General tips for choosing technology in a classroom

We see new educational technology resources all the time, whether they are websites, hardware, mobile devices or apps. Trying to decide which of these technology resources are best in your own courses can be a challenge. But how can one decide what technology to use? As an instructor, it is important to evaluate technology for educational purposes. Many school districts or universities have technology coordinators or instructional consulting offices with established criteria to identify resources and technologies for your classroom. Seeking the help of others is a great place to start, but here are some general tips for you to consider when selecting technology to be used in your own courses.

How does the technology support teaching and learning?

Think about how technology can be used for teaching and learning in your classroom. For instance, will technology support new ways of students’ learning? How will technology improve instruction? It is important to consider your instructional objectives and then to find technology that will help you achieve those goals.  Technology does not automatically enhance teaching and learning, but when aligned with your overall instructional goals, it can be very beneficial.

What are others doing to meet the instructional goals?

One of the best ways to successfully integrate technology is to ask your peers and become part of a professional learning network.  Social media networks, blogs, and other websites are great ways to learn about new tools and get first-hand accounts of what other teachers are using.  Look around and encourage other teachers to share their own success stories and failures of what worked or didn’t work.  Ask your colleagues what technology tools they have tried in their courses. Sometimes you need to try a couple of different ways to use a technology before you find a good way to use it.

How does the technology enhance interactivity?

Many technologies enhance interactivity between an instructor and students. They, for instance, may offer the ability for feedback reporting and tracking that can be very helpful to an instructor. Other benefits of interactivity include use in group work and across subject areas.

How easy is it for you and your students to use technology?

Think about user-friendliness, speed, user interface, and training and support. Technology tools and software may not always need to be simple, but consider the amount of support that may be available to you and your students if you get stuck.

How accessible is the technology to you and your students?

Consider whether this technology is accessible for all the students in a classroom. For example, if you would like to use apps for handheld devices in a class, then those devices should be accessible for all the students.

Is the technology cost-effective?

While there are many free resources available, it is always important to consider the monetary costs, the time to learn and use, and any support that may be involved.  Although there are many excellent, free resources available, they might offer limited access, or have intrusive advertising that may not be appropriate for your classroom.  Sometimes getting a paid version offers more stability and support than a free version.

Does the technology protect the privacy and security of you and your students?

The issues of privacy and security should be considered in using technology in a classroom. Using technology should not violate students’ privacy and security. For instance, does this tool gather students’ personal data? Does it expose students to people outside of the class? Make sure to check your school’s policy before implementing new technologies.

Is the technology compatible with existing tools?

Think about whether the new technology is compatible with existing technology. You may need to update the technology with the latest version or purchase extra equipment in order to use the technology.

Overall there are many ways that technology can be used in education.  Picking the right technology can be a challenge, but there are many resources available to help out.  Look around, think critically about the technology, and look for options that will best suit you and your classroom.

References:

1. http://www.thethinkingstick.com/evaluating-technology-use-in-the-classroom/
2. http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/educational_technology/evaluation/
3. http://www.nsba.org/sbot/toolkit/teie.html
4. http://davidwees.com/content/how-can-we-evaluate-our-use-educational-technology
5. http://www.edutopia.org/adopt-and-adapt-shaping-tech-for-classroom

Image Sources from:

1. http://schoolimprovementnetwork.blogspot.com/2012/03/five-ways-to-integrate-technology-into.html

Clickers in the classroom: A powerful tool for engaging students

Instructors from a wide variety of disciplines are using clickers in the classroom. The proponents of clickers claim that clickers are innovative, interactive, and useful. But before we look at potential benefits, let’s talk about what clicker systems are. Clicker systems, also known as classroom response systems, personal response systems, and electronic response systems, are designed to collect students’ responses to questions during lectures. Each student generally uses a remote device—a clicker—to participate in a range of class activities, such as lecture questions, pop-quizzes, and attendance checks.

Clickers offer several potential benefits. Clickers are an easy-to-adopt technology that can enhance the learning experience. Clickers can help instructors maintain an appropriate pace by collecting immediate feedback from students, which makes it possible to identify learning gaps, difficult concepts, and areas for improvement. Students can actively participate in discussions about controversial topics without disclosing their names. In this way, a passive lecture can turn into a very interactive lecture. This can also prevent a few students from dominating classroom discussion. Many instructors have reported that students find that using clickers is fun and engaging.

Here is a case of an instructor who uses clickers in his classroom. Dr. Smith is an instructor at a higher education institution who is teaching Biology 101, Introduction to Biology. He enters the lecture room and settles down along with 200 students. He begins his lecture with a short review of an important concept that every student needs to be familiar with for the upcoming exam. The projector displays questions on the screen, and students are allowed 30 seconds for each question. After students responded to the questions with their clickers, Dr. Smith shows a bar chart that illustrates student performance. Students are surprised, as their answers to the questions are mostly incorrect. Dr. Smith intentionally asked questions that are often misinterpreted. Now he has students’ attention. A teachable moment comes.

This is an authentic example that shows a way to use clickers. It seems engaging, participatory, and effective. However, clicker systems have their downsides. For example, the cost. A basic system can cost over thousands dollars. Furthermore, given that the systems are often used in the large classrooms, one might need on-site technicians with a high level of knowledge to optimize and maintain a clicker system during classes.  Also, developing well-designed questions is important. Some institutions are frequently understaffed, unable to support this type of technology, and this leads to ineffective clicker use.

Researchers and practitioners are looking for the best ways to use clicker systems. And there is great potential. Clicker technology can provide more effective, more efficient, and more engaging education.

To assist instructors here at Indiana University, the Center for Innovative Teaching & Learning has developed several documents to assist with the use of clickers (see resources below). Furthermore, the center also offers individual consulting for instructors who are interested in using this type of instructional technology.  If you would like to know more about clicker systems, please contact us at ic@indiana.edu.

Helpful Resources:

• Writing Effective Questions and Clicker Tips
• Peer-Instruction and Clickers – The Eric Mazur Method
• Eric Kinser, from Indiana University, shares his idea on the use of Conditional Branching at the Turning Technologies at Nashville User Conference.

Images from:

1. http://www.timesdelphic.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/clicker.jpg
2. http://56wrtg1150.wikidot.com/clickers

Enjoy a Better Grading Experience!

Holiday season is just around the corner! Yeah!!!

But wait, are you still supposed to grade the final papers and exams? Hmm…

Grading can definitely bring gratification, joy, and reflection, but only having several days to grade before the submission deadline may still cause stress and pressure.  Are there some tips one could use to make the grading experience easier? What particular things does one need to pay attention to while grading? Our IC Office sincerely hopes the tips we gleaned in this blog post may answer some of your questions.

Question 1: So, this dauntingly big stack of papers is staring at me, where should I start?

The time at the end of the semester can often be very stressful due to numerous deadlines and last-minute changes. To avoid that this stress potentially influences grading, one could first find a supportive environment where it is peaceful and comfortable enough to concentrate.

Instead of jumping into grading right away, spend some time on preparation and plan on grading strategy so that consistency and fairness can be maintained throughout. For example, to avoid potential biases, consider the order of papers. Papers may be arranged alphabetically, randomly, or with names covered. Experiment and find out what works best for the habit, energy, and mood.

Additionally, reading five or six papers before grading helps one to get an idea of the average time spent on and the range of quality of each paper.  Estimating the time spent on grading each paper gives one a better understanding of how much or how little time on a particular paper.  Furthermore, stop grading if you feel tired, irritable, or bored. When starting again, read over the last couple of graded papers for review and consistency.

Question 2: How do I approach grading?

While additional techniques exist, there are two universally used grading methods: point score method which means points are broken down according to content sections or criteria, and holistic method which means a grade is based on the overall quality. Some people who prefer the former may grade based on criteria, such as analytical substance, argument structure, use of supporting material, quality of writing, persuasiveness, overall clarity, and internal consistency to name a few. In this case, one may find it necessary to create a rubric. A rubric offers the advantage to assess the quality of a student’s work based on different criteria.  Furthermore, each criterion is broken down into levels of competency. When using rubrics, it is good practice to share it beforehand with students so that students are aware of assessment criteria for the specific assignment. An online tool called iRubric is available to assist faculty and instructor in the School of Education on the Bloomington campus with rubric development, assessment and sharing. One can find many free rubrics in the database and customize them for personal use. (Click here to refer to more information on iRubric)

However, in some cases holistic grading approach is preferred because rubrics do not cover all situations. For instance, when an assignment or project is left open for students to be creative in presenting forms (e.g., a drawing, a poem, a picture), more subjectivity will be involved in judging the overall quality and unique rationale of the work. Please keep in mind that students often desire a certain level of transparency regarding assessment methods, so it is suggested to record the rationale for any grade.

Question 3: How could I best use my teaching assistant in the grading process?

There are several ways to involve teaching assistants in the grading process. The instructor could discuss grading policies and standards to get their opinions and make adjustments as needed. If the teaching assistants are grading, the instructor should discuss the expectations about facets of grading and adopt appropriate group grading strategy. To ensure consistency, each section of an exam could be graded by the same teaching assistant. Another way is to  work at the same time in the same place so teaching assistants can compare their grading policies and reach consensus when disputes arise.

If, as an IU instructor, you have to leave for a conference around the grade submission date, one and more grade proxies could be assigned through IU OneStart system.  Grade proxies have the authorization to submit final grades for you without revealing your passwords to them. (Please click here if you want more information on assigning grade proxy)

Question 4: How could I minimize my students’ complains about grading?

To minimize potential students’ complaints about grading procedures, one should announce the grading scale, policies, and standards in the syllabus and avoid modifying them once published. When receiving a complaint, treat it as an important source of feedback which could be used for improving teaching. Please keep in mind that some complaints are more legitimate than others. The basic principle here is to be receptive and sympathetic, yet firm on these occasions since students are expected to show quality work and sound thinking. Be sure to make positive comments on students work and avoid grading by just taking off points instead of giving credit for good answers.

Last but not the least, plagiarism should always be a concern when grading. One handy tool to check writing originality is Turnitin. Students will be required to submit their writings online through Turnitin.com, which checks for possible plagiarism by comparing submitted papers to several databases. With this being said, the tool needs to be used with caution because the presumption of guilt may cause negative feelings in some students.

References

http://teaching.iub.edu/finder/wrapper.php?inc_id=s2_7_assess_05_grading.shtml

(Grading, Indiana University Teaching Handbook)

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/CTL/cgi-bin/docs/ta/pdf/grading_papers.pdf

Note: You need to copy and paste this link into the browser to make it work

(Tips for Grading, Center for Teaching and Learning, Stanford University, Stanford CA)

http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/teaching-guides/assessment/grading-student-work/

(Grading Student Work by the Center for Teaching of Vanderbilt University)

http://www.indiana.edu/~icy/rubric/

(Collection of examples rubrics from the Office of Instructional Consulting at Indiana University)

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

Images

http://www.philnel.com/2010/10/14/procrastigrading/

http://www.wellnesscoach.com/category/matters-of-the-heart

http://mcspellman.wordpress.com/category/complaining/

Free alternatives to easily create online self-check quizzes

Self-check quizzes provide an effective and relatively easy way for learners to reaffirm and reflect upon their current knowledge level about a specific topic. Learners are also able to identify topics that they have already mastered and those in which they still have some deficiencies or misunderstandings. Moreover, self-check quizzes can promote learning by providing detailed feedback for each question wrongly answered and increase learners’ motivation as they can consider these quizzes as a challenge to overcome in order to continue with the rest of the lesson.

Even though they are not graded, the results of the self-check quizzes could be used by instructors as a form of classroom assessment technique. Provided that the questions are properly written, instructors can identify sections of the content in which learners struggle the most by focusing on those questions that are most often answered incorrectly.

Contrary to online survey tools (such as SurveyMonkey.com or Google Forms), online quizzes provide assessment and feedback features. As soon as the learner submits the quiz, she receives feedback letting her know how well she did in the quiz, the right and wrong answers and even in depth feedback per question.

Oncourse comes with a convenient and flexible tool that allows faculty members to create quizzes and surveys. It is called “Original Test and Survey”. It provides the option for instructors to create tests as self-check quizzes, allowing students to submit them as many times as wanted.

There are not too many free decent alternatives to online quizzes. Hopefully Google will do something about it soon. For the time being, the best alternatives we have found are:

ClassMarker. [http://www.classmarker.com/]  The free version allows the creation of a functional HTML-based self-check quiz.  It is not possible to provide feedback per question. The data submitted is not saved so it is not possible to know how many quizzes have been submitted and what their results are. The educational version provides extra features; it costs around $25 dollars per year.

QuestionWriter. [http://www.questionwriter.com/free-quiz-software.html] . It is a Windows platform desktop software that generates Flash-based quizzes. The free version allows the creation of functional quizzes which have the limitation of including just multiple choice questions. It has the functionality of providing feedback per question and to submit the quiz results to the instructor’s email address. The commercial license costs $195 (one time payment).

Please, do let us know if you happen to know about some other similar free tools!