I have always enjoyed putting new energy into finding tools
to better my teaching and enhancing the possibility for student learning. I usually read ACSD or other educational
publications about the newest thing. The
search brought me to Lori Peters who has changed my mind about using the most
common handheld device in the classroom as a learning and diagnostic tool.
Lori Peters is an English teacher or 11th grade
has brought to my attention that the cell phone has been there all along and
been overlooked as in important tool for the modern educator.
The first thing I need to check out is the district’s policy
about how they deal with students and their cell phones. Her perspective is
that with a firm understanding of what the kids can and have tried to get away
with will arm the teacher with a much better footing when having students bring
their cell phones into the classroom on and ready to work.
The programs that she recommended I try are zipgrade,
turnitin app, and reading with digital copy.
Zipgrade is an app connected to an easy to use website that grades form
tests with the cell phone camera. This
is great because you never have to wait in line to use the bubble machine in
the faculty room. Also, the compiled
data that is collected for each student and the class as a whole is far more
comprehensive than any simple bubble sheet.
The teacher can print out complete documents informing the students what
they missed and what the other kids in class chose. This gives the teacher the advantage in reteaching
if they see the majority of students missed the mark on a standard or
idea.
I have used turnitin.com before but never thought about
using the app to grade my essays. I
think that with the amount of energy needed to carry all of them around while
always having my phone in my pocket it never occurred to me to try and just
grab my phone. I did not try this one
yet but I think the next much of essays I should force myself to keep the paper
away and jump onto my phone.
I think that the feel of a good book is relaxing and therapeutic. The cold hard glass and steel of a phone is
not the same thing. But, since all of my
students have a phone with the ability to house all of the novels I am teaching
and give them a bunch of tools to make them a better, smarter reader. I can have the students look up words they
don’t know just by highlighting them.
This is a much more powerful tool than most people realize. The challenge of the modern student to use
more than one “device” at a time is not realistic. But now they can just use one, their phone,
to get immediate feedback about the word they don’t know. In addition to the, highlighting, side notes
and bookmarks that are now able to be used and transfer from device to
device. So if a student has more than
one it can have all of their notes shared on both devices.
I think that I have underestimated the power of the
cellphone as a classroom tool. Next
year, the cell phone will be out and the power it wields will be glorious.
www.Zipgrade.com -
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zipgrade-grade-paper-tests/id635077270?mt=8
www.Turnitin.com
https://www.apple.com/ibooks/
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