Grand Haven High School just went 1 to 1 this year by giving each student a personal Google Chromebook to have throughout the school year. Many, if not all, of the teachers utilize Google Classroom to post announcements, assignments, and links on the Classroom website. Students can complete assignments through Google web programs and submit them on the Classroom website. They can also comment on announcements and email instructors and students. It's convenient for teachers to be able to log-in to Google Classroom and have each separate classroom right at their fingertips. Helpful features, such as the capability to create an assignment and quickly apply it to multiple classrooms, add to the convenience of its use.
I have personally used Google Classroom to post a link to a Socrative quiz I created using www.socrative.com. When students arrived to class and logged-in to Classroom, they could follow the instructions I posted on the board, and they could see the link as the most recent post on Classroom. Once they got into the quiz and answered the few questions, I could view their responses in real time. I could even view class averages for each question without lifting a pen to grade. Socrative is a fast and awesome formative assessment tool for teachers as well as students.
Besides being a fan of Google Classroom and Socrative, each student having their own computer has proven beneficial in other ways. Students can quickly access interactive science links without having to go to the computer lab. Because the internet is easily accessible to each student at a personal level, it increases the options for academically relevant activities and increases instructional time. Although technology has many benefits, it does not have to be used exclusively. There are many circumstances in which pen and paper are optimal, or even marker and whiteboard. However, when used appropriately, technology resources enhance many classroom experiences for teachers and students.
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| Each classroom is equipped with a desktop and printer for the teacher's desk, a tech cart with another desktop, doc camera, and vhs/dvd player, and a promethean board with projector. |
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| At the beginning of class, students log-in to Google Classroom from their Chromebooks and work on the "warm-up" question.. |
How do you like the one-to-one? When I was student teaching in Pinckney, there was a lot mixed reactions among the staff.
ReplyDeleteI like it! I can see how each student having access to the internet can cause them to be more distracted and off task rather than engaged in the activity. However, I think the pros outweigh the cons, and I believe the cons can be prevented by having a management plan in place.
ReplyDeleteI love how advanced your classroom is with technology - especially with the one to one! There are so many activities that I wish I could do in my classroom, but because each student doesn't have access to their own smartphone, tablet, or computer, it's hard to make sure that these activities are fair. I can't wait to follow your blog and see what kinds of things we'll be able to share since you are also teaching Biology!
ReplyDeleteThis is a topic that becomes quite obvious after this week's blog post. You'll see the whole range of technology and access. Of course, it shouldn't be like this in public education.
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