If you came to my recent TechS, you know I am a big fan of OneNote. I just received an email update from OneNote letting me know it now has the capability to search handwritten notes. Which also means you can write handwritten notes! The one downfall I pointed out earlier was the lack of this feature when looking for a note-taking tool for our students to use on the iPad. I'm very excited about the possibility of this now being a viable option for our students, as it is a free source. My other favorite, Notability, while being an excellent app, is pricey at $4.99.
I feel like we had a successful TechS this past Saturday. Thank you to those of you that sacrificed part of your weekend to attend. Below is a copy of the slides that I presented. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like me to cover any of these apps/websites in greater detail in the future. Also, an update on my personal goal. I created my SeeSaw class for my 7th grade students this morning. I am going to require that each robotics group post at least once to SeeSaw this week. Hopefully, I will get some good feedback from the students. I will keep all of you updated on how this app works out. I often tell my students they are my guinea pigs. As a computer teacher, there are always so many new webistes and features to try out on them. This week there are two new websites that I am very excited about: GoFormative and ProdigyMath. I was able to use my 7th grade students to test out GoFormative by taking a quiz online. I got feedback from the students about their experience on a Kidblog post, and it was overwhelmingly positive. My 7th grade students will be using this tool next week as well to take a test. I'm hoping it will go as smoothly as the quiz. ProdigyMath is the other website I am excited about this week. Melanie heard about this website at LACUE and is planning to have the entire 2nd grade begin using it soon. I was excited about that, but I became even more excited when I got to see ProdigyMath in action this week. Paige is already using it for math centers with her first grade class. The students got on the website in computer this week as an early finisher activity, and I was blown away by how engaging the website is for the students. It really makes practicing math seem like a game. Below you will find two articles I found supporting this fantastic websites!
Five (or maybe six) ways that digital formative assessments beat exit slips (Go Formative)Leave a replyGuest Author: Rachelle Dene Poth There are five ways, or maybe six, that digital formative assessments beat out exit slips, that instantly come to my mind when asked for my thoughts on this topic. Now these are not necessarily in any particular order, you may ask me and I might reverse the order on any given day, these are just what come to mind. Therefore, I make no disclaimer that these are ranked in a special order nor that they should be. I also do not expect that everyone will agree with the reasons that I have chosen. However I will say that in my own eyes and experiences, these are the first five, maybe six things that come to mind when I think about the benefits of using digital formative assessments rather than traditional exit or entrance slips. And again, my list is not in any specific order although I will tell about each in an order. #1 Digital Means no more paper As a teacher, I always had so many papers to grade. Teachers take a lot of time to evaluate the work, provide feedback, give comments and help our students to grow. We have to provide support for the students and formative assessments are the means to do this, however traditionally this required a lot of paper. However with digital tools and so many options, teachers and students will benefit because no more class time will be lost passing out pieces of paper and then waiting for students to pass in their papers. And also, who will miss not having the extra papers to manage? With so many digital formative assessment tools available to choose from, we can still provide this valuable feedback, guide our students, and have a record along the way. The nature of digital tools enables sharing with a class and papers are not lost, which is great for ongoing reflection and growth throughout the academic path. We can just accomplish all of this in a faster, more accessible manner. #2 Digital tools enhance lesson flexibility Thanks to the many options available, there is not such a pressing need to have the full lesson plan prepared or plan out your entrance or exit slips in advance. By the nature of digital tools and their quick accessibility, these assessments can be done last minute. And without anybody being the wiser. You may be leading a class discussion, or engaged in other direct instruction and decide that it seems like a good time to determine how the students are doing with the material. Perhaps you want to find out if they have concerns or questions, or there may be other areas you might want to assess. Using digital tools enables this to be done quickly, simply and no time is lost. By time I mean, time spent waiting in line for the copy machine, or if it really is a last minute decision, for your printer to generate enough copies for your class, or the traditional passing out pieces of blank paper. More time can be spent working with students based on our findings from the data and building relationships to help them grow. #3 Digital means a lot more choices There are a variety of choices for creating a digital formative assessment and transparency comes with that. It is transparent to students what they must do and clear results allows both teachers and students to make choices. Students can easily read the questions and there can be a variety of questions to provide for various learning styles. Another benefit is depending on the setup, teachers and students can have the results instantly. Teachers can use these results immediately and prepare for the next day’s lesson or use the data in the beginning or middle of class to adjust the instruction based on the results of the assessment. Digital tools really enable both the teacher and student to benefit by live results, providing reinforced instruction where needed and also allowing each to see where the strengths and weaknesses are and work toward new goals. #4 Digital tools lead to enhanced student engagement and greater technology skills Digital formative assessments provide opportunities for increasing student engagement while also further developing their technology skills. Giving students the opportunity to show what they know and can do with the material by responding using their device is highly beneficial. Students love using technology and by engaging them in the learning process and showing the benefits of the intertwining of technology with the content material, they can learn to appreciate its value even more.The assessments created can include elements of gamification, providing students with choices, learning their needs from their input. They see the value in what they are doing. As a result, their learning becomes meaningful because they can have those results and that valuable feedback instantly and directly on their device. # 5 Digital formative assessment supports legibility Fifth, using digital tools for exit or entrance slips really does help those of us who have struggled to read the writing of a student and wonder what their response really says, and with these digital tools these worries disappear. The questions are provided and students select or type responses. Whether it be in the form of multiple choice, true/false, short answer questions, essays, or even just a poll, student responses are typed or a box is checked, and it is legible for everyone. In most cases they can be downloaded into an email or a spreadsheet for further review and guiding the lesson. The final and possibly 6th reason: Digital tools build and enhance so many skills This is the sixth reason but is related to the fifth reason. One of the other things I really like about digital tools for formative assessment is that there are so many great choices available. The varieties of digital tools enable students to not only master the content area and make learning more meaningful, but also to develop a variety of skills and in many cases, encourage them to use the same tools for their own purposes during school or another area of life. Students learn to access information, collaborate and communicate in new ways using their device and as part of their learning experience in and out of the classroom.They can even share these with family and friends who can also integrate these tools into their lives and lines of work. So what do you think? So in conclusion, while I kept it to what started as five reasons but turned into six as to why digital formative assessment tools beat exit slips, as you can see the list can easily grow. I can think of additional benefits now. Perhaps you have seen the same benefits in your classroom, perhaps you have other reasons that you could add to the list I have shared. Regardless, the benefits are definitely there and I would love to hear your thoughts. Continue to add to the list by adding your reasons into the comments section below. Thank you for reading! I look forward to hearing from you. Can Game-Based Learning Improve Standardized Test Scores? January 20, 2015 Richie Saltzman Game-Based LearningWhen my co-founder and I started Prodigy, our goal was to get students as excited about learning math as I was about playing Pokemon as a child. As teachers, you’ve likely seen this excitement in your own classrooms, but one overriding question keeps coming up – does all of this excitement lead to quantifiable improvements on standardized test scores? To figure this out, we dug deep into data from one of our first districts, Kawartha Pine Ridge DSB in Ontario, Canada. The data shows that highly active schools on Prodigy had 11.6% more students meeting standards on EQAO testing (Ontario’s standardized test) compared to the previous year. This represents an 11.5% difference over inactive schools, which only saw a 0.1% improvement. You can download the full whitepaper here: https://www.prodigygame.com/resources/Can_Game-Based_Learning_Increase_EQAO_Math_Scores.pdf There is also a short 2-page summary here: https://www.prodigygame.com/resources/Can_Game-Based_Learning_Increase_EQAO_Math_Scores_(SHORT).pdf Post written by Rohan Mahimker, Co-CEO Prodigy With our upcoming iPad Pilot Program, I thought this would be a very helpful list!
by WeAreTeachers Staff By Samantha Cleaver So you have a class set of laptops or tablets? Perhaps the most daunting thing about a 1-to-1 classroom is how to fill those screens with meaningful learning. As you set up your 1-to-1 classroom, take these 26 1-to-1 classroom websites, tools, and apps recommended by teachers who have already vetted them. (Bonus: they’re all FREE!)
The apps recognized as Best Apps for Teaching & Learning are of exceptional value to inquiry-based teaching and learning as embodied in the AASL's Standards for the 21st-Century Learner. The apps foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration and are user friendly to encourage a community of learners to explore and discover. Books David Wiesner's Spot by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / David Wiesner Level: Early Elementary (K-2) Platform: iOS Website Three-time Caldecott Medalist David Wiesner turns users into explorers – explorers of the many complex layers of Spot as they zoom closer and closer into the illustrations and discover unseen worlds, which, in turn, beg to be further investigated. They will delight in dust bunnies that hop when touched, welding ladybugs, a family of insects enjoying a winter day, and a host of other unexpected surprises. Tip: Spot is full of story starter after story starter. Students can explore an island and then write a story explaining what is occurring in this imaginative environment. Incredible Numbers by Ian Stewart / Touchpress Limited Level: Middle School, High School Platform: iOS Website Professor Ian Stewart guides students through an amazing variety of mathematical concepts and topics. Included are 23 articles and 71 interactive demonstrations that bring mathematics to life. Students will learn about fascinating topics suchs as breaking codes, the mystery of Pi, and how numbers work in nature. Tip: Use Incredible Numbers to enrich math learning as students work to complete on of Professor Ian Stewart's famous puzzles. Loose Strands by Darned Socks Production Level: Upper Elementary (3-5) Platform: iOS | Android Website Loose Strands will appeal to fans of Choose Your Own Adventure books. A wry story is created as readers follow along and choose their desired outcomes. Strands of hair guide the way through the story and branch off when choices must be made. A fun feature is a map that shows the path that has been taken as well as outcomes blocked by the choices already made. Tip: Encourage students to refer to the map when making decisions and in order to keep track of where they have been. Seamus Heaney: Five Fables by Touchpress Limited Level: Upper Elementary (3-5) Platform: iOS Website Scot poet Robert Henryson's adaptations of five Aesop fables are brought into the modern age with this app. Students will be able to look at the original language, as well as modern English while at the same time viewing animations of the fables. Tip: Students can compare Aesop's version of each fable to the Scot version and the modern language version to learn more about changes due to culture and how storytelling varies from country to country. The UnStealer by The Happy Dandelion Level: Early Elementary (K-2), Upper Elementary (3-5) Platform: iOS | Android Website The Unstealer is a creative story that teaches the meaning of the prefix un-. Follow along as a stealthy thief turns an unhappy day around and makes an unconfident girl confident again. Interactive features make this app unbelievable and one that shouldn’t be unintentionally ignored. Tip: What stories can students create using other prefixes? Challenge them to write their own! STEM Algodoo by Algoryx Level: Upper Elementary (3-5), Secondary (6-8), High School Platform: iOS Website Algodoo uses 2D simulations to create scenes and allow users to experiment with physics concepts through the building of interactive inventions or games. Algodoo has great video tutorials to help beginners explore and understand the tools and menus. Algodoo has a large community of online users share their projects and teachers can register for access to physics lessons. Tip: The online videos are a great help for beginners. Also be sure to check out the "Learn It" tips on the Algodoo website. iBiome-Wetland by Springbay Studio Level: Upper Elementary (3-6) Platform: iOS Website This app allows students to explore 3 different wetland habitats (mangrove swamp, saltwater marsh, freshwater marsh) by building bio domes. Within each bio dome students learn about food webs and the interaction between plants and over 50 species of animals. The goal is to build the optimum environment for the survival of both plants and animals. Students are rewarded with badges as incentives. This app is highly interactive with hand drawn animations. Tip: See what happens when you add extra of one species to your biome. Students will see right away how species depend on one another and how easy it is for an ecosystem to get off-balance. Motion Math Educator Suite by Motion Math Level: Elementary (1-5) Platform: iOS Website This suite of 6 games covers elementary math skills from addition & subtraction to multiplication & division, to fractions and decimals. My students’ current favorite is Motion Math Pizza, where they build and sell pizzas to hungry customers, setting the prices and seeing how basic economic principles work. Tip: Students can adjust the level of the each game to make it challenging but fun. Click on the pause button and adjust the level. This makes a game like Hungry Fish great for young 1st graders just learning addition facts and older 3rd graders needing to work on increasing their mental math speed. My Incredible Body by Zybright / Visible Body Level: Upper elementary (3-5), Secondary (6-8) Platform: iOS | Android Website My Incredible Body lets kids learn about human anatomy through the exploration of medically accurate 3D models and animations. The models can be “dissected” for more in-depth study. Explanations are kid-friendly - using language and comparisons that younger students can understand. Short animations are used to explain the body systems in greater detail. Very engaging app - you can even “fly” virtually through the body systems.Tip: WWF Together by World Wildlife Fund Level: Upper Elementary (3-5), Secondary (6-8) Platform: iOS | Android | Kindle Fire Website WWF Together is beautifully designed app to help teach students about different endangered animals. It uses high-quality photographs, interesting interactive design elements to help students discover different information about specific animal species. It provides both a way into launching a study of endangered species, as well as a way to learn more detailed information. Tip: Have students explore WWF Together as part of animal research reports. The blend of multimedia resources will engage many students. Organization & Management Kahoot by Kahoot Level: All Platform: iOS | Android Website On Kahoot you can create a quiz or a survey that your students respond to through any device that has a web browser (iPhone, iPad, Android device, Chromebook). Your Kahoot questions can include pictures and videos. Tip: As the teacher you can control the pace of the Kahoot quiz or survey by imposing a time limit for each question. As students answer questions they are awarded points for correct answers and the timeliness of their answers. A scoreboard is displayed on the teacher's screen. Remind by Remind 101 Inc. Level: All Platform: iOS | Android Website Remind offers teachers a free, safe and simple way to instantly text students & parents. Teachers, coaches, or administrators can send reminders, assignments, homework, assessments, or motivational messages directly to students' & parents' phones. Including: regular text messages, voice clips and attachments. You can also schedule texts. Messaging is safe because phone numbers are kept privateTip: Use Remind daily to brief parents on whether their children did well in class and what their homework is for the night. Seesaw by SeeSaw Inc. Level: All Platform: iOS | Android Website Seesaw is a student-driven digital portfolio that empowers students (as young as 5!) to independently create, capture, and store artifacts of learning. Seesaw allows educators to collect and Organize digital and physical work in one place.Tip: Give students ownership of their own space to create & record what they learn. Students can add text and voice recordings to journal items to reflect, explain, and develop their academic voice. A great teacher resources section is available on the Seesaw site. Skitch by Evernote Level: All Platform: iOS | Android Website Skitch is a free app that helps you communicate visually with friends, co-workers, and the world. Can markup and edit images.- can add text, highlight, blur, arrows, sticker to mark images. Tip: Share a diagram of the earth’s layers and have students label it with you. Spider Scribe Jr. by 5pm Level: Upper elementary (3-5) and Up Platform: iOS Website SpiderScribe Jr. is a mind mapping and brainstorming tool. It lets you organize your ideas by connecting notes, images and geographic locations in free-form maps. Tip: The app can be used offline - it does not require internet connection, unless you need to email your map to someone. Social Sciences Amazing World Atlas by Lonely Planet Level: Elementary Platform: iOS Website Amazing World Atlas is created by Lonely Planet to explore and learn about world geography. It includes flag and capital information in interactive games, quizzes, and exploration tools. Tip: Use Amazing World Atlas as a more interactive way to do research on world geography, including continents, countries and cities. You can also use this app to review world geography unit, playing games and taking quizzes. Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) Level: Middle and High School Platform: iOS | Andriod Website Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) brings together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, museums, and cultural heritage sites making them freely available to students and teachers. Tip: DPLA is project-based learning at its best. Use the open DPLA API and have your students develop apps. Ripped Apart: A Civil War Mystery by Smithsonian Institution Level: Upper Elementary and Middle School Platform: iOS Website Ripped Apart is developed by the Smithsonian and uses an inquiry-based approach to teach students about the Civil War.It incorporates primary documents and photographs. Users must solve puzzles to unlock clues and add notes to their journal. Tip: Use this app as a fun way to introduce upper elementary-high school students to the resources available through the Smithsonian Institute, while also reinforcing Civil War content. The app makes students use the resources to solve a mystery. Think Like Churchill by TouchPress Limited Level: Middle and High School Platform: iOS Website This high interest history app gives students an opportunity to see events through the eyes of Winston Churchill. After an introduction from London Mayor Boris Johnson, readers may select from six pivotal events from the life of the Winston Churchill. At the end of each story, readers are asked to weigh options and make decisions based on what they think is the right. Students receive feedback and their choices are analyzed compared to Churchill’s actions and character traits such as humility, judgment and belief in others. Tip: Think Like Churchill is perfect for role playing and decision making in middle school or high school history classes. Use the app to lead to rich discussions. Touch Van Gogh by Stichting Van Gogh Museum Level: Upper Elementary, Middle, and High School Platform: iOS Website Touch Van Gogh is a multi-layered art history app that examines six paintings by Vincent Van Gogh. Users may explore the location, history, style and composition of the paintings. Students will enjoy rubbing the screen to reveal art hidden under some of the paintings as they discover that Van Gogh recycled his canvases. Tip: This is an an excellent app for art classes studying composition, color, style, media and Van Gogh's works. Tap on the arrow on the right side of the screen to open up a window containing information about the painting. Content Creation Adobe Voice by Adobe Systems Level: All Platform: iOS Website Simple, elegant tool for creating stories by recording voice over your own images or a library of themes, images, fonts and music. Anyone can create beautiful presentations with virtually no learning curve. Tip: Going on a field trip? Have a big event in the library or at school? Ask students to take pics and have a camera roll ready for the storytelling to come. Buncee for Edu by Buncee LLC Level: Early Elementary and Middle School Platform: iOS Website Create beautiful digital stories using audio recordings and libraries of background and stickers. Wizards support beginners' efforts. Tip: Record your voice and share a model project as a way to explain assignments to parents and with younger students or use for announcements. Check the buncee blog for loads of ideas for integrating buncees into curriculum. Glogster by Glogster Level: All Platform: iOS Website This favorite web-based interactive poster tool is even better as an app, because of the drag-and-drop Glog canvas. There's an impressive library of educational graphics, categorized by subject, as well as handy templates and a sweet collection of text displays. Finished Glogs are sharable on Pinterest, Facebook, or may be tweeted, emailed or exported. Saved glogs are instantly synced and available online. A button links glog creators to Glogpedia, a template library of thousands of categorized Glogs from classrooms around the world. Tip: Inquiry projects can be enhanced by creating a network of linked Glogs--one might be devoted to the thesis, others--the evidence, another--the conclusion. LEGO Movie Maker by The LEGO Group Level: All Platform: iOS Website Create your own stop-motion movie with this intuitive app that makes it easy to stage LEGOs and other objects, take multiple pictures and bring them to life as a sophisticated animation. Tip: Have your students use this app to set up stop motion films. Have students place characters in historic or book character scenes. Pixel Press Floors by Pixel Press Level: Intermediate, Secondary Platform: iOS Website This social gaming/problem solving app inspires kids to create (literally draw) and share their own video games. Drawings, build on the 14 creator elements, are captured by the app and immediately transformed into playable games. Creators get feedback about how often their games are played. Tip: Check out the one- or five-day Design Thinking curricula, complete with rubrics and brainstorming handouts. Keep sketch sheets around for spontaneous maker activity! |
AuthorHello! With this blog I will try to post interesting and helpful technology related articles I have found or write posts about my personal technology experiences. Archives
April 2016
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