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CAT Tracks for February 15, 2012
AN APP TOO FAR |
I'm sorry...
I just can't deal with this in my little prehistoric world.
In my cat cave classroom...
I, being the all-knowing and perceptive sage, could look out upon the shining faces of my students (huddled around the warming fire) and see the confusion in their eyes. I didn't need high tech feedback from students texting ME (instead of those updating their Facebook pages, thumb-chatting with their boyfriend/girlfriends, or checking out the hottest YouTube video.)
In my latter years, when I stepped aside and tried the educational tour guide approach favored by reformers - allowing my once-organized classroom to dissolve into several, independent educational gropings - well, all I had to do was keep an ear out for the loudest of my little student laboratories...clear indication of which group had strayed furthest from the day's destination.
No...
My educational landscape is more in tune with the students you will meet in my next posting, entitled "Show Me The Money!"
Stay tuned...
NOTE:
The original story has clickable links and a video that previews the app. (I think that's what the video does...I did not view it. Knock yourself out! If you watch it and are impressed, e-mail me...sell me on it!!!)
From eSchool News...
New App Tells Teachers When Students Are Confused
By Sarah Kessler
Much has been said about how connected devices, whether in college lecture halls or elementary school classrooms, can distract students. GoSoapBox aims to show how such devices can also help keep class on track.
The startup, which is launching Tuesday, makes a web-based app that serves as a constant back-channel to classroom discussion. Students can use it to post questions about the lecture, vote up questions their classmates have already submitted, set their statuses to "confused," and contribute to polls and questions posted by the teacher.
"With the app, students are less likely to get distracted because they’re staying engaged with the material," says GoSoapBox co-founder and CEO John Pytel, who says he got the idea while attending large lectures at the University of Michigan. "The questions they have are getting answered."
To use the service, teachers pay $15 per month or $90 per year, and 1,300 of them have already enrolled in the free beta program.
Students don't need to create accounts or coordinate technology to use GoSoapBox. They simply type in a short code to whatever device they happen to be carrying.
The teacher is also saved from making disruptive changes to the lesson plan in order to accommodate the new technology. All of the behaviors on the app -- indicating confusion, responding to questions -- are natural in classrooms. Theoretically, the technology just makes it less disruptive and less intimidating for everyone to participate while providing teachers with instant feedback.
The product falls in a small category of education apps that actually seem viable for an average classroom.
Is GoSoapBox viable for all classrooms? Probably not. A 2009 survey by Blackboard and Project Tomorrow found that about 31% of ninth- to 12th-grade students had smartphones with Internet access. That number has probably significantly increased since, but we're still not at the point when every student has access to a mobile device or even a laptop throughout the school day.
Especially at universities, however, many students do have access to browsers during classtime. GoSoapBox provides a way for them to use those devices to interact with class rather than distract themselves from it.
