Blended Schools sharing
Cross posted from mrplatts.com
Our BSN Coordinator asked for answers to these questions — I may have overdone my answer, but it was valuable reflection.
How are you using BlackBoard …
- … in the classroom?
- … for curriculum?
- … in elementary school?
- … the tools?
My response:
In 7th and 8th grade German I have faced two main issues, time and lack of current resources. Blackboard is a way to help me overcome these challenges.
I am using BB for the following:
1) Textbook replacement - Out textbook Komm Mit was published shortly after the fall of the Berlin wall, during which time the German Currency has changed, the spelling rules of the language have been overhauled, and lastly fashion, activities and interests have developed and changed greatly. I am using BB to compile my own resources, as well as making use of the cream of the crop that I find online. The existing grammar, or vocabulary sections in the text are shallow and undeveloped, while simultaneously failing to explain anything clearly. I either create my own reference page in BB, which allows me to embed audio examples as well as text, or I make use of my new favorite source, a university beginners German course form the University of Portsmouth in England. I’ve been in touch with Paul Joyce, and he only asks for brief acknowledgment that the content from his Open Online German Textbook are his work. By including my own pictures from Germany, I can show real Germans, in a believable way, and can compare and contrast fashions with American students in a real way, rather than using the pictures taken in the 80’s as these kids entire representation of how Germans dress and act.
2) Assessment (for/of learning) — I’m not a huge fan of the test layout, and the labor-intensive question creation in BB, but I do like using the online tests for a few reasons. Instant feedback — unless it is something that requires later grading, the students get an instant report about how they did on a quiz, and while the experience if fresh in their minds they see the questions, their answers (right or wrong) and any other possible answers that could have fit. Some students are not good online test takers, but it is simple to identify those students and print out a paper copy for them to see. This allows me to spend a little extra time with those students (often special ed students) giving more personalize feedback.
The assessment statistics data lets me dig into my classes and see who is scoring what, how my grades were distributed and who I need to follow up with (retest, review, remediate) With over 230 students this has freed up time for actual teaching, planning, needs assessment, rather than mundane clerical work.
3) Grade book — after a little tweaking (assigning student IDs to Fort couch user accounts that indicate section number, followed by a number, their alphabetical order in the class) I have finally mastered the Blackboard gradebook, and like it better than Gradequick. (SmartViews are key) Since we don’t have EdLine, the students can now see both their on-line and offline grades in BB and then at the end of the 9-weeks I can export (or just copy) the final totals into a GQ book.
If we did (when we do) have edline this would (will) create an extra step, but I believe that I could still export and import back and forth even including the assignment headers.
4) Tools –> Currently my course is not as dynamic, or interactive as I would like. I am using the blog as a one-way communication tool by placing it as the entry point for the course. this way I can share with the students (comments are off, kids cannot post, so it is fairly controlled. I see this as a place to exhibit outstanding work, invite students to share and something to develop. The discussion board will be used eventually, though I haven’t implemented it yet.
Vocab Wiki — The class will shortly begin using the wiki tool as a vocabulary guide. Students will contribute vocabulary entries to the page, and can earn extra credit for excellent entries. I would like to let them include photo-entries, but am wrestling with a way to control this to prohibit abuse.
5) Classroom — I have called up the site frequently for two reasons. 1) to show students where to find material 2) Display some sort of content online — the current lesson’s vocabulary list for example.
6) Future — My supervision project for this year is to create a class podcast, and BB has an integrated podcasting feature that is more well-developed than Schoolwires (iTunes Feed creation to be specific) I plan on using this to implement the podcast.
I’m sure there is much more that I *could* be using BB for but I’m still in the process of figuring out the most effective way to organize my material, and use time effectively.
