I think that text notifications are a
good idea however I don’t think they are appropriate. I would veer on the safe
side when it comes to communicating with students and stay away from text messaging
and go for email through the school.
I
really like how you can create blogs right in the site but I was really
interested in the journals. The journals have more settings and you can have it
set where only the teacher and the student can view the journal. I thought of a
student doing an essay or an assignment in the journal portion of the site and with
only the teacher being able to see it, it would be great for marking. It cuts
down on paper and there is no need to print it off so the students don’t have
to spend money to do it and the teacher doesn't have to keep track of all the
different papers, they are all online. Also the journals can be broken into
groups so group projects are also possible online without too much hassle.
Groups don’t need to physically get together which can be hard for students
with no transportation or busy schedules. The teacher doesn't have to give too
much class time for group work as it can be done online.
Early warning system is a great tool to
keep track of late or missing assignments without having to search through each
student or assignment individually. Also it helps to stay on top of things,
letting a student know as soon as possible so that they can correct the
situation. You don’t have to wait until you’re finished marking to find out
someone forgot to hand it in; it is quicker and more efficient.
I cannot believe that safe assign was
included here! It’s a good tool to use for anti-plagiarism. It also gives
feedback to the teacher and student about citation; it is easier to pick out
where citations are needed and if they are being done correctly.
Surveys are great to get feedback for
the teacher about how the whole class is going or the online process. You could
also use it to see what students think about a project idea or which book to
read next. It gives students a bit more power in the classroom knowing that
they get to give feedback and have a role in deciding on how to proceed with the
material.
Tests are a no-brainer. I would definitely
use it just for convenience sake as well as accessibility.
Self and peer assessment tool is great
for the students to learn how the marking process works, when you know how you
are being marked it is much easier to meet the criteria of the assignment. This
also gives students a sense of empowerment.
I like how you can put things into
folders and pages for organization this not only helps the teacher but the
students as well.
Also you can put in an announcement
which keeps everyone on track and organized knowing what is coming up and what
is due. Communication is one of the best organizational tools you can use.
I think the YouTube function is great!
You can search for and add YouTube videos into your content page without
leaving the site, it’s all built in! This is, first off, way easier than trying
to embed the videos and the students don’t have to link to the video or
anything, its right there centralized and organized. This can help with focus,
by keeping them on your site it is less likely they will deviate to other YouTube
videos when they should be working on school work.
You can also add audio, images, and so
much more content on the site as well allowing you to cater to every learning
style with minimal effort. This helps each and every student to reach their
full potential because they are getting their needs met.
As a closing
statement I would like to point out how much work this would take to set up!
Just playing with it had me stressed out. You would have to take the time to
learn the system and how to best use it effectively. Once you have it set up though,
it would be amazing! I can’t believe it’s free!
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