Some of the suggested formative assessment tools from our readings include Kahoot, Formative, EdPuzzle, Socrative, Quizziz, Quizlet, Nearpod, Plickers, Poll Everywhere, The Answer Pad. I have used Kahoot, Quizlet and Quizlet in the past, and I have attended PL sessions and conferences that promoted Nearpod, Socrative, and Poll Everywhere. I had previously heard of EdPuzzle, Plickers, and Formative, but not the Answer Pad. After exploring these tools briefly, I chose to focus on Quizizz and EdPuzzle, because I would like to promote their use at my school- they are user-friendly and they both integrate easily with Google Classroom. I enjoyed most of the articles that we read this week, including Fantastic, Fast Formative Assessment Tools by Vicki Davis and the Top Tech Tools for Formative Assessment by Common Sense Education. I follow Vicki Davis, @coolcatteacher, on Twitter and she is always technology-inspiring! The Common Sense Education website provides helpful reviews for many Web 2.0 tools, including Quizizz and EdPuzzle and became a valuable source for my own review.
Quizizz is a game show-style quiz tool similar to Kahoot!, Quizalize, and Quizlet that is compatible with Google Classroom, Edmodo, and Remind (Bindel, 2020). Quizizz is completely free and can be accessed easily from any device with a web-browser and is completely free in every aspect (Quizizz, n.d.). Students can take the quizzes as a class, in competition, while viewing class progress, or teachers can assign the quiz as homework and have students complete it later (Bindel, 2020). The homework feature is great for students who need extra time. Quizizz automatically saves their progress from class, and they can continue later. When creating a quizizz, teachers can add audio, images, and math equations, and have the ability to search among hundreds of pre-made quizzes and questions (Bindel, 2020). Quizziz easily integrates with Google Classroom to import students and post/schedule assignments. Quizizz also provides data reports, analysis, and review mode for whole-class discussion.
EdPuzzle is a free, web-based interactive video and formative assessment tool (Rogowski, n.d.). It allows teachers to crop/edit videos to embed interactive questions and tasks for student completion. EdPuzzle is great because teachers and students can crop existing videos (YouTube, Khan Academy, etc) and add comments and audio (EdPuzzle, n.d).. Within the videos, teachers can create formative assessments by embedding open-ended or multiple choice questions. EdPuzzle collects student completion data and provides reports with student responses and grades. EdPuzzle also automatically connects to Google, which allows teachers to import classes and post straight to Google Classroom. EdPuzzle is a great tool for teachers who follow the flipped classroom model, assign videos for homework, or want to encourage student collaboration and communication (EdPuzzle, n.d.).
The multitude of Web 2.0 tools available today are useful for assessing student learning and for guiding classroom activities. The point of formative assessments is to direct learning and advance students appropriately. Online formative assessment tools tend to provide immediate feedback and can be used to quickly differentiate learning for individual student needs or to guide extension activities. Quizizz provides reports for teachers that aid in analyzing gaps and standards achievement and can be used at any time during a lesson or as practice/homework. EdPuzzle can assist with content delivery and remediation. Both of these programs are beneficial for students with diverse needs because they provide additional time for completion. When coupled with resources to create a blended learning environment, Quizizz and EdPuzzle will provide students with more opportunities to be successful.
Screencasting
As a Mathematics teacher, my first thought about using a screencasting tool is “Great, now I have to get my examples onto the computer, and then, I have to get my work on there, too!” But, as I read about screencasting, and watched the tutorial videos, I realized that screencasting probably isn’t as difficult as I thought. Since most of my student notes and practices originate from my computer anyways, my learning curve would be in learning to use the spotlight and annotate tools effectively to guide students through examples. In my first experience with screencasting was actually creating the video below about using Quizizz and EdPuzzle as formative assessment tools. I created a Google slides, Quizizz & EdPuzzle, to help me with my introduction, notes, and closing for the screencast. I recorded one video with the Slides presentation, and another screencast where I navigated the tools to demonstrate their capabilities and ease of use. I merged the two segments to create my screencast for formative assessment tools.
I believe that I can identify a few ways to immediately utilize screencasting as a Math teacher. Obviously, I could use screencasting to create notes/example guides for students to review/study. This would require use of the annotation tool, which I have not yet explored, because in Math, students need to see each step and hear the explanation as it happens. This would be a more impactful way to provide students with notes, in comparison to just loading an image or copy of the notes. The most difficult part of this would be in keeping my videos short. I’ve always heard that videos should never be more than ten minutes long, but I also completely agree that two to five minutes is the digital sweet spot (Hirsch, 2015). Unfortunately in math, we tend to provide examples and explanations, followed by guided practice, and then scaffolded group or individual practice. This definitely puts a stress on “keeping it short and sweet.” Also, if I were to begin creating screencasts to assist with content delivery and review, I would definitely want to embed formative assessment questions, using a program like EdPuzzle or PlayPosit.
Besides the most common use of creating lesson videos, I could create how-to guides and use screencasting to empower learners. Many of my students are ESOL or SpEd students, and most of the others are either remedial, the “bare-minimum, slip-through-the-crack, or frequently absent types. While I often model how to use websites like MathisFun or DeltaMath, and even how to go into Google Classroom to access notes and resources, I find that students have a difficult time with navigating these resources. I think that a series of How-To guides could be helpful. I would love for my students to be able to go to MathisFun, change the language if needed, search the topic we studied in class today, and view their amazing explanations, visuals, and practice questions. And while they have seen me do this several times, they aren’t taking the initiative to do it on their own. This brings me to my third idea for using screencasting, to empower the learner. As teachers, it is our job to track student progress and assess student learning. It would be awesome if students contributed to this process by creating screencasts that review their learning, work, and self-assessment of mastery. This could change the dynamics of learning and encourage students to truly acknowledge learning targets and state standards.
At Gainesville High School, there is a high chronic absentee rate. For example, in reparation for this semester, I reviewed attendance from last semester for my 4th period Algebra 2 class. This class has 6 seniors who need this class to graduate, 3 SpEd students, 1 ESOL-served students, and 6 students who were absent at least 50 days last semester! Our students are on block scheduling, which means they only have 90 class days per semester. I encourage attendance and monitor “skipping” well, but if students aren’t coming to school, how can I teach them? The best I can do is stress the importance of keeping up with work, even when absent. I post notes, videos, and resources daily. I provide students with practice packets at the beginning of each unit, include sufficient practice for each topic, and I post Quizizz and Google Forms for assessments. I am essentially creating a blended learning environment (or at least attempting to) for my frequently absent students. Currently, I use videos from YouTube or Khan Academy, not videos of my own or with my problems. Screencasting could improve this process by providing students with the in-class examples and methods and my voice for guided practice. When coupled with EdPuzzle, it could document students participation in learning, and provide formative feedback for students.
Resources
Bindel, A. (2020, January 31). Quizizz Review for Teachers. Retrieved fromhttps://www.commonsense.org/education/website/quizizz
EdPuzzle. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://blogs.umass.edu/onlinetools/assessment-centered-tools/edpuzzle/
Hirsch, J. (2015, October 19). 100 Videos and Counting: Lessons From a Flipped Classroom. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/100-videos-lessons-flipped-classroom-joe-hirsch
Quizizz. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://blogs.umass.edu/onlinetools/assessment-centered-tools/quizizz/
Rogowski, M. (2020, January 31). Edpuzzle Review for Teachers. Retrieved from https://www.commonsense.org/education/website/edpuzzle