Engaging Apps
Number Pieces
Barefoot Atlas
This app is brilliant because it gives students the opportunity to use reference material and learn about the beautiful world we live in. The only downfall of this app is that you have to pay for it.
Splash Math
This app is excellent because it gives students feedback, explaining how to solve a problem correctly. This app also offers teachers see data on time spent on topics, accuracy, and level of mastery. However, it does not allow teachers to assign specific tasks to each student.
Skoolbo
This app is excellent because it is engaging also gives students the opportunity to review standards. This app can be even be used to assess students. Skoolbo supports collaboration because it gives students the chance to take quizzes and compete against other kid users around the world. This app promotes critical thinking because it too builds on students’ foundation and prepares them to use critical thinking skills to solve more challenging problems. This app gives students lots of quizzes through drills. However, drilling does not always require critical thinking.
Kidsblog
This app is fantastic because it gives students the opportunity to collaborate with each other through blogging. Blogging makes writing instruction so much more meaningful since they will be writing to an authentic audience, their peers. This app is also a great way to support students as both writers and creators of digital content. This app can also help students who are shy and too afraid to talk in front of their peers.
This app supports critical thinking because it gives students a chance to, publish writing, audio, visual, or video projects. We are tapping into students critical thinking whenever we have them an opportunity to create something.
This app also encourages collaboration because it gives a student the chance to peer edit with peers.
Prodigy
This app is so cool because it is very engaging to students and provides them with valuable common core math lessons. It also gives teachers the chance to assign specific standards and provide the teacher with updates on students and their skill. Teachers can even create student tournaments and quests that establish new challenges and goals.
Prodigy supports collaboration because students are literally battling a peer within the classroom or a student around the world. This feature allows students to showcase what they have learned. As I mentioned earlier, Prodigy is an adaptive app. Once students have mastered a certain level or skill, it will give them challenging problems that will require critical thinking to be used.
All in all, Prodigy is a great app to use for students to review skills. However, it does require a paid subscription for more activities.
Managing BYOD in your Classroom
If I were to use BYOD in my classroom, you would see classroom seating arranged to meet technology-based activities. You will also notice signage posted on the wall that states that BYOD is permitted within the classroom. You will even notice the digital social contract that was created collaboratively by students. You will also see a green and red light, which will indicate when it is ok for students to use their devices (green light) and when devices should be turned faced over (red light). If you walk around the classroom, you will see an ask 3 before me sign as well as basic troubleshooting poster. If you continued to walk around the room, you would see as station where pencils, paper, and markers are located, just in case our technology does not want to cooperate that day. You would also notice a lending library, where students use who are not able to afford devices or who happened to have left their devices at home. Finally, you will see a calm teacher modeling and learning from her students (Silver, 2015).
To manage BYOD in my classroom, I will use green and red light, system. The green light indicates when it is ok for students to use their devices, while the red light will show when devices should be turned face down and not be used. I will also make sure that students are using the devices on their table or desk, not in their laps.
Since restarting a computer often fixes problems, that’s the route I would go when I have issues with the five desktops in my room. Because I have three iPads, I would use the following troubleshooting strategies to implement mobile technologies within my classroom:
• Recharge
• Restart
• Reset iPad
• Remove content
• Reset settings and content
• Restore
• Recovery mode
(Baig & LeVitus, 2012)
References
Common Sense Education. (n.d.). https://www.commonsense.org/education/reviews/all
Rodgers, D. (2018). BYOD in Schools: A Beginner's Guide. Retrieved from https://www.schoology.com/blog/byod-in-schools-a-beginners-guide
Silver, J. (2015, July 9). Classroom Management [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s6k9v_8CV8&feature=youtu.be