sense, it’s like counting raised hands Stile.
Teachers can:
- Open and close voting at any point;
- Choose whether or not the poll results are visible to students;
- Specify how many options students can pick.
For more information about the Live poll widget, click here.
Live brainstorm
The Live brainstorm widget allows students to anonymously contribute their ideas to a class. Teachers can hide responses from other students while the brainstorming is taking place, so no ideas are squashed by quicker answers or louder voices. Responses and tools work in real-time to help the teacher guide the flow of discussion.
Protip: The Live brainstorm widget is a great way to incorporate the high impact teaching strategy of collaborative learning into your Stile Lessons!
For more information about the Live brainstorm, click here.
Written response
The Written response widget allows for a simple 'question and answer' to be embedded in your Lesson. Students are only able to respond with text and mathematical notation in this question type. If you'd like your students to have more options in how they respond, we recommend using the Open response widget, which includes an option for written response.
Written response questions cannot be automatically marked, however manual marking can be assigned if the Lesson is in assessment mode.
Multiple choice question
The Multiple choice question type offers a quick and effective way to gauge student comprehension on a topic:
- It's automatically marked and can (optionally) provide automatic feedback;
- Results update in real-time in class insights;
- It's fast and easy to add to a Lesson.
For more information about the Multiple choice question widget, click here.
True or false
The True or false widget functions similarly to the Multiple choice question widget, although with static true and false responses only.
True or false questions can be automatically marked and assigned feedback.
Mind map
The Mind map widget can be included in a Lesson as a blank slate, or with some concepts partially completed to get students started.
Useful for students to take notes and reflect on the content of a Lesson, the mind map can be completed individually, or as a class via Teach Mode.
Graph
Students and teachers can plot up to three sets of data using the Graph widget.
The teacher can pre-populate some data to get the students started, or allow them to create the graph from scratch. The graph updates in real-time as data is entered in the X and Y columns. Graph types include line, scatter, and column (bar).
For more information about the Graph widget, click here.
Interactive canvas
The most versatile widget in Stile, the Interactive canvas can be used to create various cloze or drag and drop tasks. The Stile content team use the interactive canvas frequently for tasks such as labelling diagrams, balancing chemical equations, word definitions, and many more.
For more information about the Interactive canvas widget, click here.
Table question
The Table question widget is the markable and interactive version of the Table widget.
When creating a table, the teacher has a broad selection of tools available:
- Add and delete rows and columns;
- Rich text formatting including special characters, quotations, hyperlinks, emphasis, sub/superscript, alignment and indentation, bullets and numbering and font style and colour;
- Image uploads;
- Cell resizing;
- Cell shading.
When responding to a table question, students can only type in cells that have not been filled by the teacher.
Note: A cell must be completely empty for students to interact with it. If a cell is shaded grey, then it will no longer be editable by students.
For more information about the Table question widget, click here.
Student upload
The Student upload widget gives students the ability to upload project files of any kind, including images, Apple Pages, videos, a ZIP folder or Powerpoint slides. This widget is a question type, and therefore teachers can provide marks and feedback after downloading and reviewing the student files. Student files cannot be annotated directly in Stile.
Alternatively, students can upload multiple files to a single question using the Open response widget.
For more information about the student upload widget, click here.
Open response
The most flexible question type, the Open response widget allows students to choose from a selection of content widgets to answer a question.
The widget contains a single question and overall mark for the teacher to fill in.
When answering the question, the student can use any combination and quantity of the following:
- Text widget including mathematical notation;
- Upload files and media to include custom videos, images, PDFs, and other project files;
- Annotate Image widget for freehand drawing and annotating images;
- Embed Youtube or Vimeo videos;
- Table widget;
- Mind map;
- Graph widget;
- Record audio.
For more information about the Open response widget, click here.
Side by side
Improve the readability and flow of custom Lessons with the Side by side layout widget.
Start by dragging the widget into the Lesson. It will appear as two blank spaces, split 50/50 by a thin line.
Next, drag content or question widgets into each blank space. Common combinations include a text widget beside a video, or an image next to a multiple choice question.
Some widgets, such as the Interactive canvas, require the full width of the page and are therefore not compatible with the side by side layout.
For more information about the Side by side widget, click here.
Teacher tip
The Teacher tip widget adds text blocks which are visible to teachers and hidden from students.
Teacher tips can be used in myriad ways to enhance a Lesson, including:
- Provide extra guidance when leading an activity;
- Make notes to co-teachers or colleagues when sharing the Lesson;
- Add links to resources, model answers, or extra supplies.
For more information about the teacher tip widget, click here.
You may also be interested in the following resources: