Monthly Archives: February 2016

BYOD Toolkit

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In my mini-lesson I wanted to introduce my group to resources that I found useful and would hopefully help them with their inquiry projects. Last week Amanda introduced us to a few websites that could be used for formative assessment.  Her presentation got me thinking more about tying assessment to technology use.  For my presentation I explored many apps and websites that can be used as teaching strategies, extensions of a lesson, or for assessment.

I introduced my group members to:

Quizlet: a website that lets you create study sets or explore pre-made study sets.  It allows you to use unit specific vocabulary and create online ‘flashcards’ which students can use to review and/or study for an exam or assignment.  It would be a useful tool for intermediate or high school students, but would not be entirely useful for primary students.

https://quizlet.com

Edmodo: is a “social learning community where teachers, students, and parents can connect safely and securely”. As a teacher, you are able to create a class page where you can post text and pictures of what is going on in the classroom. After creating a page, teachers must invite students to the page and give them the class code that is specific to their class. The class pages have a similar layout to Facebook and are easy to navigate.  Teachers, parents, and students are able to go to the class page and know what is going on in the class and if the student is away, they are able to catch up on what they may have missed in the classroom that day. It is also a free resource.

https://www.edmodo.com/home

Read Write Think: a website that include classroom resources around literacy. It includes lesson plans, student interactives, mobile apps, calendar activities, and printouts. Not only does it include classroom resources, it includes parent and afterschool resources.  The resources are also grade specific and offer a wide variety of resources, activites and projects, games and tools, and tips and how to’s. The student interactives are ways to differentiate instruction and include all learners. I introduced my group to the Haiku student interactive.  It introduces students to the concept of a haiku, asks them to brainstorm, and then compile their own haiku, after which they are able to print out their completed poem.

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/haiku-poem-interactive-31074.html

I also introduced my group to two articles from Edutopia:

The Epic BYOD Toolchest (51 Tools You Can Use Now) by Vicki Davis

It is a collection of apps and websites, along with descriptions, that can be used in the classroom. The apps are categorized, which allows you explore apps that you may not have previously known but are interested in specific areas.

Davis, Vicki (2014). The epic BYOD toolchest (51 tools you can use now). Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/the-epic-byod-toolchest-vicki-davis

5 Fantastic, Fast, Formative Assessment Tools by Vicki Davis

A list of formative assessment tools that can be used within the classroom.  I appreciated the inclusion of assessment tools that did not include each student having a device.

Davis, Vicki (2015). 5 fantastic, fast, formative assessment tools. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/5-fast-formative-assessment-tools-vicki-davis

Introducing my group members to these resources opened up a discussion of other digital resources that we have found and how we could use them not only in our inquiry project but also as a part of our practicum classrooms.

How can we assess technology use?

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While some apps offer the teacher the ability to track student progress, not all classrooms have a class set of iPads at their disposal that they are able to consistently track student’s progress. Therefore, what is the usefulness of asking students to use specific apps when we cannot track their progress?

This question led to the modification of my inquiry topic and main question. While I originally wanted to focus on how technology could be used to personalize learning and not only as an assessment tool. Yet, I would now question the validity and relevance of using technology that we are not able to assess it.  Without being able to assess the student’s technology use, how do we know that they are meeting the learning outcomes that we have set?

Code Builders

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My students are very interested in coding and have coding apps that they are allowed to utilize when they have finished their work or when we are having a maker space with whole class involvement.

My class uses the coding app “Kodable”.  It is a fun way to get the students involved in computer science. The app uses fun characters and gets the students excited about trying something new. The website that accompanies ‘Kodable’ includes a teacher’s learning guide, which I find to be very helpful.  While coding is growing and becoming a part of our everyday lives, we were not not taught how to code.  By having a guide for teachers, Kodable enables teachers to familiarize themselves with what they are asking their students to do. It also provides lesson plans, unplugged activities, and specific coding vocabulary.

I questioned how to assess students progress with Kodable.  I was surprised to find out that each student can create an account and as the teacher, you are able to see students progress as well as who has been working on ‘coding’ more than others.  Coding can be used as an extension activity for students who finish early.  With that though, there could be students who always finish early and are therefore at a higher level than other or they have completed all of the stages. Conversely, there will be students who never finish early and do not have a chance to work on coding. So while I would like to include coding and computer science in my classroom, I find that I am not yet fully prepared and will continue to explore ways in which I may include it in other subject areas.

Link to Kodable Resource