Once you have the Resources installed you will be asked for the username and password for each one. Enter them and you will have access to all of your files from within Schoology.
Showing posts with label Khan Academy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Khan Academy. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Schoology improved their integration with Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, and Khan Academy
Once you have the Resources installed you will be asked for the username and password for each one. Enter them and you will have access to all of your files from within Schoology.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Coming Soon: Schoology will integrate with Dropbox and Evernote (in addition to Google Drive)
This is an exciting message that came directly from Schoology!! They will be expanding your ability to connect to your own personal Ed Tech resources by letting you connect your Schoology account with your Dropbox and Evernote accounts. This is in addition to your Google Drive account which is probably already connected. Khan Academy will also integrate with Schoology as well.
Read on to get the full message. This has not been posted publicly yet, which is why I added it to my blog. Otherwise I would have just posted a link to this.
ORIGINAL MESSAGE FROM SCHOOLOGY:
Read on to get the full message. This has not been posted publicly yet, which is why I added it to my blog. Otherwise I would have just posted a link to this.
ORIGINAL MESSAGE FROM SCHOOLOGY:
We are always looking for new ways to improve your Schoology
experience, and this upcoming feature release will be a huge step in the right
direction.
Resource Apps are applications that will enable you and your
staff to access and use content from third-party vendors and external file
repositories directly from the Resource Center. This way all your resources,
third-party or not, are always right at your fingertips.
These integrated resources will behave in the same way as other
Schoology resources—you can copy them to courses, distribute them to faculty,
align them to standards, and more. In this initial release, you will have
access to these four resource apps:
- Khan
Academy
- Dropbox
- Google
Drive
- Evernote
Our SkyDrive app (Office 365) will be available in a later
release soon afterwards.
Renaming the Assignment Dropbox
We will be renaming the Assignment Dropbox to “Assignment
Submissions.” It will be located in the same place and perform the same
function, but its new name will make it distinct from our Dropbox Resource App.
We will publish an overview on the Schoology Blog and a
step-by-step help article in our Help Center upon the release of these
features. And don’t hesitate to email our dedicated Support Team at help@schoology.com
if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you!
Sincerely,
The Schoology Team
Monday, March 4, 2013
Using Schoology and Khan Academy for individualized instruction
Education is shifting towards individualized, personalized learning for every student. Students currently in a special education program have their own Individual Education Plan (IEP) or Individual Learning Plan (ILP). What educators realize is that every student is different and every student would benefit from their own learning plan. Technology is going to play a major role in creating these individual plans and also in helping our students meet their goals.
Our students - all students - are different from each other. They have different attitudes, different motivation, different abilities, and different learning styles. Educators are finding that all students would benefit from lessons and materials that most closely match these differences.
Technology is going to help educators provide an individualized learning environment in two ways. First, it will provide the backbone for delivering the content and lessons. Second, it will provide the educational resources needed to meet our students' needs.
Schoology is the delivery system for individualized learning to your students. It is the backbone of your school. Schoology is a Learning Management System (LMS) that allows teachers to provide videos, articles, texts, websites, online quizzes, discussion boards , flipped lessons, and review materials to their students in an organized manner. Schoology also allows teachers, students, and parents to communicate electronically about their teaching and learning. Schoology provides teachers with the ability to provide differentiated learning materials that meet a variety of learning styles and learning abilities to all students, and it can even let students work at their own pace by opening new sections once a student completes the previous section. Harlem Academy in New York chose Schoology as their LMS, their web site, and their intranet all in one. It truly is the hub of the school where everything a student needs can easily be found.
Once the backbone is in place, teachers need to provide high-quality resources that are aimed at different age groups, that meet different learning levels, and meet different learning styles. Open Educational Resources (OERs) are free resources "documents and media that are useful for teaching, learning, education, assessment and research purposes." There are many individuals and organizations who believe that everyone deserves a high-quality education at little to no cost, and OERs are a way for the whole world to benefit from well-written educational materials. OER Commons states, "equitable access to high-quality education is a global imperative."
One OER that is making big headlines is Khan Academy. Salman Kahn began creating video lessons and practice problems on a variety of subjects. His mission is "to provide a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere." A pilot program was announced last week for 47 schools in Idaho that will receive a total of $1.5 million to provide teachers with the two days of proper training in using Khan Academy with their students as well as a study to measure the effect it has on student achievement. This study on the blended learning environment - direct instruction from a teacher coupled with self-guided video instruction from Khan Academy - is being funded by the J.A. and Katheryn Albertson Foundation.
In some instances the teacher will try to "fill the gaps" in a student's learning, but often it will be the student himself who recognizes what he knows and what he does not know and then utilizes the resources provided by the teacher to fill the gaps himself. Whether a student is trying to catch up, trying to fill in holes, or trying to get ahead, a student will often take that initiative on his own - but the teacher needs to provide the appropriate materials to make that happen.
What is more important, the content used to learn or the way that it is delivered? That's a subject for an entirely different article.
Our students - all students - are different from each other. They have different attitudes, different motivation, different abilities, and different learning styles. Educators are finding that all students would benefit from lessons and materials that most closely match these differences.
Technology is going to help educators provide an individualized learning environment in two ways. First, it will provide the backbone for delivering the content and lessons. Second, it will provide the educational resources needed to meet our students' needs.
Once the backbone is in place, teachers need to provide high-quality resources that are aimed at different age groups, that meet different learning levels, and meet different learning styles. Open Educational Resources (OERs) are free resources "documents and media that are useful for teaching, learning, education, assessment and research purposes." There are many individuals and organizations who believe that everyone deserves a high-quality education at little to no cost, and OERs are a way for the whole world to benefit from well-written educational materials. OER Commons states, "equitable access to high-quality education is a global imperative."
In some instances the teacher will try to "fill the gaps" in a student's learning, but often it will be the student himself who recognizes what he knows and what he does not know and then utilizes the resources provided by the teacher to fill the gaps himself. Whether a student is trying to catch up, trying to fill in holes, or trying to get ahead, a student will often take that initiative on his own - but the teacher needs to provide the appropriate materials to make that happen.
What is more important, the content used to learn or the way that it is delivered? That's a subject for an entirely different article.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Get your class online with these six steps
Teachers want to build an online environment for their classroom but they don't know where to begin. It's an overwhelming task considering how much technology has changed in the last two or three years. But you have to start somewhere, and you need to start NOW. Here are six steps for you to begin moving forward.
First, choose a Learning Management System (LMS). Blackboard is what you probably think of when you hear "LMS", but there are many other choices that have many of the same features, are easier to use, and are also free. Schoology is my personal favorite because it has some of the best communication features like wall posts (similar to Facebook), text messages, and a classroom calendar. It also contains offers a well-organized classroom environment to place your assignments, videos, discussion boards, and presentations. Schoology also integrates with Google Docs and Khan Academy. Other very good LMS choices include Edmodo, CourseSites, OpenClass, and Haiku.
Second, get all of your current classroom materials online. For most people, this will mean scanning all of their documents into PDF format and posting them on their LMS, which is fine for your first year of going towards a digital environment. The PDF format is great for viewing a document because you can view it on a PC, Mac, tablet, iPad, or cell phone. The drawback is that most users will not be able to type or write on it without some form of conversion or software. At some point you are going to have to answer a very serious question - are you ready to convert all your documents to something else like Google Docs? Until you are ready to ask that question of yourself, just get your things online so your students can access them.
Third, find the best resources to supplement and expand your instruction. The fact is, everything you teach is being taught by someone else, and they can probably say it or explain it better than you. Find videos, lessons, activities and games created by others that support what you teach. Khan Academy has thousands of videos but they focus mainly on math and science. YouTube has excellent videos if you can sort through the clutter of baby videos, pet videos, rambling video blogs, and 10,000 renditions of Gotye's Someone That I Used To Know. A new site to consider is Sophia which has instructional modules for students and also for teachers' professional development.
Fourth, decide if you are going to use a textbook as the main source of information, as a supplemental resource, or not at all. Once you make that decision you will be able to decide how much of your students' reading will be online. Start by contacting the textbook company and see if they are willing to provide you with an electronic version of your current book. Some of them will do so for free. If you are looking for a new textbook, consider sources such as CK12 which creates actual classroom textbooks for free in a digital format. Another option is browsing the iTunes U catalog to see if another teacher has created a book or a course that your students could use.
Fifth, choose sites, materials, and software that are free, Internet-based, and work on multiple devices. Evernote is an example of this. It is a powerful online notebook that can be used with your computer, tablet, or cell phone. Free materials and apps allows your classroom to become a model for other teachers, and choosing resources that can be used on most devices allows all students regardless of location or income to access your lessons. What is the importance of being accessible on multiple devices? Well, look at what you currently own. I use a computer at work, a tablet on the couch, and a cell phone on the go. We own different devices, and nothing is more frustrating than having access to data on one device but not another. Also, you have no control over what your students will bring to school. Students will bring every device ever made, and you have a responsibility to make sure your materials and assignments are available to the widest audience possible.
Sixth, expect to tear your site apart and start over next year. For every assignment posted on your site, you need to ask yourself, "Is this really what I want my students to do with their time?" The answer is usually, "no." You will slowly get away from worksheets and readings and move more towards discussions, videos, and collaborative assignments where students create new bodies of information and share it with the world. You might even move towards a flipped classroom model (search flipped classroom, Jon Bergmann, or Ramsay Musallam). A traditional classroom involves a teacher providing instruction during class time, and then students practice their work at home without the benefit of a teacher to guide them. A flipped classroom involves providing as much instruction as possible online through videos and other means which allows you to use classroom time for guided practice.
Your students are going to love your new classroom, but it takes time. A lot of time. Today is the day you should get started.
First, choose a Learning Management System (LMS). Blackboard is what you probably think of when you hear "LMS", but there are many other choices that have many of the same features, are easier to use, and are also free. Schoology is my personal favorite because it has some of the best communication features like wall posts (similar to Facebook), text messages, and a classroom calendar. It also contains offers a well-organized classroom environment to place your assignments, videos, discussion boards, and presentations. Schoology also integrates with Google Docs and Khan Academy. Other very good LMS choices include Edmodo, CourseSites, OpenClass, and Haiku. Second, get all of your current classroom materials online. For most people, this will mean scanning all of their documents into PDF format and posting them on their LMS, which is fine for your first year of going towards a digital environment. The PDF format is great for viewing a document because you can view it on a PC, Mac, tablet, iPad, or cell phone. The drawback is that most users will not be able to type or write on it without some form of conversion or software. At some point you are going to have to answer a very serious question - are you ready to convert all your documents to something else like Google Docs? Until you are ready to ask that question of yourself, just get your things online so your students can access them.
Third, find the best resources to supplement and expand your instruction. The fact is, everything you teach is being taught by someone else, and they can probably say it or explain it better than you. Find videos, lessons, activities and games created by others that support what you teach. Khan Academy has thousands of videos but they focus mainly on math and science. YouTube has excellent videos if you can sort through the clutter of baby videos, pet videos, rambling video blogs, and 10,000 renditions of Gotye's Someone That I Used To Know. A new site to consider is Sophia which has instructional modules for students and also for teachers' professional development.
Fourth, decide if you are going to use a textbook as the main source of information, as a supplemental resource, or not at all. Once you make that decision you will be able to decide how much of your students' reading will be online. Start by contacting the textbook company and see if they are willing to provide you with an electronic version of your current book. Some of them will do so for free. If you are looking for a new textbook, consider sources such as CK12 which creates actual classroom textbooks for free in a digital format. Another option is browsing the iTunes U catalog to see if another teacher has created a book or a course that your students could use.
Fifth, choose sites, materials, and software that are free, Internet-based, and work on multiple devices. Evernote is an example of this. It is a powerful online notebook that can be used with your computer, tablet, or cell phone. Free materials and apps allows your classroom to become a model for other teachers, and choosing resources that can be used on most devices allows all students regardless of location or income to access your lessons. What is the importance of being accessible on multiple devices? Well, look at what you currently own. I use a computer at work, a tablet on the couch, and a cell phone on the go. We own different devices, and nothing is more frustrating than having access to data on one device but not another. Also, you have no control over what your students will bring to school. Students will bring every device ever made, and you have a responsibility to make sure your materials and assignments are available to the widest audience possible.
Sixth, expect to tear your site apart and start over next year. For every assignment posted on your site, you need to ask yourself, "Is this really what I want my students to do with their time?" The answer is usually, "no." You will slowly get away from worksheets and readings and move more towards discussions, videos, and collaborative assignments where students create new bodies of information and share it with the world. You might even move towards a flipped classroom model (search flipped classroom, Jon Bergmann, or Ramsay Musallam). A traditional classroom involves a teacher providing instruction during class time, and then students practice their work at home without the benefit of a teacher to guide them. A flipped classroom involves providing as much instruction as possible online through videos and other means which allows you to use classroom time for guided practice.
Your students are going to love your new classroom, but it takes time. A lot of time. Today is the day you should get started.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Flipped Classrooms
Andrew Montgomery from Roycemore School presented how he manages a flipped classroom. I think the one thing we should take away from his presentation is that he does not expect the videos and resources that he posts to replace classroom instruction. They are posted to allow students to preview the material before class and to review the material after class. He realizes that (a) some kids do not have Internet access at home, and (b) some kids simply won't watch the videos even if they are considered a requirement. Posting the videos helps students get ahead or to at least keep up with the class.
His videos are 5 - 9 minutes long which helps to keep them interesting and focused. His videos are all narrated whiteboarding sessions using his Mobi board to write and Screencast-O-Matic to do the recordings, or they are narrated presentations/ PowerPoints.
Along with the videos, he also posts additional materials and links to go with the lessons. He uses Khan Academy, a site with high-quality video lessons that focus mainly on math and science but the site does include other subjects and topics.
The overall focus for Mr. Montgomery is to use the videos to help students prepare for the lesson that day. Students have a rough idea before class begins whether or not they understand the material, and they are prepared to ask focused questions during the instruction. They are ready for the lesson, which makes the instructional piece go faster and therefore allows for more time to practice the material, i.e. do their homework in class while the teacher is still with them and available to answer their questions.
His videos are 5 - 9 minutes long which helps to keep them interesting and focused. His videos are all narrated whiteboarding sessions using his Mobi board to write and Screencast-O-Matic to do the recordings, or they are narrated presentations/ PowerPoints.
The overall focus for Mr. Montgomery is to use the videos to help students prepare for the lesson that day. Students have a rough idea before class begins whether or not they understand the material, and they are prepared to ask focused questions during the instruction. They are ready for the lesson, which makes the instructional piece go faster and therefore allows for more time to practice the material, i.e. do their homework in class while the teacher is still with them and available to answer their questions.
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