Plicker

Ever want to quickly poll your students but don't want to hassle with the time it takes to set up devices? Plicker is for you!
I recently read a blog post from Richard Byrne about the top ten technology tools for educators this year and Plicker was on the list. Having not heard of Plickers I decided to look into it. Intrigued by what I read I emailed a teacher who I knew would be willing to try them out. Less than 24 hours later Plicker has been tried and deemed pretty darn cool by all involved.
What is Plicker? First of all, the word Plicker is a shortened form of "paper clicker". You know TurningPoint, right? Great tool, but sometimes finicky. The batteries in the clickers go dead, the students can't get their response recorded no matter how carefully they point to the receiver. Sometimes you just don't want to bother with checking out a TurningPoint kit from the library. With Plickers you print out a set of cards that have what look like black puzzle pieces on them, each side labeled with A, B, C, or D. Each student is assigned a unique Plicker (the Plicker below is #13). As with TurningPoint, students do not see how other students answer. Students display their Plicker with their answer choice facing outward (the Plicker below would register answer A if held in this position).

From the front of the room the teacher uses their smartphone to do a "sweeping" scan of their classroom as students hold their Plicker up to answer the question displayed. We found that as students saw their name checked off it worked best if they turned Plicker facedown - that way the teacher easily knew which Plicker still needed to be scanned. Teachers can enter questions on the Plicker site, or on their smartphone. As the teacher scans the classroom a chart shows on the phone which answers have been registered, and they are coded red/green for incorrect/correct.

The question is displayed via the LCD hooked up to the teacher's computer with the teacher signed into their account on the Plicker site, along with a list of the students in the class. The student list can be displayed by card number, first name, or last name. Teachers also have the option of displaying the answers next to the student name. Once all have answered you can display a graph of the answer choices, with or without the correct answer displayed.

   

The reports from Plicker do not compile all the results into one score, just by question. However, it makes a super tool to use for quick checks and exit tickets. Yes, you need a device on which to use the app - but there are Apple and Android versions. The version used to test Plicker was an Android. Since there is an Apple app, it is possible that an iPad could be used rather than an iPhone. Plicker cards are probably best used on card stock. The site does say if you laminate the cards to use a matte laminator so the glare does not interfere with your scan. 

Collaboration With Google Drive; Part One

The final session I have to report on from the 2014 GAFE summit will be on a session entitled Collaboration with Google Drive,  by Andrea Jones of Franklin Middle School in Fairfax County. This report may take me several postings.

As the title suggests,  this session dealt with practical tips and understandings helpful in using the sharing capacities of Google Drive.  After reviewing my session notes, I am left wishing I had done so before we set up the lesson plan folders.  I’ll try to use what Andrea said, as well as what I learned from my own mistakes efforts, to come up some suggestions which may be helpful to you.  Some of this information was also covered in Melissa’s entry “The Ultimate Workflow.”

The first thing I learned from this session, was rather tangential to the session itself, but, very useful nevertheless. It was in regard to the website Goo.gl  This site is the “Google URL Shortener”.  Have you ever had one of those long web addresses that would just be too complicated to try and give to all your students?  One solution (there are others) is to go to goo.gl and enter the long address, then click on “shorten” and Google will give you a shorter (though case sensitive) address that will be much easier to have your students type in to their browsers.  In addition, if you have a Google account, or establish one with goo.gl, you can have goo.gl do analytic analysis of the page for which you pasted in the address.  That is, it will keep track of how many clicks that page gets, what countries, browsers, and operating systems they came from, as well as what search engines may have referred the user to the site. Similarly, TinyURL.com allows you to shorten a URL giving it a custom name such as TinyURL.com/historyworksheet.

We haven't yet started in on the main subject of this review, however I think I'll quit here and plan to get to it in part two--after Christmas break. Speaking of which, have a very Merry Christmas and a relaxing winter break.

Open Educational Resources

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This past weekend, I was faced with a perplexing dilemma.  One of the blades on my riding mower had to be replaced.  I had never done this particular procedure before, so I did what anyone living in 2013 is likely to do:  I Googled it.  I found diagrams and photographs, and even downloaded the manual for my particular model of lawn tractor.  I also found numerous videos on Youtube that showed in precise detail how blades are changed on that mower.  Years ago, I would have had to rely on the expertise of someone else to accomplish this task.  I would have had to take my tractor to someone who knew how to do it, or I would have to find a friend with the required free time to come and wrench on it in my yard.  In short, I would have been stuck.  I was able to affect the repairs myself, because of all the materials freely available online.  I didn't have to pay for a book or a manual, I didn't have to pay for a mechanic to fix it, and I certainly didn't have to pay for someone to teach me how to do it myself.

The incident with my tractor pretty fairly sums up the topic of this discussion: Open Educational Resources.  The idea is that educational resources don’t have to be expensive.  In fact, some of the best materials can cost nothing at all.  Schools and classrooms across the country are moving towards open source software to support education.  Instead of paying thousands of dollars for licenses for Microsoft Office, they are using Open Office, which does most of the same things, but for the low low cost of nothing.  Word processing, spreadsheets, presentations… it’s all there.  Instead of paying for Photoshop, people are downloading and using GIMP, which has most of the functionality but is, again, without cost.  This paradigm is transferring to educational resources as well, including textbooks and instructional videos and interactive simulations.  When my daughter needs help in a few years with Algebra, I will show her what I can.  Later on, when she needs help with more advanced topics like trigonometry or calculus, she very well might turn to Khan Academy or some similar source of Open Educational Resources. 

There is, and always will be, money to be made in educational materials.  Many people will say “you get what you pay for.”  This is true to an extent, but it is interesting to note that MIT has been posting course materials online, including texts and lecture videos, since 2007.  Anyone can study thermodynamics from MIT now.  However, you have to pay tuition in order to get a diploma from them.  As school divisions and teachers struggle to pull together the ends of the educational funding rope, it is good to know that there are resources available to them that can supplement, if not supplant, the materials they are already using.

When you are ready to explore the options out there, here are a few more places to start:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_educational_resources

http://www.oercommons.org/

http://kihd.gmu.edu/aim/policies/

More technology recommendations from ACPS teachers

I've learned a lot about different types of technologies. I have tried a lot of different activities with my students and a few stand out. My QR Code lesson went really well, and my students loved it. BigHugeLabs has a lot of great activities on it that I want to try with my students. I have learned to try new things. Not everything works for me, but I've given it a try. I want to try to master Prezi. I think it is a great and interesting tool for students and I want to be able to use it. Technology can be a great vehicle to success for many of our students.  Amanda - NHS

Nanoogo is an excellent site because it allows for and basically encourages student creativity to flourish. For instance, you could have students write a poem with illustrations, present a paper with illustrations, create their own cartoons, etc. Students loved using Nanoogo in my class, and as some sites good old after a while this site never did. Also, I wanted to say that after we introduce some websites which students can use, give them the option to pick which ones they feel comfortable using because the results are only going to be better in this case. Edmodo is an excellent site for many purposes, it engages the students, allows shy students to seek help, is good for organization, and best of all is ideal for parent communication. Quizlet is an excellent way to create and review flash cards, because it has exciting games and offers pictures for those visual learners. And finally, flip cameras really have no limits on creativity, all it takes is a creative mind and you instantly have a cool project.  Steve – AMS

The tools that I have used the most in class are Edmodo and Flashcard Machine. I like to be able to post assignments and notes so that students will have access to them outside of the classroom. Flashcard machine is great. I have seen a major change in the vocab grades since using this.  Connie – NHS

I've had a good time bringing what I've learned in class back to my team. I have collaborated with the English teacher on a few projects. We used Edmodo as the vehicle for our students to turn in their WAC papers. The English teacher joined my groups and I made her a co-teacher. This meant that she could also see their writing and help with the grading. I also shared Study Stack with her, and now the students are putting their personal dictionaries on Study Stack. I really like Study Stack because it is easy to use, I don't have to set up student accounts, and the different options it gives for review. The more we all share with each other and make use of the technology, the more competent our students will become, too.  Nancy – NMS

I didn't know you could monitor your student's progress using Khan Academy. Have students create their own free accounts and have them check you as the coach...they can have more than one coach. Coaches have access to all of their students' activities and achievements. It is an easy way to assess and provide feedback to the teachers.    Suzy – NMS

If usage time of tools during this class is any indication, student-generated videos and new presentation tools, such as Kizoa, will have the biggest use in the library. Both were fairly quick and easy to learn, and both are easy to work in to the library setting. I have enjoyed using both in efforts to promote reading. Another valuable benefit is that students are using technology to promote reading by using a Flip camera, computer, and LCD projector. I hope to have students create other and more presentations that promote reading and display them on a computer and LCD projector. My experience has been that students respond very strongly and positively to the videos of themselves and their peers, and, furthermore, many of them check-out the books that are recommended on the presentations. It’s been a beautiful thing.  Mary Margaret – NMS

Many of the 21st century technology tools, studied in this class, are great to help students learn. Many students have been using online flashcards to master essential knowledge. There are quite a few excellent U.S. History flashcards on Study Stack and Quizlet that have been proven to be extremely beneficial to my students while we have been preparing for the SOL test. I will also be using presentation tools to help students’ master essential knowledge. These presentation tools can really jazz up dull, boring Power Points. Therefore, I will be using online flashcards and presentation tools most often with future students.    Mary – AMS

I set up Edmodo for my class and the kids LOVED it. They were talking "math" on the weekend! We did a poll and they communicated with each other about the project they are working on. When they got ready to dig into the meat of their project, we set up groups for them to communicate in. They liked being able to ask me questions from home, and I liked seeing them excited about learning!  Angela – NMS