5 Tech Tools that Are Just So Random

Nothing generates creativity like randomness! Mouse pad! Tire swing! Broccoli! Delaware!

Here are five websites dealing in randomness that help teachers (and students) think creatively and organize efficiently:

1. Random Emoji Generator

This simple site is filled with potential for creative applications in a variety of subjects. Think about a writing exercise in which students had to incorporate the list of emojis successively into their stories! Perhaps students could complete an art assignment in which they needed to depict of scene involving random emojis. Maybe in an improv, acting, or movement class, students physically embodied those emojis. The great thing about this too is that it was created by a teacher who had the good sense to filter out the questionable emojis, like the happy poop one. Sorry, kids.

2. Random Name Generator

Do your students need a character name for an upcoming story, movie, or script that they're creating? Look no further than this random name generator. Older students can certainly utilize the "generate life story" option, in which other facts about a character are created, like their birthday, age, location, blood type, and cause of death (these are not graphic, but try it out just to see if it will work for your students...).

3. Random Group Maker

A few years ago I would play an online game with my students that happened to randomly group them into teams. I couldn't change this feature, and initially I was nervous that I would need to give up the control I desperately clung to while I tried to pre-make teams that were balanced and conflict-free. Of course, there were inevitably conflicts and "stacked" teams, and the students often protested my motives in making the teams I did. When the computer randomly sorted the teams, I saw that many conflicts disappeared. There was no one responsible for grouping the team together, and no one felt left out. A random grouper works well for games or activities that are fairly short in nature and those that have the potential for many different groups, so if a team doesn't work out so well, it's not a big deal.

4. Random Name Picker

Like the Random Group Maker, the Random Name Picker neutralizes the often onerous teacher task of picking students to do something. There are endless ways to apply this tool, and chances are that if you're a teacher and you're reading this, you've thought of at least a few already. This name picker has a suspenseful carnival-spinner-type interface that makes it especially exciting.

5. More Random Lists

This site is dedicated to all things random. Here you can find random generators of all kinds, such as the random animal generator, the random word generator, and the random NBA team generator. This site has great potential for creative writing endeavors. It could also be used to get your students thinking about how to connect seemingly different things and building arguments. Be aware that this is a fairly ad-laden site, and you will need to sift through some of them that seem like part of the site to get to the actual content.

Have any more ideas about random generators that would be of use in an educational setting? Leave a comment below.