Schoology for Assessments...
I have been using Schoology (my CMS) for about four years now. I have been impressed with the different improvements that they have made over the years. Everything from rubrics, discussions, and the ease with which students can submit assignments.
I really like the testing part of Schoology. I believe that this part of Schoology will enhance my student's learning because my assessment is for review and relearning. I have created questions that are from our daily grammar lessons. I have created a sentence that it similar and covers the same concepts in the grammar lessons. What I really like about the testing part of Schoology is that I can require students to earn a certain score. That way if they do not get a certain score they can retake the test until they do so. I can pull from my questions in the question bank thus student's will not be taking the same test. There is also a feedback part for each question...meaning, I can explain WHY the answer is incorrect. That way students will have a better understanding of why they missed the questions they did.
After a student takes the series of tests, I can then go back to the tests to find problem areas. With this knowledge I can then reteach difficult concepts either to the entire class or to specific students. Another reasons I think Schoology and the testing section of Schoology can enhance student learning is that I can create differentiated tests for special education students or ESL students...and no one knows that they are taking a different test. So...students can take the different tests until they reach a certain score, no two tests are the same, and the ability to differentiate are all reasons this is a good way to review and relearn certain grammatical concepts.
This link might work better than the video below: https://youtu.be/U4DksW2y2kI
Janet,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed learning more about Schoology in your screencast. Schoology had been one of the CMS tools I assessed, so it was nice to see and hear about it in real use.
I thought you did a nice job overall with addressing the questions and explaining your reasoning within the time frame. Early on you mention that there are certain students, doing these assessments, who have already taken a test and scored below an 80%. I wondered if the test they had taken had been with Schoology as well (or in another online format) or if it was more traditional pencil/paper. This also made me wonder if you had your students do all of their assessments (with grammar or otherwise) using Schoology or if you also incorporated other formats. Also, how/when are students taking these assessments? Do they do the majority in or out of class, how is it broken down? Is Schoology itself more for in or out of class use.
I like your discussion of Schoology as something the students are familiar with. You mention you use it consistently, but I also wondered if it is used widely in your school –are the students seeing it often in their other content areas? I think the familiarity piece is important and it was something I mentioned as well.
I think that your explanation of the question banks and how you use those and offer feedback as well was important and helpful to hear about. Is it possible to also create banks of possible feedback if you notice students who have a common difficulty, or is that more individual?
In terms of the questions we began with:
Are there any other reasons why Schoology is the best choice-maybe explain why this is a good choice over a pencil/paper test. I always struggle with the use of tech and whether it is offering students something more over traditional tests-for you I think the fact that students can receive the feedback (Do they get it after you check their tests or instantaneously?) is really valuable, and if the feedback can be received at their own pace, as they complete the questions, then that is really helpful and a good support for why this tool is the best.
The other question I thought you could address further, since you did touch on it, was the question about the curriculum/professional standards. Have you or other teachers you work with tried to align specifically to common core, or are you more focused on school/district alignment? Do other teachers in your content area do similar assessments?
The differentiation piece is a great aspect to address and this may be a section that you could elaborate on. In relation to that I also liked your explanation of the steps to the assessment (having students finish one quiz and then moving onto the next). A check point system like that can be really great for all students (just like for us with our checklists in CEP ☺)
Thanks for sharing your experience with Schoology!
Madelyn
HI Janet,
ReplyDeleteThanks again for the feedback on my screencast. It helped to have your perspective as I was revising!