2013 Shawnee Edtech Poll Results and Questions
The polls are in! There were a few surprises I did not anticipate- the most used technology is YouTube, with eBoard a close second. The most important thing I’d like to promote is discussing how we use technology. We’ll be promoting successful uses of technology in the classroom at our meetings. The most successful collaboration we’ve had at Shawnee quickly showcased different edtech tools on the web, and we discussed how we could use it in our classrooms.
Questions:
YouTube:
- What is the most exciting thing about YouTube specific to your class?
- What type of collaboration happens beyond the video?
- Do you use a comment or public forum online?
eBoard:
- What is successful about using eBoard?
- Is there anything you’d like to change or do differently?
Google Docs:
- What has been successful?
- What apps are proving successful in the iPad pilot program? Is anyone else finding use for apps?
- The other technologies in the poll are more for communication and collaboration- what has been successful?
Questions:
- Do you have a need to have all the websites important to you get “fed” to you in one place?
- Do you find different information via print, television, on the internet? Do you share that information with your classes or colleagues? How?
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■I use youtube all the time (probably about once a day) to show examples of specific things I may be talking about. The best thing about youtube is that there is so much material available – almost any thing we may be dicussing I can pull up a visual example of. I use TED Talk’s a lot as well, which I would conder similar to youtube.
■After I show the video the students able to understand much better, they are able to watch what they saw and try something similar (if it’s a tutorial, for example).
eBoard:
■No matter how many times you give out assignment papers and rubrics, many students still seem to misplace them; having the eboard holds them accountable for finding the information on their own (even though they shouldn’t have misplaced it in the first place, but we all do that once in a while!!). The eBoard holds me accountable for making sure my handouts are up to date and contain appropriate information. Also, it is a great means of putting information out there to share with other teachers. I host a lot of workshops and I am able to put up information and say “Oh, go to my eBoard to download the files”…many teachers are jealous of this!!
■I have heard that people want to change the layout/set up of it…personally, I am happy with it – it’s simple, straight to the point.
Google Docs:
■I have created a google account for two of my classes; this has been really convienent because the students have access to all their files that relate to the class but I also have access to that.
iPad
■I am not a fan of every kid having an iPad; I think it causes more distraction. The kids can use their phones in similar ways that the iPads are being used.
Other
■I do not have all the websites important to you get “fed” to me in one place – I would be interested in learning how to do that though!!
■I find information all over the place – TV/Internet/Books/Magazines/Newsppaer..etc. I am always sharing information with my kids and colleagues that I find, I think that it’s extremely important to keep learning and sharing – that’s how we get better at what we do!
You are a great example of a teacher who continually refines, and collaborates with other teachers about teaching. Thank you for being awesome!
On Tue, May 14, 2013 at 1:58 PM, Brian Pistone's Education Technology
YouTube:
■ I usually only use YouTube when introducing a topic or reviewing by showing some sort of math rap or parody that another school has done. I’d like to use YouTube more in the future for bringing more real-world connections to the classroom.
eBoard:
■ I like to post solutions to review worksheets on the eBoard so that students have instant feedback when practicing homework problems. I also put up hidden extra credit words that the students have to email me so that I can tell how many students are actually checking their solutions (surprisingly not many, even in Honors). I would like to have a better way of holding students accountable to check the eBoard without giving them incentive like an occasional extra credit point.
Google Docs:
■ I use Google Forms in the beginning of the year for my classroom and club sign-ups. Instead of having students fill out a paper copy of what they are involved in, their summer job, or what they would like to study in college, they fill this info out on a Google Doc link on my eBoard. I make it a 10-point assignment so that it forces them to get familiar with the eBoard in the beginning of the year.
edmodo:
■ I use edmodo texts for club announcements and I tried it this year in my Level 3 senior class. Since students are glued to their phones, receiving a text reminder to do homework or turn in a major project helped with more consistent assignment completion. I only did reminders occasionally because I wanted students to remember on their own, but I’d like to try this again next year a bit more consistently. I’d also like to look into whether edmodo can send a mass text picture of a review or challenge problem and try it with more than just the one course. You do definitely need a day where you bring students to the computer lab and check that they all joined the edmodo group correctly because some students don’t do all of the steps in the process.
Do you have the ball park percentage for how many students completed the homework when reminding with edmodo?
I don’t think edmodo can send text images, but you could send a url (if they have a smartphone) to your eboard or to a google doc or form, and if they don’t have a smartphone, they can go online to edmodo to view it. Or you can have students without smartphones set up email alerts; the problem is you can’t have both text and email alerts on the same account. The way around it would be to set up 2 different accounts, one with text alerts, and one with email alerts.
Thanks for sharing!