==> One thing I would love to hear your thoughts on is how you feel about assessing online vs. assessing on paper. This is something I go back and forth on all the time, especially when it comes to math.
We were given a list of potential assessment platforms to discuss this week and I decided to choose one that I hadn't used before: ClassMarker. I chose this one specifically because it offers the option to generate an embed code that I can use to insert an assessment into my Schoology window.
Link to Product
In making the quiz, I liked the ease of use and ability to customize a lot of elements of the test, as well as being able to give my students access to the quiz via embedding or via link. However, there were a lot of features (some of which come for free in Schoology) that I could not use with the standard free account. Being that teachers are not the wealthiest of professionals, it seems like a bad business model to not provide these features for free...because I would rather not use ClassMarker.com than pay for ClassMarker.com or any other assessment resource. Even TeachersPayTeachers kind of rubs me the wrong way-- we are all poor, can't we just share? But I digress...
Here are some screenshots of my test building experience. The first is a picture of all of the features that I CAN'T do because I'm too cheap to upgrade:
The biggest downer for me here is the inability to import questions into my test bank from an external program. I CAN do this in Schoology and it is the best (especially because Schoology's equation writing interface is the worst). If I have to type question after question into ClassMarker by hand...that's going to take forever and I already don't want to use this service again. Additionally, another feature I use heavily in Schoology is the feedback option, another premium ClassMarker add-on. I like being able to provide immediate feedback for students on questions so that they don't get a question wrong and wonder why (and obviously they don't ask me about it later). I wanted to put a question with a graph in the quiz, but guess what....uploading images is a premium feature. K bye.
As for the actual building of the test, it wasn't hard but I kept my math language as simple as could be. If I needed to type word problems or complex equations, this would not have worked for me. I did like that it printed the students scores at the end with time stamps. I have found that having a printed record of how long a student spends on an assignment is excellent documentation for when their parent calls about their grade. This student earned a 33% but as you can see, only spent 19 seconds total on 3 questions, so... draw your own conclusions here.
Thankfully, being able to customize the number of tries the student has is a FREE feature (finally!). I would be super excited, but this is obviously also a feature of Schoology.
All things said and done, if you are a teacher who is just starting out with blended learning, doesn't use Schoology, or just wants to give a quick online assessment with no frills then ClassMarker could be a great tool. As long as you don't need to save the results or have them e-mailed to you. For me-- someone who is stingy as well as more well-versed in online learning platforms, this resources is a little irrelevant.
I can see how this site might also work outside of education for professional training sessions. A business is better situated financially to upgrade to the premium features. Their assessments could potentially be dynamic and embedded within their training modules as checkpoints in the training process.
Thanks again for participating-- basking in the glow of your intelligent responses and generosity :)
Until next week,
Maggie
I couldn't take the quiz, guess that's an upgrade as well lol...
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about blended learning and looking forward to you helping me in a few weeks - hint hint..
I think it is such a great idea. When I was at San Jac, all assignments were online. It seems way more organized and holds the students accountable, especially if it's connected to Gradespeed.
-Malveaux
Yes! Let's make a date! Thanks for the heads up about the quiz... I'll look into it!
DeleteI am all for paperless work, and this is a great tool. The time tracking is an important tool as it helps the teacher in many ways. For one it helps the teacher to see if a student rushed or is struggling. This of course could be offset by personal time constraints, not caring, or falling asleep. It also informs the teacher to see if they made the test to hard, or did not teach enough on a given topic. The only concern I have is the students ability to use a calculator, or search the web for a possible answer. Not to mention a student saying they did not select that answer. (Computers do glitch, and sometimes select another answer if you click near but not on another answer) What would be great is a pre-confirmation summary of every question with the student's selected answers. This affords them the opportunity to double check their answers. Overall, I think the pros outway the cons.
ReplyDeleteFyi: I completed the questions in my head. Good ego boost, just saying...haha
- Steve W
You rock :) I like your suggestion for a submission confirmation. Another feature it offers is a setting for number of attempts-- I can set it anywhere from 1 to unlimited. That would eliminate those glitch problems, if they mess up its not the final word on their grade.
DeleteI love online assessments! I use schoology and the ability to randomize questions from a question bank. I like that it grades assessments for you, and also gives instant feedback to the students.
ReplyDelete-Sabrina H.
I love online assessments! I use schoology and the ability to randomize questions from a question bank. I like that it grades assessments for you, and also gives instant feedback to the students.
ReplyDelete-Sabrina H.
I completely agree that using schoology an ExamView combined to create assessments is a lot better! Although you might pay a slight fee for ExamView upfront, there are so many things that you can do once you have it. Not only that, but students can log back into schoology to see their grades, assignments, and the responses they gave. I also agree that without an import option, creating assignments in places such as ClassMarker would take too long. I think that perhaps this is one of the reasons teachers opt to not do more online assignments. It could seem frustrating and way to time consuming to do so otherwise.
ReplyDeleteIn my classroom, we use online assessments on a daily basis. I think it is a great tool! However, I do agree that being able to see student's work is critical. Thus, in my class I often have students work on white boards and then submit pictures of their work. This enables me to easily grade the pictures, spot students who are not working, and cut down significantly on paper use. We did this often when we used Nearpod as part of students' exit tickets after taking notes. One of the things that I hope to do differently is to create assignments that allow for me to see my student's actual work to worked out problems more often. That takes longer to grade but is very beneficial in helping catch misconceptions in student learning.
Clearly, I haven't used algebra in a while - because I did terrible... I forgot order-of-operations, and made every foolish mistake a person could make.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'm not fond of taking tests on a computer. It's how my licensing exams were administered, so I'm used to it, and I understand its efficiency, but I like being able to look down at my paper, read the question, write down my work, and really feel engaged in what I'm being asked to do. I've always felt that there is something impersonal about things viewed through a screen. But this opinion is heavily biased, and frankly, kind of ignorant because it's coming from the perspective of someone outside of education, who engages in technology in a very targeted way.
But as long as I'm airing grievances: I'm also not enthused about there being advertisements on the screen while I was endeavoring to do something educational (even if they were ads for educational products). There shouldn't be click-bait on a math quiz.
Final thought: teachers are awesome, and the architectural profession applauds you. Keep up your amazing work.
And here ends my post. My first-ever response to something online, and my only contribution to a blog of any kind.
I hope things are well with you; and thank you for providing a wonderful Friday afternoon diversion from work.
Cheers
Chris, you're awesome. The ads weren't even on my radar on the teacher end but are a legitimate concern so thanks for pointing that out.
DeleteYour preference for pencil and paper is something I think about too. My experience is that my students are less likely to show work when assessments are on computers. I would imagine even in a Language Arts class students would be less likely to draft before they write. I think that, as with any new strategy, it takes time and instruction to teach people how to effectively use the technology before you cab effectively implement the technology. Thanks for responding!!!!