Category: My thoughts

Before I give my opinion and evaluation of two free learning management systems (LMS), I must explain by background with the free online LMS. For the last few years I have used a LMS called Edmodo. I have found Edmodo to be a great resource for the classroom and for online professional development. This past fall I became a certified Edmodo trainer. More recently, I have been trying Google Classroom to see if it is a better option for my district. Having experience with both LMS, I would like to review each here.

Edmodo

Edmodo has been around since 2008. Currently there are nearly 50 million people using Edmodo. I find the layout of the site to be very intuitive and easy to use.

Some of the my favorite feature are:

• Teachers to connect with each other
• Parents can join and connect with student account
• Students cannot message each other directly
• Quiz option
• Snapshot formative assessment tool

Some features missing or that don’t work well.

• Integration with Google Drive has been temperamental
• Some students have difficulty attaching files

Google Classroom

Google for Education has been utilized by many school districts for years. Google Classroom was launched this past fall with some BETA testing last spring. The Google Classroom is only available to those education accounts.(In my district we use Google Docs and Presentations more than we use Microsoft Office.)

Some of the my favorite feature are:

• There is total integration with all Google Drive files
• Possible turn in button on the document itself
• Ability to create a copy of a document for each student

Some features missing or that don’t work well.

• Students can email each other directly
• Teacher must email student instead of creating a direct post (Teachers can directly comment on an assignment, but not a general note)
• No parent accounts

If you are wondering which one I like best you are going to have to just wonder because I like them both. Here is why.

For my technology classroom, where I utilize the Google applications, the Google Classroom is best. I can make a worksheet in a Google Doc, create an assignment, make the students a copy and all they have to do is log in and get the assignment and click done when it is completed. If they need to attach a file that was not already linked to an assignment by me, it is fairly easy to do.

But as far as professional development and classroom discussions are concerned, Edmodo is much better. I tend to have all of my classroom discussions face to face. If you are looking for a place to have an online class with discussions and Google integration isn’t your top need, Edmodo is your best choice.

In the end, both are great tools meeting different classroom needs. To be fair I should mention there are other free options available. Two others that I know of are Moodle and Chalkup. Also keep in mind there are many paid options that many schools and districts are using.

In one week I am going to embark on a journey. This journey will take me past the familiar into the great unknown. I am starting a robotics course in my district. To the best of my knowledge, there hasn’t been an actual course offered before now. I have dabbled in robotics for the last two years, offering a small amount of instruction to students. Next week this all changes. Each school day for an entire semester students will be engaged in building and programming a robot to complete a variety of challenges and tasks.

I am convinced that students need real life, practical application to the math and science they learn in the classroom. I am so excited for the possibilities that lie ahead. I am also quite nervous I mess it all up.

I won’t be traveling alone. Thanks to ROBOTC and Carnegie Mellon for some fantastic online training this summer, I have some curriculum and tons of ideas to help me navigate my way.

I will be chronicling each step along the journey here on my blog. Although the comments are turned off, feel free to contact me through the contact form with comments or questions.

I want to end this post with a short TEDx Stanford video. My favorite line is “What if we made education more like a kitchen than a cafeteria?” ~ Eric Smalls

Have you watched as your students have tried to sneak a peek at their phones and you see their thumbs tapping feverishly? I have. And I have taken away plenty of students’ phones for playing games and texting.

I figured out what many of them are doing. They are building their village on Clash of Clans.

I was curious about this phenomenon called Clash of Clans. I have seen the commercials on TV but really never gave it a second thought. I decided to investigate by downloading the free app and setting up my own village. I found you have to build your village and set up storage for your gold and elixir. These are your currency to buy, build and most importantly defend. It’s all fun and games until you get attacked. You cannot be attacked if you are online. I have to admit, I was very tempted to play during class just like my kids.

Although I have worked with these students for years and know them well, Clash of Clans has given me one more thing to discuss with my students in the down times. They love giving me advice on my village. We laugh at how pathetic my village is compared to theirs. I even had a student invite me into their clan. I accepted for a short time and then left after a non-student was uncomfortable with my being in the clan with my limited experience. I created my own clan for teachers only. It is called Teachers Inc. if you are interested in joining.

I found that my students will pay attention and work if they know that they will get just a few minutes to jump on Clash of Clans to collect the gold and elixir and brag to me about their trophies. This is a great thing to do as they pack up with must a minute or so left of class.

A small investment in time goes a long way to build rapport with your students.

Having the opportunity to work with JH students, I see and hear about the social networks apps they utilize. It is hard work to keep up with the latest apps and how these apps function.

Common Sense Media has a fabulous blog post on some of the apps parents and teachers should watch out for. (On a side note, I use many of the Digital Citizenship lesson plans Common Sense Media has created. I find these plans to be very effective for teaching Digital Citizenship whether you have access to technology or not. Common Sense Media also has many other resources for teachers and parents. Check them out at commonsensemedia.org)

Of the apps listed in the blog post, the app I see the most is Snapchat. I first found about this app when I told a student to stop texting and put away her phone. She said, “I’m not texting, I’m Snapchatting.” My response was, “Texting, Snapchatting, same thing. Put it away!” At first I thought this was just one of those texting apps that allowed students to text from their iPods. After investigation I found the idea of being able to send fun pictures and then have them deleted sounds great, but it opens up a can of worms.

Here is more information curtesy of Common Sense Media.

Snapchat: A messaging app that lets users put a time limit on the pictures and videos they send before they disappear.

Why it’s popular: Snapchat’s creators intended the app’s fleeting images to be a way for teens to share fun, light moments without the risk of having them go public. And that’s what most teens use it for: sending goofy or embarrassing photos to one another. Teens may pay more attention to Snapchats, knowing they’ll disappear in a matter of seconds.

What parents need to know:

• Many schools have yet to block it, which is one reason why teens like it so much.
• It’s a myth that Snapchats go away forever. Data is data: Whenever anything is sent online, it never truly goes away. (For example, the person on the receiving end can take a screenshot of the image before it disappears.) Snapchats can even be recovered.
• It can make sexting seem OK. The seemingly risk-free messaging might encourage users to share pictures containing inappropriate content.

Please take the time to read the entire article and keep and eye on your student/child. (The photo at the top of this post was taken from the blog post.)

One technology I am trying to find more uses for in the classroom is GPS technology. GPSs have been around for some time, but in many schools this technology is rarely used. Many schools need to think about making the GPS technology a larger component in learning. Technology is a key component of both Common Core and state standards.

In my opinion schools do not utilize this technology because of two reasons.

The first reason many school do not use GPS technology due to the absence of GPS devices. Every school that I know of is on a very tight budget that seems to be shrinking everyday. Buying a set of devices hasn’t been in the budget.

I am very fortunate to work in a school district that not only embraces a wide variety of technology, but I am at school that was awarded a large grant and the school purchased 14 very nice GPS devices. But even in my school, the GPS devices are rarely used. This is disappointing.

If your school or district does not currently have GPS technology there are some places to look.

Is there a local grant opportunity to write the purchase of GPS devices into the project? Garmin makes a low cost device that is very good for entry level at a $100 price point. (I just purchased the Garmin eTrex 10 and love it. I will post a review soon.)

If writing a grant is not an option, will your school or district be willing to purchase one or two devices. This isn’t idea for an entire classroom, but you can still teach with the technology. Years ago used just one GPS, which I purchased personally, with a classroom of 24 students. I developed enough activities to allow each student to hold and use the GPS. It obviously takes more time planning, but it can be done.

Many communities have set up an academic foundation to provide classrooms with extra funding options. Can you submit a proposal? Are there community groups or organizations who not only will let you borrow some devices, but will volunteer to help out during the lesson? This may take some time to investigate, but your students are worth the trouble.

If you are teaching with older students, many may have a GPS app on their phone. Could you allow students to use their phone to teach them about and utilize GPS technology? (What, let students use their cell phone in school, OH the horror!)

But using a GPS isn’t really about learning what a GPS does, but utilizing the tool in the social studies and science classroom to enhance the learning outside of the classroom.

That brings me to the second reason many school do not use GPS technology which is due to the requirement to get out of the classroom and go outside. In some cases this may require going off campus. (Take the students off campus, again, OH the horror!)

The world is full of lessons to learn. Do you think learning about weathering is better learned from reading a book or by going out into the community and seeing it first hand? Is watching a video allow students to touch the bricks of an old building that have the corners rounded because of the wind and rain’s effect over time? This takes time and planning. In some cases it takes money to pay for a field trip, but in most cases, the parents are willing to pay extra for these types of learning experiences.

Open your mind to the possibility that the GPS can be used to teach students a great deal about the world around them. And they will have fun doing it!

Look for a follow up post on using the GPS in education soon.