Tool #9: Incorporating Classroom-Based Devices as Tools for Learning

Technology is great, but it is super easy for the students to become distracted or even for the teacher to be pulled toward something that is a great activity, but isn't really connected to what you are trying to teach the students. It is important to look at the tool and see how it will help you to teach or the students to practice the objective at hand. It is also important for the students to be held accountable for the work they produce while using technology. First, because it is very easy for students to do something that wasn't want you initially assigned and second, because even if the students are doing what they are supposed to be doing you want to make sure they truly understand what you want them to get out of it.

I currently use Mangahigh as one of my standing stations. It tracks what they students are doing and which of the challenges they have completed, but I need to figure out how to really hold the students accountable. I assign lots of different challenges so students at different levels all have something to work on, but many times students aren't making the best choices of what challenges to do. I may try to assign them different challenges based on their level, but making those assignments sounds like a daunting task.

I liked Tutpup as a way for my students to practice their math facts and record them. I have had the students graph their fast facts quiz grades and it worked very well. Perhaps I can find some way for them to do the same with this.

On the iPad I use the brainpop app. It has a built in accountability piece since the students enter their names and it saves their scores on the quizzes  The student know they can't move on till they have a predetermined score on the quiz. For math I have quite a few applications downloaded. There isn't an easy accountability piece, but it is almost all of the students favorite station, so I haven't had an issue with students not working. I have had lots of students ask me about having game time on the ipads as a reward, but I have been nervous about having non-academic games downloaded. For now, I think this has been a wise decision in my classroom.