What happens at my desk...

Welcome to Teacher Rod's Desk!

I am Rod and I will be sharing with you digital classroom tools that can help propel your classroom into the 21st Century! There are so many tools available to use in the classroom and help create engaging activities how do you as an educator know which one works best for you and your learners? I am hoping to demystify that for you and showcase digital tools that I come across on the web.

***Each tool that is reviewed will be judged on the following criteria on a rating scale of 4 (4 being the best, 1 being poor)***

Privacy

Personal information and data are still large issues at hand still should be considered, especially in an educational setting. Looking specifically at privacy, we look to find if there is a log-in process for students? Do students enter personally identifiable information? Is there a “privacy” section on the website that addresses COPPA and/or CIPA?

Accessibility

Is this tool compatible with mobile devices? Are there multimodal components to reach all learners (i.e. video, speech, transcripts, text, etc.)? Can this tool be used offline or does it require an internet connection?

Pedagogical Considerations: 

Does this tool assess what you expect it to assess or is it used to increase student engagement? Is the data retrieved from using this tool rich enough to consider changes to instruction or is this tool used as a summative assessment?

Class Data Retrieval:

Does this tool provide an easy way to see student data for faculty? Is it possible to export this data (i.e. download or transfer it) to an LMS or grade book?

Community/Technical Support:

Are there help guides or is support available? Be it available through the digital tool's site or community help via social media.

Using these guidelines in addition to learning the type of assessment and various pros and cons of the tool we'll hopefully develop your toolbox to be adaptable in a classroom, whether it's online or in-person! Come sit at my desk and let's explore together!