Edmodo Vs. Schoology

Edmodo and Schoology are both Learning Management Systems that have become very popular as technology has officially begun seeping into classrooms in both schools and businesses.  I was recently asked to compare two of them, and so I chose these two, but making the choice on which two to compare was no easy task.  At one time, not all that long ago, there were only a handful of LMSs.  Now there are well over 300 of them, and I had to choose only two?!  Well, I guess I can do that…but which ones?  Well, I went with two of the most popular web-based LMSs that were also free, as I figured that would be most useful for my first post about LMSs. I went with Edmodo and Schoology.

Edmodo

Edmodo is often lauded as the most popular free LMS on the web.  It is a terrific tool for any teacher wanting to integrate technology into their classroom, or for any trainer wanting to move their employee training to a digital format.  One of the best parts about it (other than the fact that it is free), is how easy it is to set up.  If you want to create a course in Edmodo, just go to the website here.  Register in about 2 minutes, and you are ready to get started.  It is just that easy!  Awesome, right?  I thought so, too.

Getting Started With Edmodo

Once you are registered, you can start setting up your course.  You can make up your profile, set up your calendar with all the due-dates for assignments, events, and anything else you need to put in there.  You can input all your students and get them registered.  There is a Gradebook you can set up as well.  Get everything ready to go, and register your students, and then GO!

Here is a snapshot of the Edmodo Planner, or calendar.

The interface is much like that of Facebook.  If you have a Facebook account, or have ever had a Facebook account, you will immediately feel comfortable with the layout of Edmodo.  Once you have started your course, you can begin making posts that your students can see.  They are also able to post to the class, and discussions can occur at any time.  There are other methods of collaboration, however.  There is email integration, internal messaging, and parental access.  With communication being the most important tool for educators, is is great to have multiple methods to do so.  Another important factor is that it is accessible through most mobile devices as well, as it is set up for Android, iOS, and mobile web.  If you are a BYOD district (see my post about BYOD vs. 1:1 here), or if you use tablets, such as iPads, this feature is huge.

You can see how much the Edmodo format resembles the Facebook format.

When you are ready to give out assignments, you can upload documents, videos, projects, links to other web tools, or anything else you can come up with.  There is a standards alignment tool where you can create assignments that are aligned to Common Core or State Standards.  These assignments are then automatically generated and populated in your Gradebook.  This is a pretty cool tool.  If you have assignments that are not created in Edmodo, you can still use Snapshot to help you determine what standards align to that assignment, add the standards to the assignment, and then go to your Gradebook and add the assignment.  You will have to input the grades by hand for the assignments not generated in Edmodo, however.  There is also a test engine that allows you to make up your own tests and quizzes.  These are automatically graded, put into your Gradebook, and gives immediate feedback to your students…all while you sit back and binge watch your favorite TV show you missed before you had an LMS to do much of your grading for you.

There are several options when creating assessments in Edmodo.

There are badges you can award to your students, there are communities that you can join to communicate and collaborate with teachers and trainers from all over and within your district or company.  If you go to the “Spotlight” icon, you can find a ton of links and resources shared by others within the Edmodo community that you can use in your own course.  There is a huge wealth of information and resources that would make any educator jump for joy!  This was my very favorite feature in Edmodo.

Spotlight and the Library are my favorite options in Edmodo.

You can store your folders and assignments in your library, which is great, but your library is not ever available to your students.  When you want the assignments to be available to students, they have to be posted to the main course page.  This is generally pretty useful and easily accessible, but it can also become problematic if you have students that are working from home, or are self-paced, or even if they are just absent for a few days due to a family vacation or an illness.  The reason for the issue is that, like in Facebook, the longer the assignment is posted, the further down the page it moves, being pushed down by more recent posts.  Students will have to scroll down to find any assignments missed, or you will have to send them their missing assignments privately.  This situation can potentially become a real pain, but some people may not find it to be so bad.  Actually, there are millions of educators that don’t seem to feel it is too much of a problem, so it may just be a personal preference of mine.

If you are a data kind of person, you will like the analytics that are available.  There is skills tracking available, which is really nice, especially if you have a class with a high amount of skills diversity.  You can check out the data for all of your tests and quizzes and grades for each student, as well as a progress tracker for your class.  There are lots of graphs that we teachers love to use for data analysis.

Edmodo

Overall, Edmodo is a great platform to get started.  It is free, has a ton of resources, and it contains all the major functions for a successful online or blended classroom.  And did I mention it is free?

Schoology

Schoology is also free.  Yes!  But is also as a premium upgrade that you can pay for.  Apparently the term for that is freemium.  (Really??).  Anyway, the free version is really great and has plenty for most classrooms in today’s schools and businesses.  Like Edmodo, it is super easy to sign up and get started.  Just go to the website here.  You can be registered in no time and get started building your own course.  Schoology, like Edmodo, has a Facebook-like social media format that is both familiar and comfortable, but it is not as “Facebook-y” as Edmodo.  You can post to the main page in a Facebook-like way, but it has more functionality than the Edmodo interface.  You can have all the materials for your course in one place so students can find anything they missed or need at any time without having to scroll down to find them.  You can build folders for each unit, upload anything you want, such as slide presentations, videos, other media, documents, links, or anything else you can think of to these folders.  You can determine the dates you want them accessible to your students as well, so they are not all there for them to view unless you want them to be.  For example, you can set the accessibility for each folder to the last day of school, and just before you want them to be visible to your students, you can go in and change the date to the day you want them to appear.  That way you don’t have to worry about students working ahead before they are ready.  Personally, I find this set-up to be the biggest difference between the two LMSs, and I much prefer the Schoology way, but that is just my personal preference.  It certainly lends this platform to a more self-paced course  if you would like to make it that way.

You can see how nice it is to organize all your files by unit inside these folders that are easilt accessible for the students.

Schoology is also mobile-ready for Android, iOS, and mobile web devices.  Again, this is a big deal, especially in BYOD schools or schools using tablets like iPads.  If you are a business using it for training purposes, this could be a bonus in that your employees can use their phones or tablets to access the course from anywhere if they so choose, and if you decide to allow this feature.  Accessibility is a great thing.

Communication is another feature that is important in an LMS.  Like Edmodo, Schoology has parental access, internal messaging, and discussion boards, but it also has a blog feature, which I find to be pretty cool

.  If you are trying to decide if you want to integrate a blog or an LMS into your classroom, this is a way you can do both without having to get used to two different programs.  You can do all the blogging yourself, or you can have the students blog as well.  Anther great communication tool, like Edmodo, Schoology has groups that you can join where you can communicate and share with other teachers or trainers and share information with them.  Under “Resources,” you can access all kinds of lessons and links and other things you can put right into your course.  You can share your favorite lessons with other educators or trainers as well, if you so choose.  It is a wonderful way to change things up or to upgrade your own course!  And it is great fun to just look around and see what others have come up with and even get an idea sparked in your own mind.

If you want to communicate with a blog, Schoology has a great place to start!

Every teacher and most trainers need some way of tracking student progress, so the Gradebook feature and the attendance feature is awesome.  Like Edmodo, you can build your own tests and quizzes with the test engine within Schoology and the grades will automatically populate to your Gradebook, allowing for all that TV binge-watching.  You can create assignments in Schoology that also populates to your Gradebook.  There are ready-made rubrics for those and other projects you may have that you can use or you can make up your own.  You can use several resources to align your assignments with Common Core and state standards, too.

The menu of the left side of each class you create has all the major features you will need in one convenient place.

If you are a data nerd like most of us educators, you will love all the data options in Schoology.  You can look at how your students performed on certain assignments, tests, and quizzes and determine if you need to revisit a topic or if the class is ready to move on, and you can do so in the blink of an eye.  All you need to do is click on “Analytics” on the left-hand side of the page and you can choose what information you wish to look at.

You can break down just about anything with the Analytics in Schoology.

Finally, Schoology is SCORM compliant, whereas Edmodo is not.  What does this actually mean?  Well, I will let SCORM.com (n.d.) tell you in their own words:

SCORM is a set of technical standards for e-learning software products.  SCORM tells programmers how to write their code so that it can “play well” with other e-learning software. It is the de facto industry standard for e-learning interoperability. Specifically, SCORM governs how online learning content and Learning Management Systems (LMSs) communicate with each other. SCORM does not speak to instructional design or any other pedagogical concern, it is purely a technical standard.

BrainCert.com (2013). The advantages and benefits of a SCORM compliant e-learning system. [image of two people making three gears work together with the caption, “SCORM”]. Retrieved from: https://www.braincert.com/blogs/9-education-technology/12-the-advantages-and-benefits-of-a-scorm-compliant-e-learning-system

Final Analysis

Both of these LMSs are amazing tools.  They both have all the major components for a successful online or blended classroom, a plethora of resources, and communities or groups that can help generate and share ideas.  There are methods for collaboration and communication, the integration of apps and the ability to build and create an amazing course for your students to learn and enjoy the process.  On top of all that, there are graphs and charts you can use for data analysis, and you can do it all in less time than you ever did without an LMS, so you are definitely in good shape with either tool.  It is a tough call, but I do lean slightly in favor of Schoology, mainly for two reasons:

1.  I prefer how it is set-up so that your course can be self-paced.  You can place your assignments into folders and students never have to scroll down to find them.
2. I like that is it is SCORM compliant.  It just makes it more versatile for other e-Learning products and tools, making it a slightly stronger LMS in my opinion.

Other than those two issues, I think they are both basically equal and quite similar.  They have everything you need, and most of all, they are free!

Which is Better: BYOD or 1:1?

There are many opinions about whether 1:1 or BYOD initiatives are the best for school districts to adopt.  My children are in 4th, 3rd, and 1st grade this year.  When I got the letter that informed me of the 1:1 policy of iPads for every student beginning this year, I cringed.  All three of my school-aged children are boys in every sense of the word.  They are hard, fast, and destructive forces that have kept me from purchasing anything nice for our home in quite some time.  (My daughter is not much better, but at least she is more purposeful with her movements…).  I mention this because, even as a technology-loving adult that used it in my own classroom as a teacher, use it for my own education, and for many home uses and even entertainment, I was still worried about it being in the hands of my children, and they even all share an old iPhone of my husband’s so we can more easily stay in touch!  My first worry was that of cost.  Even though there was no upfront cost for our district, we are partially responsible for when they lose or break their iPads.  Having three all at once was a terrifying prospect.  I was also curious as to the true educational value of using these devices in an elementary classroom.

iPads and other tablets can be BYOD options, and are often 1:1 options in the younger grades or in places where heavy computing is not necessary.

As the third quarter closes tomorrow for this year, I can tell you two things for certain:  1)  Even my crazy boys can be responsible and not break something they care about…especially with the threat of having to rake leaves and mow lawns until they paid me back if they broke or lost them!  2)  There is incredible learning potential within those iPads.  My oldest son has a huge book report due tomorrow.  While we were working on the project, which was basically covering a paper bag with different parts about the book (characters, setting, summary, conflict and resolution, and explanation of the five symbolic objects placed into the bag as they pertain to the book), I realized how much he had learned.  He has horrific handwriting and is the only human alive that can draw worse than I can (poor kid).  I asked him, half in jest, if he had an app that allowed him to draw a picture.  He whipped out that iPad and had one up in 3 seconds flat!  Luckily the book was one of the, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series, so the pictures were relatively easy to draw.  He had all his pictures drawn and saved in about 10 minutes.  He then emailed them to me, and used myChromebook to share them with his teacher on Google Drive so she could print the pictures off at school.  He then got onto our desktop, got into Word, and typed up all the other parts. He again saved them to my Google Drive and shared them with his teacher.  He will have to glue everything to the bag in the morning when he gets to school.  This project was doomed from the start when we were considering using a pen and markers.  Instead, his use and understanding of technology allowed him to put together an incredible report!  I am grateful for the 1:1 initiative because my kids are getting exposure to technology as a tool and learning device, and they are also learning to be responsible for these devices.  My first grader is not allowed to bring his home until third grade (district policy), but he will get on his brother’s devices and play math and reading games, improving his skills on his own time.  There are so many wonderful advantages for kids when offered a technology device to enhance their education.

Laptops and tablets are common 1:1 devices offered, but smartphones could work in some places as well. All three are options when it comes to BYOD.

When reading about BYOD, I again cringed.  Next year, I will have four kids in the same elementary school.  Can you imagine the cost of having to buy four devices that are reasonable for a Kindergartener, 2nd grader, 4th grader, and 5th grader?  Whew!  Yikes!  That being said, I can certainly see the value of this initiative, having taught in a high school setting.  For one thing, people are often brand-loyal.  People respond to PC vs. Apple the same way as they respond to Coke vs. Pepsi.  By allowing students and families to have say in the types of devices they use and invest in can increase comfort and productivity (Marcinek, 2013).  It is also cost effective for schools, which may even result in lower taxes for families (but probably not…).  Teachers will also need to be aware of the diversity of devices and make sure that their lesson plans are device-neutral.  This allows everyone to think more like they will in the world outside of school, which is ultimately our plan.  Finally, as Marcinek says in the Edutopia blog, “… giving choice makes it less about the device and more about the learning” (2013).

BYOD devices can be cellphones.

Allowing cell phones in class can be a major distraction in a high school classroom unless the students are constantly engaged, and the policy of not having phones out unless the teacher asks for them to be out for educational purposes is strongly enforced.  That being said, allowing students to have their phones in class, and allowing them to use them to video a demonstration in science, a presentation in english or history, or as the teacher works out a math problem on the board can be hugely beneficial!  When you need something looked up really quickly, a student can get it on their phone before the teacher can even bring up the browser on their laptops.  Having apps, like Remind 101 to send them reminders of upcoming tests and quizzes, or flashcard apps, or anything else that can be used in class can also have amazing benefits that allow students to see how their phones are not just toys, but also tools for learning.  Have them use their calendars as planners, and watch them become more productive as a whole.  Cell phones are not the enemy of the teacher, though poor pedagogy can be.

I wonder if it is possible for a school district to make use of both 1:1 and BYOD?  This part is more musing than anything else, so bear with me.  What if the district offered devices decided upon by the School Board, BUT, if families choose to opt out of the 1:1, they can bring their own device?  In this way, those families with multiple children can take their time and budget a new device for their children by using the devices given to them by the district.  They can then determine which type of device is best to suit their childrens’ needs and purchase that device when it is right for them.  Families that are free/reduced lunch are the ones most harmed by the BYOD initiative, but if a district employs a blended version of 1:1 and BYOD, it will no longer be an issue.  Families that are not as comfortable with the type of the device the district offers are also free to provide the ones they ARE comfortable with.  At the same time, districts will not have the same cost as a 1:1, but not quite the savings of a BYOD.  Rather than deciding between the two initiatives flat out, why couldn’t a district do both?

Marcinek, A. (2013, December 11). Why BYOD makes sense: Thinking beyond a    standardized 1:1. [blog post] Retrieved      from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/byod-makes-sense-beyond-1-to-1-andrew-  marcinek

Pixabay (2015). [image of iPad tablet]. Retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/en/electronic-tablet-high-tech-digital-1238205/

Pixabay (2015). [image of iPhone, smartphone]. Retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/en/ios-new-mobile-gadget-pad-1091303/

Pixbay (2016). [image of laptop and cell phone]. Retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/en/laptop-electronics-technology-1146902/

We Made the Big Time!!

Well, sort of…we have moved so we could have a bit more control over what we do to the blog.  It is pretty much the same ‘ole site, just a slightly different domain and URL.  Click on the link below, and you will be right where you originally planned to go.  Thanks and I’m grateful you are part of our community!

Instructional Design By Kelly: http://www.instructionaldesignbykelly.com

See you there!

Web Literacy and Digital Citizenship

Two of the most important things we as teachers need to focus on right now are Web Literacy and Digital Citizenship.  Now I realize that some of you are freaking out right now for two basic reasons:

1) Technology is scary and you like things the way they are.  I understand.  I love my old lesson plans and think they are just fine as they are, too.  But the reality is, our students are growing up in a time where technology is not just something cool they can use in their free time.  It is a necessary tool that they will need to understand in a fundamental way in order for them to be “college and career ready.”

Technology used for learning

2) These things aren’t on the standardized tests that are so crucial in American education today!  So what??  Yep.  I said it.  So what?  Let’s be honest.  Once our students leave the bubble that is today’s schools, those tests won’t amount to a hill of beans.  No.  They do NOT need to be phenomenal test takers to be successful.  They need skills and education.  They need to read well, write well (not good…), understand mathematical concepts and perform at least basic math functions, develop higher order thinking skills through scientific exploration, understand how the world around them works, and how the world got to where it is today by studying history.  And they need to understand technology.  The basics of technology starts with digital citizenship and web literacy.  These two concepts will lead to a more successful and fulfilling education when using technology.

Standardized tests are not as important as skills in technology.

Web Literacy

Web Literacy teaches students how to use the internet safely and as a tool. Mozilla has defined web literacy as, “…the skills and competencies required to read, write and participate effectively on the web” (Mozilla, n.d.).  I like the way they define it and have “mapped” it out, because it categorizes the topics we should cover nicely, and we all know how much we teachers like things categorized!  They have grouped web literacy into three parts:  exploring, building, and connecting (Mozilla, n.d.).  These breakdown into parts that can be very helpful when getting students ready to use the internet as a tool in our classrooms.

Exploring                                                                              

Many of us teachers require some sort of research assignment within our class curriculum.  Before we even lay out the expectations for these assignments, we first need to teach our students how to do it correctly. The following topics from Mozilla’s Web Literacy Map (n.d.) are important for every student to know before they embark upon our awesome assignments:

• How to Search and Navigate the web:  Do your students know how to effectively use Google, Firefox, etc.? Mashable.com has a terrific infographic that can help you and your students learn how to better use the search engines to find the information needed.
• Website Credibility: When our students are researching information, they need to be able to make critical judgments about the information they are reading.  Knowing how to determine if a website is a valid source of information is a critical skill all students should know.  To start off, students should know how to do three things effectively:
  1. They need to know the purpose of why the website or article was created.  Is there an ulterior motive behind the information?  Or does it exist to inform and educate?  Once students are able to determine the reason for the information, it can help them to determine if it is a credible source, or if they should move on (Robinson, 2013).  Also, knowing when it was written or created is important.  If it is an old article, it may be outdated, for example.
  2. They should be able to know who the author and publisher of the material is, and then find out if this person or entity is a valid source for this particular type material (Robinson, 2013).  It may take a little further digging to find out this information, but it is a very important skill to know when researching, not only in school, but later on in their lives as well.
  3. They need to examine the context of the information.  Just because the information is found on a major website or published by a well-known author does not mean it is correct (Robinson, 2013).  We all know that some information found in newspapers and magazines are often retracted or debated in regards to its validity.  Our students need to be adept at validating information by verifying the information elsewhere.
• Security: Our students need to understand how to keep their own personal information safe by creating strong passwords and logging their passwords in a safe place, such as in LastPass.  They also need to know how to avoid scams, phishing, malware, etc.  When they are beginning their searches, they need to know how to configure their browser to maintain a safe and effective experience.
• Web Mechanics: It is also important that students understand how the internet works.  What is an IP address?  What is a URL?  What are the basic mechanics of a website?  How exactly does the internet work and how is it structured?  If they are going to create their own website, blog, etc., it helps to understand how to move or backup data and where it is all stored.

Building                                                                                  

It is becoming more and more important for our students to not only search and use the web, but also to contribute to it in a meaningful way.  Mozilla has considered this to be a part of web literacy, which makes sense, if you think about it.  If we want to truly integrate technology into our classrooms, we want to have our students create their own content.  In order to do this effectively, they need to know how to actually build items on the web in some fashion.  The do not have to become professional web designers, but they do need to have some of the basics down.  This list below also comes from Mozilla’s web literacy map (n.d.):

Composing: When a student is composing something on the internet, they will need to know how to add a hyperlink; identify and create html tags; embed images, videos, slide presentations, and any other type of media they can create or find.  They also need to be able to work the space they are composing in, such as a blog, by making it readable, clear, and protected. Their content needs to be appropriate to the topics as well.

Remixing: They should be able to identify content that is available for remixing, and then be able to execute the remix to create something new and different. It is important they understand the importance of citing their sources and how to do so accordingly.  Purdue OWL is an excellent resource for citing sources!

Designing: Again, this does not necessarily mean that they have to become professional web designers, but understanding the css language, how it pertains to the style and layout of a web page, and knowing how to change and manipulate it can go a long way to becoming web literate and to creating amazing projects in your class!  Also knowing how to make their website accessible on multiple devices, such as mobile devices as well as laptops and desktops can take their creation to yet another level.

Coding/Scripting: Many students now are starting to learn basic html and css, which are the codes that make up the majority of the web.  It is becoming increasingly important that they obtain the ability to identify trends in code, and to be able to create their own content using code.  They can make games, animations, and more using simple coding commands.  They do not have to graduate with a degree in Computer Science, but to have a basic understanding of the web languages and how to use them is a skill that will benefit them greatly in the world they will be graduating into.  Understanding and using API’s are also becoming more critical to becoming web literate.  Readwrite.com has a good article that can help you get more familiar with API’s and how to use them here.  As a matter of fact, the whole website can help out with this category of web literacy!

Accessibility: If students are going to be building something on the web, it is helpful for them to be able to make it accessible to the diversity of interfaces that access the web.  Also, people from all over the world, from many different cultures and backgrounds will potentially be accessing this creation, so our students need to be aware of any misconceptions that could be made by people with different perspectives.  They will want to make sure it is readable and accessible through the overall design of the website as well.

Connecting                                                                           

One of the greatest benefits of the web is the ability for people to connect to one another so easily.  Most of our students have been connecting with each other over the internet for a while, but knowing how to do it correctly in a learning or professional environment is a vital skill.  Right now, many young people are on Facebook, Twitter, SnapChat, and other social media sites.  They play online games where they communicate with people through chat features.  Some have even asked or answered questions through forums.  These are some ways in which people can connect via the web, but how can we foster this ability to a learning environment?  In this final category put forth by Mozilla (n.d.), we can explore some important skills to teach our students about how to connect in a different way.

Sharing: Using social media, web conferencing tools (Skype, Adobe Connect, etc.), chat rooms, forums, and many other ways can be very useful and educational.  Students can gain real-time information from an expert on a topic.  They can ask a question about web design in a forum, and they can participate in class discussion through classroom social media platforms, like in Edmodo.  The can also use cloud technology to work on a project together, communicate through the comment or chat options, give and receive feedback from their peers and the teacher.  The possibilities are endless!

Collaboration: The Cooperative Learning and Project-based Learning trends are becoming even more relevant as they pertain to the use of technology in the classroom.  Having students work together using cloud technology is one extremely useful tool.  Many businesses are going the way of cloud technology, so students that graduate with this knowledge are more prepared for the modern workforce.  But students do not have to only work with other students in their class anymore.  They can work with students in other classes, other schools, and other countries.  There are also projects all over the web where students can join in a be a part of something bigger.  TEAMS Distance Learning from the Los Angeles County Office of Education published this page of online collaborative projects that would be great to get students involved in!

Participation: When our students are interacting with others, they need to be able to do so according to the norms of the site they are communicating in.  They need to know the appropriate terminology and best practices within their chosen platform.

Privacy and Open Practices: Finally, students need to understand the concepts behind privacy on the web.  They need to understand how they can be tracked on the web.  When creating online identities, they need to know how to manage them and to maintain their integrity and reputation.  They also need to understand property rights and open source content.  Some students will use Google Images as a source when citing an image.  They need to understand that Google Images is just a collection of images from around the web.  The student then needs to determine if the image they want to use is available, and then they have to cite the original source of that image.  Knowing the difference between open and closed source licensing and how to contribute to open source sites will keep them out of trouble and teach them to be respectful of other people’s hard work on the web.

Now, I am sure that after reading through this long and exhaustive list, you think this is way more than you can do alone in your classroom.  Of course it is!  Unless you are a computer science teacher, that is.  No one teacher should be expected to teach all of this information within their content area, but we need to try and cover whatever is relevant to the projects and assignments we are asking our students to do.  Web Literacy is something that should be advocated district-wide, or at least school-wide so students have the opportunity to be successful.

Digital Citizenship              

Digital Citizenship is a crucial lesson for our students to learn.  Too many of our young adults, high school students, and middle school students make critical mistakes that could follow them forever.  We need to get across to them the importance of being civil, respectful, and protective of their reputation because of how quickly comments and media can be shared and how long these things remain on the web.  Some of the more important aspects of Digital Citizenship are listed below:

• Cyberbullying: 
  1. We need to address cyberbullying from all angles.  We need to make sure that students understand what it means to be a cyber bully, and how that could effect, not only the lives of their victims, but their own lives as well.  The comments and cruel acts that make up cyberbullying can be found by future employers, or shared by those that are trying to protect the victim.  A student’s reputation could be seriously damaged if he or she is labeled a cyberbully.  
  2. Of course the victim of cyberbullying can suffer severe effects.  Being the victim can be traumatizing, and may even have reputation-damaging effects if embarrassing photos or videos are shared.  Victims need to know how they can report cyberbullying in a safe manner and to someone he or she can trust.  As an educator, we need to take all reports of cyberbullying seriously.  
  3. Finally, parents need to be aware of what cyberbullying is and how to tell if their child may be being bullied.  They also need to be aware of ways they can prevent it, report it, and deal with it appropriately.

• Sexting: This is a big one to me.  Our students are new to the relationship game, but they feel like they are experts!  They want to impress or win the heart of a certain person, so if they are asked to send a sexual photo of themselves, they are far to willing to do so.  It is crucial that they understand how quickly these photos can be shared and shown to other people that were not intended to see them.  In an effort to be cruel or to get attention, the receiver of these photos often don’t realize the intense embarrassment, trauma, and damage done to the sender’s reputation occurs when they share these images.  Sometimes the sharing doesn’t occur right away.  The receiver is appreciative of the photo and keeps it safe, but then the relationship goes south, and all of a sudden, the sender is very vulnerable.  These pictures remain for as long as the receiver decided to allow them to remain.  One example that we as teachers can use to show how these pictures can ruin careers would be the sexting scandal of Anthony Weiner, Senator of New York.

• Digital etiquette: Just like in face-to-face collaboration, students need to be respectful and appropriate when conversing with others online (Ribble, 2016).  They need to be polite, kind, and understanding.  They need to understand and respect different cultures and methods of people around the world.  Simple things, like not typing in all caps (akin to yelling online) or keeping their language clean are good places to start, but we need to make sure that our students know how to conduct themselves ethically and responsibly online.

Both Web Literacy and Digital Citizenship are necessary for our students to be successful in today’s society.  These are skills they will be expected to already know and understand by the time they enter the workforce, so we have to make it a priority within our classrooms, schools, and districts to educate them, starting at an early age.  If these are areas you are weak, there are many references online that can help you become stronger.  I hope to make a list of sources for you in the near future, but for now, check out Mozilla’s Web Literacy Mapping Project for Web Literacy and Mike Ribble’s Digital Citizenship to start out.  Good luck and have fun!  Technology is really useful and fun when used correctly to educate students!

Kelly

References

Mozilla. (n.d.). Web literacy. Retrieved from https://teach.mozilla.org/teach-like-

mozilla/web-literacy/

Pixbay (2016). [image of Mac computer, ipad, and Apple laptop on a desk]. Retrieved from:

https://pixabay.com/en/test-testing-exam-sat-act-mcat-986769/

Pixbay (2015). [image of bubble sheet and a pencil representing a standardized test].

Retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/en/macbook-apple-imac-computer-screen-

606763/

Pixbay (2015). [image of browser icons]. Retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/en/browser-

web-www-computer-773215/

Pixbay (2009). [image of tools]. Retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/en/tools-hammer-

nail-nails-drill-nut-15539/

Pixbay (2016). [image of two hands holding smartphone with bubbles of pictures of web

tool icons]. Retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/en/hands-smartphone-social-

media-1167618/

Pixbay (2015). [image of two hands reach for a handshake filled with positive words

regarding digital citizenship]. Retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/en/join-hands-

help-handshake-770560/

Ribble, M. (2016). Digital citizenship: Using technology appropriately. [web page].

Retrieved from: http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/Home_Page.html

Robinson, J. (2013). The 21st century principal. Strategies for teaching students to critically

        validate online information. [blog post]. Retrieved

from: http://the21stcenturyprincipal.blogspot.com/2013/04/strategies-for-teaching-

students-to.html

 

ISTE Standards

Did you know that your state standards are not the only standards you are supposed to be teaching your students?  Until recently, I was unaware of the ISTE Standards.  ISTE stands for International Society for Technology in Education.  Basically, these are standards that are necessary to effectively and successfully educate our students to be college and career ready after they graduate high school in the technology age.  Our students still need to read, write, understand mathematical concepts, develop skills from scientific understanding and exploration, and history…but they also need to be able to use technology as a tool, and not just for entertainment.  These standards allow us to do just that.

There are five sets of standards.  I am going to link you to four of them, but the fifth, the ISTE Standards for students are most likely the ones you are most interested in, so I am also going to add in a presentation that contains all kinds of web tools and lesson plans that will (hopefully) be helpful to you as you begin to adopt these standards to go along with your content standards.

ISTE Standards for Teachers

ISTE Standards for Administrators

ISTE Standards for Coaches

ISTE Standards for Computer Science Educators

ISTE Standards for Students

Here is the presentation I promised you for the ISTE Standards for Students.  I hope you find it to be helpful!

ISTE -S

The RAT Model

RAT is a framework that can be used by teachers to develop lesson plans in their classroom that allows the iPads, laptops, and other forms of technology that students are given or bring into class with them as learning tools, and not just distractions that occasionally have a useful function.  As technology continues to grow and improve, so must we as educators.  RAT allows us to evaluate and determine the usefulness of our current lesson plans as they relate to the ISTE standards and can help to motivate us to improve them so that learning is relevant, fun, and exciting for our students!

So…What IS RAT?

RAT is a framework that is similar to the more well-known framework, SAMR, but a little simpler.  SAMR allows teachers to take more baby steps, but RAT simplifies things, and we teachers need more simplification in our lives!  (The link you just read over will take you to Educational Technology and Mobile Learning, which has a great article and short video which will explain SAMR to anyone who is not familiar with it).  RAT is an acronym that is summed up by this image I created in Google Drawing:

Where are you in RAT?

After looking over the image, you should have a pretty good idea of what the acronym stands for.  When you think about your lesson plans, where do they fall within the RAT framework?

Replacement:

Are your lessons just taking some form of technology and replacing it for the paper and pencil or chalk and chalkboard?  Are you just using the computer or iPad as a book?  If so, you are stuck in replacement!  You will need to check out a bunch of web tools to get you started in moving into Amplification and Transformation!  Check out Cool Tools for School for a plethora of tools you can play around with and learn and then implement into your lesson plans.  Just don’t forget to come back!

Amplification:

Many of us find ourselves here.  We are proud of ourselves for going beyond the basic word processing and have used Google Slides, PowerPoint, Prezi, or some other type of presentation tool that students can put together.  We might even use an app like Remind101 to remind our students of tests and quizzes that are coming up or of anything else that may be pertinent to our classroom.  These are great things!  We should be proud of ourselves for amplifying our lesson plans and using technology to improve the efficiency and educational quality of student learning…but we have not yet completed our transformation for 21st century learners.

Transformation:

It is here where we take our lessons and create something we never would have thought possible before technology.  Rather than have our students make a model of the solar system, why not have them use Amazing Space or HubbleSite?  Have them do the Hour of Code and make their own creations on a website each student contributes to for just your class?  They can create movies, cartoons, and interactive images that will help show how well they understand the concept you are teaching while simultaneously learning to use technology for more than just social media and gaming.

 Where are you in the RAT framework?  If you are not yet at transformation, what ideas do you have to get you there?  I would love to hear from you!

Kelly

The Evolution of Bloom’s Taxonomy and How it Applies to Teachers Today

The Original Bloom’s Taxonomy

In 1956, and educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom developed a tool that teachers could use to develop a structure and an understanding of how students think (Churches, 2016). It has been a very popular and useful tool for many years. Below is an image that shows his original taxonomy with the lower thinking skills on the bottom, and the higher thinking skills at the top.

 

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

In the 1990’s, and culminating into a new taxonomy in 2001, a former student of Benjamin Bloom made some changes to the original by rearranging the levels and changing the terms from nouns to verbs (Churches, 2016). Like the original, the lower level skills are on the bottom, and increase as it moves up to the top tier, which is the highest order of thinking skills. Below is a diagram of the revised version that was put out by Lorin Anderson (Churches, 2016):

Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy was a great tool, but it quickly became obsolete due to the rapid integration of technology into the classroom.  As a result, a more modern revision was created (Churches, 2016).  In this taxonomy, each of the levels contained the same verbs as Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy, but they are used in the context of utilizing technology to reach these levels.  The image below summarizes it well:

Remembering

At the remembering level, students should be able to recall information from memory.  Some tasks that they can complete at this level include (Churches, 2016):

• Searches in search engines like Google, Firefox, or Safari
• Bookmarking
• Making lists in a word processor such as Word or Google Docs
• Using flashcards in web tools such as Hot Potatoes or Moodle
• Using social media like Facebook or Twitter

Understanding

Students should be able to describe the meaning behind a graphic or passage.  At this level, some tasks they could complete might be (Churches, 2016):

• Mind-mapping in bubbl.us
• Journaling in a blog using Blogger or WordPress
• Tagging pictures or posts in social media

Applying

Students can be expected to execute or implement information in simulations, presentations, collaboration, or using models.  Some ideas that could be implemented are (Churches, 2016):

• Making slide show presentations with Google Slides, PowerPoint, or Prezi
• Making movies or animations with imovie or Camtasia
• Collaborating with web conferencing tools, such as Skype or Adobe Connect
• Science and math simulations with PhET

Analyzing

At this level, students can differentiate between parts, organize them, and explain relationships.  Some possible activities may include (Churches, 2016):

• Making and taking polls in Google Forms or Survey Monkey
• Organizing and interpreting data in Excel or Google Sheets
• Using Databases such as Google Earth
• Graphing Data with Excel, Google Sheets, or Online Charts

Evaluating

Students should be able to check, critique, test, or make judgments about a topic at this level.  Some activities they could do are Churches, 2016):

• Collaborating with peers in a debate on discussion boards or social media
• Making tests, quizzes, or polls for their peers in Socrative
• Create voice recordings in Vocaroo
• Write answers to open-ended questions or journal-write in SeeSaw and have peer reviews

Creating

At this level, the students should be able to do all of the previous forms of thinking, and have reached the pinnacle of Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy.  Here they can do all sorts of things, such as (Churches, 2016):

• Create cartoons explaining topics in PowToon
• Write a story in StoryboardThat
• Create media productions with Rifftrax and Animoto
• Create images in Google Drawing

As you can see, Bloom’s Taxonomy has grown quite a bit over the years, and has progressed to fit within the technology classroom.  I hope some of these ideas and web tools that I have provided you with are helpful as you embark upon new technological endeavors!  Let me know if you have a great lesson you tried and had success with.  I would love to see your ideas!

References

Churches, A. (2016). Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy. [article]. Retrieved from: http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Bloom%27s+Digital+Taxonomy

Churches, A. (2016). Bloom’s digital taxonomy. Bloom’s quicksheets. [article]. Retrieved from: http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Bloom%27s+Digital+Taxonomy

Churches, A. (2016) Bloom’s digital taxonomy. [image of a diagram showing the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy]. Retrieved from: http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Bloom%27s+Digital+Taxonomy

Churches, A. (2016). Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy. [image of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy]. Retrieved from: http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Bloom%27s+Digital+Taxonomy

Penney, S. (2014). [image of Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy as a pyramid with images of possible web tools that could be used to reach each level]. Retrieved from: http://faculty.indstate.edu/spenney/bdt.htm

A Presentation about TPACK

Example of TPAK Inspired Lesson Plan:

What is TPACK? TPACK is a framework designed to help 21st century educators design lesson plans that incorporates technology knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and content knowledge. The image below summarizes how these three things come together:

Koehler, M. (2012). TPACK image. [image of overlapping circles representing technology knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and content knowledge] Retrieved from: http://www.tpack.org

 

Below is a presentation that describes a TPACK inspired lesson plan. I hope ths presentation is helpful and helps you understand how TPACK can be used in your classroom.

Hello!! Welcome to Instructional Design By Kelly!

Instructional Design Portfolio: Purpose

 

Hi!  I’m a former high school science teacher who was in the classroom and online for 15 years. I am currently getting my Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction: Educational Technology Leadership in the hopes of eventually getting into Instructional Design.  This blog was started because I need a space to put some of my assignments and to build my portfolio.  I am also teaching myself how to code in html and css and web design. Having my own blog allows me to practice much of what I am learning and to take my education to a whole new level.

 If you are interested in eLearning, please feel free to take a look and make comments!  I am interested in any and all ideas and criticisms about my work.  There is no better way to improve than to have other knowledgeable people look over the work and give constructive criticism or praise. I welcome any and all feedback!

Thank you, and I look forward to learning with you!

 

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