Post on Quizzes, Tests, and Surveys (tool #5)

Chapter 20 in the textbook discusses computer based quizzes, tests, and surveys. As a teacher, I have completed numerous computer surveys, as well a few tests, in the past few years. But I haven’t created and used them with my students. Coming into this class, the primary goal for me was to learn how to do this. I often have my students complete short assessments to see what they already know, or to find out what they have learned in a lesson or unit that was just studied. But these assessments were down with paper and pencil. One of the reasons that I haven’t tried using assessments with the computers previously is that I would need to make sure that I have a computer available for all of my students. Although this isn’t possible all of the time, my students do have enough access to computers that I can make this work with a little bit of planning. I think that the students will like using the computer to complete some of these assessments. As a teacher, I will like having the results accessible to me in one document. I can also use graphs and charts of the data to show the students and me the results of the assessments. Numerous times during the school year, I give my students a short pretest of the information, followed later by a post test to show what they have learned. I think that a computer based quiz will be a good tool to use for this purpose. Here is a link to a practice quiz that I made using Google Forms.

Mr. Oyer's President Quiz

Post on Avatars (tool #4)

Chapter 23 in the textbook is about using using avatars. I went to the Voki website and created an avatar. This is a humorous way to present information to others (like my students) to deliver brief pieces of information about procedures and other happenings in my classroom. The avatar can be a somewhat realistic image of a person or it can be kind of a crazy image. I like the voice option of either recording your voice to go with the corresponding avatar or you can enter the text that you want to have spoken and then choose a different voice to present the information. I think this could be a funny way to explain assignments or procedures to my students. I often have students asking me to repeat instructions that I have given to them. If I recorded the instructions with the avator, I could simply tell the students to go to my blog and listen to them again.

avatar

Response #3 to Oregon Tech Standards

My third standards response will be in the area of #6: Technology Operations and Standards;  Students utilize technology concepts and tools to learn;  part a:  Students select, use, and troubleshoot tools efficiently.

My thought about this standard is that students need to learn how to use technology in a variety of settings.  Learning some of the necessary skills in a specific technology class can be helpful, but it is important for students to learn how to select and use technology tools in a variety of classes.  In this day and age, the use of technology needs to be included in most, if not all, classes that students are taking.  They need to have experience in selecting the most appropriate technology tools and then know how to use them efficiently and effectively.   It bothers me when I hear about students supposedly getting their technology needs met by going to a computer lab once a week.  Most of us probably know preschool kids who use technology in their homes.  There is no reason why students should not be using technology to help them learn in the early stages of their school experience.

Response #2 to Oregon Tech Standards

My second standards response will be in the area of #5: Digital Citizenship, part b:  Model and practice a positive attitude toward using digital technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity.

The three words that stand out to me in this standard are collaboration, learning, and productivity.  If my students can be successful in these three areas, whether they are using technology or not, I will be satisfied.  All three of these words reflect life-long skills that are needed in many occupations.  There are plenty of school opportunities for students to learn and be productive.  But for them to be able to learn and be productive, while collaborating with others and using technology, that is a very good standard.  I know that some schools are limited in their access to technology, but in my school, there is adequate access to enable my students to have many opportunities to use technology tools to meet this standard.

Post on Narrated Slide Shows (tool #3)

Chapter 18 in the textbook is about using narrated slide shows.  My students and I have often used Keynote presentations in the classroom, but I have never used a recorded voice narration with the Keynotes.  I decided to experiment with one of my previously made slide shows. Every two years, I take students from my school on a six day trip to the East Coast.  I present the slide show to all of the 7th and 8th grade students when they return to school in September to get them interested in the trip.  So I added voice narration to each of the slides.   One of the benefits to doing this is that I won’t have to add live narration each time I show the slide show.

Adding voice narration to a Keynote slideshow is fairly easy.  Because I didn’t write out a script for each slide, I sometimes had to redo the audio input because my words didn’t come out the way I wanted to when I just ad-libbed the narration.  It didn’t take long to re-do the audio for one slide.  But after adding narration for all 39 slides, I wanted to go back and re-do the narration for the first slide.   I discovered that by re-doing the audio for first slide, I had lost all of the narration for the other slides.  So, I’ll have to go back and do it again.  I would definitely require my students to write out a script of what they planned to say for each slide.  I would also make sure that they regularly saved their slideshows so that they don’t end up losing their recored narration the way that I did.

Response #1 to Oregon Tech Standards

My first standards response will be in the area of #4: Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making, part c: Collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions.

I have not done enough of this type of activity with my students, but I want to do more because I believe it is very important for students to be able to analyze data to help identify solutions and then make informed decisions.  One activity that I have used with my 7th grade World Geography students is to have them first research some of the problems the people of an African country have experienced in recent years.  After identifying some of the problems, they then research how different relief organizations have tried to help the people of that country.   Finally, the students are asked to create their own relief agency (fictional) and write a letter to the local newspaper.  In the letter, the students are to identify their country, list some of the problems, and then state what their relief organization will be doing to try and help the people of the country.  I have been impressed with the ideas that my students have come up with.  This activity fits the description of standard #4 and I plan to include more activities that require my students to analyze data and then identify solutions and make informed decisions.