Welcome everyone to my blog directed toward K-12 educators who are looking to transition their classrooms into more of an online learning environment. I am currently enrolled in a masters program at UCDenver called eLearning and Technologies. Because of this masters program, my interest in incorporating online features into my classroom has exponentially risen. In today's blog, I will be talking about my first adventure in doing so with a program called Quest created by the University of Texas.
I am currently a high school math teacher. Homework is a large part of being successful in a math class. The rope practice is necessary for students but also very time consuming for teachers. Not only do teachers have to create the homework so that it aligns with their particular way of teaching, they must create an answer key for students to check, and grade it within an efficient time frame so student receive feedback.
Thankfully, our school decided to invest in a program called Quest. This is an online program where instructors pick the questions they would for each assignment and assign it to students with an online start date and due date. The program has a very large range of questions not only limited to math, but also science as well.
The program grades the students in many different ways which allows versatility. I have chosen to give my students 3 nights for each homework assignment to allow flexibility. I have also chosen to allow multiple chances to submit answers. What this means is, if a students answers correctly the first time they get the full amount of points for that question. If they answer incorrectly they get more chances to enter in an answer but the more "guesses" they make, the less points the receive. This allows students to practice the importance of asking questions when they are confused and continuously trying until they achieve their goal of understanding the question.
This is only week two of the school year, but I will continue blogging about the pros and cons to this program, as well as other programs I may come across as being useful.
It's great that your school has invested in this program and that you are using it so well. How are the other teachers at your school responding to it? Have you had any feedback from parents about the program?
ReplyDeleteI like that students have multiple chances to answer the questions. I struggled with math at certain times when I was in high school and I remember feeling like it was easy to give up when I couldn't grasp math concepts. It would have been nice to have had a way to work through it like you are suggesting in your program. Looking forward to hearing more in this blog.
I have heard feedback so far! My next post will be based on feedback from parents, students, and my colleagues :)
DeleteErin, What I like about this type of home work is that it gives students the flexibility that we appreciate as students are selves plus they have several chances to attempt the homework. I am also trying to transition into a blended model of online teaching and classroom instruction. I'll be anxious to follow your blog to see how you feel about it. Are there other types of online learning that you would like to try with your students? Will your project creation be geared to this?
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try to gear my project toward my higher level math class, typically juniors, because they will be more likely to be invested in something like that format since they are so close to the college experience and they are more responsible as a whole.
DeleteGreat post Erin! I am also interested in the idea of blended learning. It seems like it has a lot of benefits for both students and teachers. A few questions that I have about your experience so far:
ReplyDelete1) Do you have any issues with students who have limited access to computers/internet?
2) Does the program offer any kind of tutorial for students who are not sure how to answer certain questions?
Thanks!
In response to your questions, I do have students that do not have access to computers and internet. The nice part about the program is that there is a way to print the assignments out for students who don't have access to internet. The students however don't have multiple chances on each question like they do online.
DeleteAlso, the program does have tutorials but they are aimed toward higher ed. So using it in a K-12 setting might go over their heads. So my department and I take their tutorials and write up some of our own. It is a pain at first, but once it's done, I have it every year.