How to use Boom Cards for Distance Learning!

I’m so excited to be creating Boom Cards™ to support distance learning instruction!

Since boom cards are new to most of us, this blog post will focus on these, but know I will be working to convert all of my Boom Cards™ into Interactive PDFs and Google Slides soon!

What’s the difference?

• Interactive PDF (self checking, can be downloaded and used offline)
• Boom Cards (self checking, must be used online, can collect data)
• Google Slides (must be used online, and self checking)

Boom Cards:

Boom Cards are self checking task cards like the interactive PDF but are hosted on the Boom Learning℠ site. They also have sound added to the correct answer or direction reading.

Where can I use Boom Cards?

A student must be connected to the Internet to use Boom Cards. Boom Cards play on internet browsers (Chrome, Safari, or Firefox). And applications are available for Android, iPads, iPhones, and Kindle Fires. 
Boom Cards are compatible with Google Classroom™, SeeSaw, and other similar online platforms that permit you to assign by URL. You can even import your google classroom to make it easier!

Do I need an account to use Boom cards?

Yes, you can create a free account HERE. With your account you can use boom cards you have purchased or downloaded from TPT or the Boom Learning store.

Free account: With a FREE Boom learning account, you can assign any boom cards that you purchase from TpT through a fast play link. What is a fast play link? A fast play link is a link that is valid for 14 days and directs students to play a “deck” of task cards without signing in. After 14 days, you can create a new link and continue to use. Since student don’t sign in, there is no data tracking.
Premium account: If you would like to collect data and assign decks to specific students, you can sign up for a premium account. There are  affordable ($15-$35/year) and you will have the option to add students, assign decks to specific students (easy differentiation), and even see data on how your students are doing.

How do I set up my Classroom?

Finally, these tutorials HERE  from Boom Learning is super helpful on going through the steps of setting up a classroom.

Note: You can import your Google Classroom so that students can use their google log ins to access Boom Learning, but it won’t post your assignments in Google Classrooms. Simply direct your students to sign into Boom Learning with their Google Classroom login and then they will see the decks that you assigned to them.

How do I assign Boom Cards in Google Classroom, Schoology, SeeSaw, Canvas, Moodle, Powerschool, Class Dojo, Microsoft Teams, etc?

First, you will go to the deck in your library, then go to assign. Now you have two options:

1. Select Fast Pin and copy and paste the URL. Fast Pins do expire after 14 days and will not collect progress, but are a great way to practice without needing to sign in! (Works with free accounts)
2. For premium accounts, you can assign the deck to your classroom and select “Hyperplay Link”. You paste this link in your online classroom. Students click on it and sign in to play. From here, a teacher will be able to monitor progress).

What kind of data do I get from the Boom Cards?

Most importantly, you will first select the decks that you want to check progress on and you will see how many cards the students have completed (progress – default only shows students 20 at a time, so decks with more cards will take multiple times to go through). It shows you the amount of time a student spend on a card and the percent they get correct!

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