Digital Blog Post I: Chapter 4

Here are the three most interesting concepts I learned this week:

1. Learning Assessments (Knowing What Students Have Learned)
2. Using Technology in Lesson Planning
3. Using Electronic Grading Software

One of the most helpful aspects of online teaching is that teachers have no problem keeping track of work submitted by students.  School's today can input grades from an assignment onto an online database that can keep track of how well students are doing in school, for example a teacher can look at the grades to see where the students weakest grades are, and work with them on improving them.  Online work submissions also help prevent cheating among students since a lot of these educational programs have a built sensor like Turn-it In that helps detect any similarities between submissions.  Thanks to technology students can be learning assessments at a comfortable pace with the teacher keeping track of that progress and letting the student know if they are falling too behind.

I definitely know that lesson planning has become easier for students and teachers, especially with online classes that utilize programs like Canvas, which is probably one of the most useful is lesson planning.  With Canvas students can look up assignments, while viewing their lesson plans, and keeping track of approaching due dates, its pretty much an online planner, but the schedule is already there for you.  Its probably very useful to the teachers since all teachers really have to do prepare a lesson plan and post it on Canvas for students to view at anytime, and the teacher do not have to repeatedly remind students of approaching due dates since it is always on the front page once students log-in.  Technology in lesson planning pretty much does almost everything except for the actual work that the students must do on their own.

 I bet teachers are very thankful for the electronic grading software nowadays, because things like quizzes and test are automatically graded in the computer.  I still remember that back then teachers had to use a score card to grade their student's papers while constantly looking back at the quiz, but now they have things like scan-trons where they just have to program the right answers in the machine and just put the student's quizzes inside of them.  Even things like essays are much easier if done online now since teachers can easily put in sides notes to critique a students work and point out directly where the flaws in the assignment are, instead of trying to write something in a narrow margin that looks sloppy and hard to read for the student.

Quiz Time!
https://create.kahoot.it/?_ga=1.214057111.1265567416.1446419035&deviceId=469fc90a-a08b-45f1-ad80-6f2ac78c7e37#quiz/dd96bfa1-e5a7-46cf-b49c-fe7a3977cdbb

References:
 Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.