Week 9 Blog - Tech Review Presentations

The first 'trial run' tech review for the 302 class was a very dry run. I presented my information for the first time, and did not know how it would flow. Overall, it went well and I got some great feedback. I changed the order of my slides to better my presentation and gave it all over again to the 302 and 456 class. This time there were double the people listening to what I had to say. Right as I started, I felt confident because I was very aware with my tool I was presenting. I am also very passionate about Socrative and strongly think it would benefit every person in that room's classroom someday. It started to feel like an informational sales pitch, which wasn't a bad thing.  

I got great feedback from the 456 class, and by the looks of it they all commented that they would love to use Socrative in their classrooms- success! If I was allotted more time to present, I would include examples of the teacher's side as well as the student's side. I would demonstrate how to add in a question with all of the different features and have it pushed out to the students. If I had all the time in the world, I would have all of the audience go to www.socrative.com to answer a question of mine, and they could watch the results come in on my screen.

   I can see IGNITE presentations playing a huge role in my future profession career because so many people have so much information, but there is never enough time for everyone to share. By having a time and slide limit, the audience is getting a fair look at what everyone brings to the table and the presenters get a fair chance to display their information as well. This plays a huge role in schools with new devices, curriculum, ideas, and opportunities that IGNITE presentations would work very well.

Tech Tool Number Three: Smore

Smore is a great tool that can be accessed through a website or an app. By clicking on this link, smore.com it will take you to the homepage of the website. Smores is compatible with phones, iPads, tablets, and computers. The app will need to be downloaded, but after that it should be up and running. Smore requires you to create an account when you log in. The level of account will depend on the cost of the program.

The purpose of the tool Smore is to create newsletters and flyers. These newsletters are created online with many different creation options. They can be modern, simple, colorful, black and white, unique, and for any event. This app is fool proof to use. All you need to do is simply click 'get started'. You will then be asked if you want to create a flyer for a business, an event, a sale, a class, or a bulletin. Once you have selected the event, you choose where you want to share this flyer whether its by email, Facebook, Eventbrite, or any other method you may choose. The website then gives you a template and walks you through even step you need to fill out. It has spots for the agenda, pictures, a title, information, directions, and many more things. 

Smore could be used in the classroom for many different grades and subjects. Third graders could create a newsletter about them and what they are doing in school to send home to their parents and grandparents. 4th graders could create a newsletter about an endangered species project they are working on. 6th graders could use Smore to create a flyer of an event that they are going to pretend to put on start to finish.

Smore is very versatile and can be used for many activities, subjects, and age ranges. It is a great way to research a topic and put it in organized print.

Socrative

You can access Socrative through a website called http://www.socrative.com. This tool is a website that does not need to be downloaded and is open to teachers and students across the world free of charge.

The purpose of Socrative is to make assessment more fun for students, and easier for teachers. It provides an easy way for students to complete quizzes, questioners, and activities anonymously to the class and online. By having students complete these activities through socrative, teachers are forming a quick and accurate form of formal assessment. Teachers get instant results stating who gets the concept and who needs more help. Teachers will also be able to tell the next teaching points for the lesson, or if they need to move on to the next lesson.

Socrative has many different tools to utilize. Teachers can start a quiz to open up to students online. The quiz can me multiple choice, true/false, or fill in the blank. These quizzes can be anonymous or have names on them. The teacher gets immediate feedback as the students submit the quiz. Socrative also has a quick question option allowing teachers to throw in a quick question in the middle of a lesson. Similar to quick question, exit ticket is another option in Socrative. Exit tickets can be used for a ticket out the door for students. They may have to get the correct answer before they leave or perform a certain task. This is a way to assess what students have learned that day. The last activity available for students is called a space race. This activity is a fun competitive game between the class that is a race form.

Socrative can be used in many ways in the classroom. In the high school level, I would use Socrative everyday during lectures for an exit ticket. I would have students answer one questions coming from the lecture to see if they were paying attention, if they were confused at all, or if all students got the point and the class needed to move on. I could also use Socrative in the fourth grade classroom on the iPads. I could create a five question quiz and have students take it during class. This will help me with assessments and understanding interpretation.

Digital Classrooms

The most important things to consider when designing a digital classroom is access to everyone. I feel as if it is important for each student to have equal opportunities when accessing technology. Students should all get opportunities with iPads, laptops, interactive whiteboards, etc. I think it is important to have technology organized and easily accessible to students. It is important that all of the technology tools are on the same setting, that they are all logged in, and that the students know how to work each tool.

The main things that I have considered in designing a digital classroom is organization and accessibility. It is important that the teacher understands the tools just as well as the students. A teacher should not have any tool out that they are not 100% certain they know how to run. Students generally know their way around technology and it can quickly be turned into an inappropriate tool.

I decided that excessive digital tools weren't necessary, for example tools that are only usable for one or two activities. It is much more benefitting if the students are familiar with two or three technology tools that are very versatile rather than six or seven that they do not know how to use. 

I hope to have enough resources in my future classroom to effect the students in a positive way. I do not want the technology tools to be a distraction to the students, I want them to know how to operate them to assist their learning. Digital learning changes daily so the tools that I will have in my classroom are most likely not popular today.