EdPuzzle: video questions for formative assessment

Like all teachers, we see our face-to-face time with my classes as incredibly valuable and precious. I want to spend as much of this time as possible checking for understanding, exploring key questions and helping student grapple with complex ideas where I can coach, probe and support.

When introducing a new concept we often default to a mini lecture and some slides and ask a couple of questions to keep the students on track. With laptops and online tools such as EdPuzzle there are some really effective ways for students to work through a tutorial at their own pace and for you as a teacher to collate answers from all students.  Developing an online flipped instruction resource is a skill that teachers should have in their repertoire thereby being able to use the data to check for understanding and then plan how we might adapt our plans for the next lesson.

 

When other school activities, trips, or absences mean that weeks disrupted and we struggle to maintain the flow with our students an EdPuzzle can help you make the most of your precious time in class.

The following slides help you how to set up with EdPuzzle and how to add questions to a video. Signup with your Google Apps account here.

The essential steps are...

1. You can add any video from YouTube or other platforms
2. Just copy the URL and paste into the EdPuzzle search tool
3. Trim the video to highlight a certain passage of a longer clip
4. Click to add either open response, multiple choice questions or your comment on video
5. Save and publish to your students and then sharing the link via your online class.
6. Check your teacher dashboard to see summary of student responses, either by student or by question.

Padlet for Collaboration and Formative Assessment

Padlet is an excellent example of an app which we can repurpose in lots of different ways to support student learning. You can use it in simple ways to quickly crowdsource ideas from a class to more nuanced uses where you want to track growth in student skills and to support feedback.

Below are some examples and some geeky tips to get the most use out of Padlet. As a teacher you can sign up for free on their website and then share the link to any Padlet you might make with students via the Online Learning Platform. Make sure you check the sharing permissions so students can contribute or toggle authentication and commenting if you want to track student participation.

Google Photos - Digital Tips and Tricks

Google Photos is the newest and slightly hidden gem of the Google Suite which allows you to, backup manage and share photos easily. It is perfect for when you are on a field trip and want to share some photos with your class or with parents and want to avoid the confusion of shared folders. I have used the app on the bus back to school and have shared everything before I needed to rush back to class.

How do I get started?

You need to first install the app on your smartphone and the visit the website https://photos.google.com/ to see your albums and backed up photos.

What does it do?

The app and online version continues to update now allowing you the ability to

• create and share albums with anyone
• create a collaborative album for others to contribute images
• create animated gifs with a series of photos
• make and download a collage with selected photos
• within the phone app make a movie with selected pics

Have an explore with the quick guide below either using your work account for school photos of personal account. You have the option to automatically sync your photos in the background to your online account or alternatively you can manually select which photos you wish to backup. When you delete a photo from your camera roll a copy can be left online.

Guide to explore

Quizlet Diagrams - revise knowledge with clever visuals

Quizlet remains as one of those Swiss Army knife style apps that you end up repurposing and going back to time and time again. Last year it got a significant revamp with the Quizlet Live game feature and now there is a clever addition called Quizlet Diagrams.

In essence using Quizlet is a perfect approach to get students to revise new terms or develop and broaden their vocabulary. In Economics I want student to use the appropriate terms and words to explain the nuances of complicated concepts and models. For instance we want our students to confidently use the term 'appreciation' rather than trying to just say that a currency has gone 'up' In my experience Quizlet is a pretty good tool to help develop this basic knowledge.

The new diagrams tool goes further adding a really clever visual layer. You can pin a term to a specific part of the diagram and then the students use the match or learn tools to revise which term matches which part.

How do I use?

• You need to sign up for a free Teacher account with your GApps account
• Search the diagrams examples for your subject
• Duplicate an existing set of flashcards or create to start a fresh
• Drag a screenshot or image into Quizlet
• Use the pin icon to add terms.

Are there examples I can look at?

There are lots of really clever examples already created and available online. You can share any of these with your students by posting the link into our Online Learning Platform (Teamie)

Have a go and test yourself first !

1. Biology Cell Structure Diagram
2. Soil Layers Diagram - Science and Geography
3. Match the European Country
4. Spanish Vocab - el desayuno (what's for breakfast I think :)

How do students access?

You can copy the link directly from Quizlet and send this to your students with the Online Learning Platform (Teamie) The two best modes from students to practice diagrams are Learn Mode or Match Mode.

Learn mode is very clever and randomly gives students either match or multiple choice questions based on the set of flashcards you have created and it helps students track which ones they find easy and those which are harder. Match mode is probably the best supported to diagram and give the students a random challenge based on the flash cards you have added to a diagram. See below

via GIPHY

Posting tips for better formative assessment

The Online Learning Platform in Middle and High School is our key tool to both share resources and communicate with students.

The post option has lots of hidden tricks allowing you to collect student responses, develop polls for students to vote on or share Google Docs. Have an explore through the slides below for examples to explore and try with your class.