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Using Technology for Learning: Canvas

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What a powerful tool!  The above picture is a screenshot of my dashboard.  The 'To Do' list on the top right shows grading that needs to be done.  Under it is a glimpse of what is on the calendar for the day or the next few days.  On the left side is the menu where you can get into the classes you teach, send messages (I don't have 16 unread messages.  I reply through my e-mail so it shows them unread on Canvas.), manually add things to the calendar or just view the calendar and get to the Commons.  The Commons area contains a wealth of shared ideas from fellow educators and is a gold mine that I need to explore! We started using Canvas at my high school in the 2015 to 2016 school year.  It was a slow entry into the world of learning management systems because we were not fully one-to-one yet.  During the first year, we used Canvas to upload notes so students could access them outside of the classroom, limited online testing, and as a classroom calendar.  When the 20
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Using Technology for Learning: IXL

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Last year we started to use IXL in mathematics classrooms in my building.  Our students have a love/hate relationship with it.  They like that they get immediate feedback on whether the problems are right or wrong.  If they will take the time to look, they also get excellent instruction when they miss a problem.  Part of the feedback given is in the graphic below. As a classroom teacher, I like that it gives them any rules they should be following. Then, it shows them exactly how to do the problem and what the correct answer would be.  They have the opportunity to copy down the correct work and then try a similar problem.  The students who take advantage of this feedback learn a lot more about the concept while doing their assignment.  This year, we have added the English portion to our site license.  The English department feels like the concepts addressed will strengthen the writing skills of their students and help the students when they take the ACT.  IXL gives a Smart Sc
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Using Technology for Learning: Khan Academy

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At some point over the last few years, I came across Khan Academy.  I was teaching a night class as an adjunct for a local community college.  My class met once a week and my students were struggling to get help with the concepts between class sessions.  They had access to the learning center, but many were nontraditional students and they lacked the free time to find a tutor when the learning center was open.  I did a few internet searches and located Khan Academy.  It is a powerful resource for learning. Here is a short video explaining what is on Khan Academy before I talk more about it.                                                       (from YouTube by the makers of Khan Academy) When I first saw Khan Academy, I liked that there was such a wide variety of mathematics content on the site.  The problems are worked out in detail and presented in a way that people can understand.  Recently, they have added practice problems after a lot of the videos to check for understanding
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Using Technology for Discussion and Formative Assessment: Flipgrid

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Before this semester, I was not familiar with Flipgrid.  I have to admit that I was uncomfortable making my first video.  I felt awkward talking to the camera on my phone because I was using the Android Application.  I think this feeling of awkwardness will go away as I use Flipgrid more.  My students are comfortable recording videos of themselves and sharing them with their peers.  As a secondary mathematics teacher, I struggle to incorporate technology into my lessons and assignments.  When I used this technology, I immediately thought that this would be a good way to get my students discussing either mathematics problems or mathematics content without having to be in the classroom.  The students at my school have all been provided a device so they have the capability to use this site from their laptops. Below is a video explaining what Flipgrid is and some people talking about how Flipgrid can revolutionize the classroom.                                                 (from t
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