Some time ago I signed in to Schoology, thought it looked interesting but then must have been distracted by something and forgot to go back and review the site. It's great - well set out and, so far, seems free and uncluttered with no adverts trying to sell us this or that.
I am still trying to figure out exactly what I can do with an area called The Studyzone which I presume is the name I gave to one particular area but the key feature that I should draw your attention to is the shared resources section. Here teachers from all over the place have added their own materials and links. These can be searched and sorted - by most highly rated or most recently added, for example (although none of those I added appeared in the most recently added search so my guess is that there must be some delay between publishing and their actual availability for reasons I have yet to understand. With luck, it will be a check on suitability, copyright and if someone is filtering out potentially offensive material then that would be a good reason.
Yes, it's mostly US-based and the references are to their curriculum but whether you say maths or math, organise or organize shouldn't detract too much from their value. I suppose the English materials could get a bit annoying with dialing instead of dialling (although just who does dial any more?) but, again, it may well be that the basic ideas being shared could be easily adapted for use on whichever side of The Pond you are.
I like the link to Google Documents which would enable very quick sharing or publication of files stored on-line but haven't yet put that to the test.
There's a blog section but, really, you might best be advised just to throw in a single post linking to your existing blogs and continue to utilise Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr or whatever which have rather more useful RSS feeds that can be picked up and deposited elsewhere, like VLEs if you still use one. The still was deliberate as, and this will have to be a separate article, I think we are coming to the end of VLE Days as we know them. But that is another story. Back to Schoology.
In amongst a section called Apps I found a few new bits and piecesI had not encountered before that look worth a closer look and will be added to the Webtools site soon. these are 101, a simple way to text students, parents etc with updates, advice, requirements etc. Another is BrainNook. In BrainNook, children travel through virtual worlds while playing math and language games, complete assignments to win badges, and compete with their classmates to reach the top of their class scoreboard. BrainNook games are mapped to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and Language Arts.
Then there's Scootpad. ScootPad is a way to engage students in mastering Common Core Standards and Concepts in maths and reading with personalised, self-paced and stimulating practice. It is claimed that their data and research show that students practice on average 5 times more problems on ScootPad than the traditional worksheets/paper.
Teachers get real-time classroom performance dashboards and reports that enable in-depth progress tracking and proficiency insights. Teachers can assign and review homework (Maths Practice, Reading Practice, Spelling Practice, Reading Log etc.) and students can complete and manage their homework all online on ScootPad.
Lastly, there's Concept Bank. Now that's not a name that is likely to fire the imagination but this is what they say it does: "Common Core Standards drive a major shift in both instruction and assessment. We've made it easy for educators to access/navigate the standards, drill down to the supporting concepts and review sample questions to better understand the instructional shifts and practice rigor needed to ensure that all students are on track to college and career readiness." It looks a lot simpler and that's why I'm including it here. They might need to hire someone to write better reviews or descriptions.
Now it may be that I've missed some huge charge for some of these apps or that they are totally impossible for anyone in the UK to utilise but maybe someone will take a closer look before I get a chance and advise. Certainly if you're reading this in the States then these could be useful straight out of the box. Wherever you're based, though, I would encourage you to take a look at Schoology.
I am still trying to figure out exactly what I can do with an area called The Studyzone which I presume is the name I gave to one particular area but the key feature that I should draw your attention to is the shared resources section. Here teachers from all over the place have added their own materials and links. These can be searched and sorted - by most highly rated or most recently added, for example (although none of those I added appeared in the most recently added search so my guess is that there must be some delay between publishing and their actual availability for reasons I have yet to understand. With luck, it will be a check on suitability, copyright and if someone is filtering out potentially offensive material then that would be a good reason.
Yes, it's mostly US-based and the references are to their curriculum but whether you say maths or math, organise or organize shouldn't detract too much from their value. I suppose the English materials could get a bit annoying with dialing instead of dialling (although just who does dial any more?) but, again, it may well be that the basic ideas being shared could be easily adapted for use on whichever side of The Pond you are.
I like the link to Google Documents which would enable very quick sharing or publication of files stored on-line but haven't yet put that to the test.
There's a blog section but, really, you might best be advised just to throw in a single post linking to your existing blogs and continue to utilise Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr or whatever which have rather more useful RSS feeds that can be picked up and deposited elsewhere, like VLEs if you still use one. The still was deliberate as, and this will have to be a separate article, I think we are coming to the end of VLE Days as we know them. But that is another story. Back to Schoology.
In amongst a section called Apps I found a few new bits and piecesI had not encountered before that look worth a closer look and will be added to the Webtools site soon. these are 101, a simple way to text students, parents etc with updates, advice, requirements etc. Another is BrainNook. In BrainNook, children travel through virtual worlds while playing math and language games, complete assignments to win badges, and compete with their classmates to reach the top of their class scoreboard. BrainNook games are mapped to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and Language Arts.
Then there's Scootpad. ScootPad is a way to engage students in mastering Common Core Standards and Concepts in maths and reading with personalised, self-paced and stimulating practice. It is claimed that their data and research show that students practice on average 5 times more problems on ScootPad than the traditional worksheets/paper.
Teachers get real-time classroom performance dashboards and reports that enable in-depth progress tracking and proficiency insights. Teachers can assign and review homework (Maths Practice, Reading Practice, Spelling Practice, Reading Log etc.) and students can complete and manage their homework all online on ScootPad.
Lastly, there's Concept Bank. Now that's not a name that is likely to fire the imagination but this is what they say it does: "Common Core Standards drive a major shift in both instruction and assessment. We've made it easy for educators to access/navigate the standards, drill down to the supporting concepts and review sample questions to better understand the instructional shifts and practice rigor needed to ensure that all students are on track to college and career readiness." It looks a lot simpler and that's why I'm including it here. They might need to hire someone to write better reviews or descriptions.
Now it may be that I've missed some huge charge for some of these apps or that they are totally impossible for anyone in the UK to utilise but maybe someone will take a closer look before I get a chance and advise. Certainly if you're reading this in the States then these could be useful straight out of the box. Wherever you're based, though, I would encourage you to take a look at Schoology.
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