I chose this product for my digital portfolio because it's a great representation of students using technology to communicate with their community. The entire production was student designed, written and produced, with a little help of course. I also included it because it's a great memory of the best grade eight helpers I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Makerspace Newscast
Thursday, June 8, 2017
Edsby
Last year our board introduced this app to teachers and it did not receive great reviews. I was in that group who did not enjoy using it but was pleasantly surprised to see that the developers listened to all the comments and now it has become quite a remarkable tool. I included this chart in my digital portfolio to remind myself to keep a positive mindset. Too often we discount "things" without discussion or conversation on how it may be improved to serve different needs. This was a case where the conversations happened, and still are, which resulted in a tremendous improvement to what has become a great resource for us.
Edsby
For this etivity I went off the grid and chose the program our board is currently trying out which is called Edsby.
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Minus
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Interesting
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Attendance section keeps running record of absences and lates, allows for viewing of past days, can print class lists in various formats and gives parents the opportunity to post a planned absence..
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Not the simplest program to navigate for new users.
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It has taken a long time for our board to look at adopting online tools such as this one that has the ability to share information.
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Contains a markbook section where assessments, comments, pictures and videos can be recorded and share with students, parents and other teachers where needed..
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Internet based so it is susceptible to wifi accessibility and system issues.
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The program creators are working on the capability for Edsby to be used in creating report card comments. But it is proving difficult because of our specific language that is used. Will be interesting to see if our board “bends” a little to allow for use of the program to write report cards.
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Each class has a blog section where students/teachers can post comments, pics and videos that can be commented on and also shared with parents and other teachers.
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All your information is stored in one location online so may not be able to access it all the time.
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All of the information on this program will be sharable with the Ministry and most likely educational consultants.
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The assessment section is capable of delivering online tests and quizzes that can be multiple choice or short answer. Teacher can correct and insert comments for student.
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Could be difficult to learn a new system if this one somehow becomes obsolete or is no longer available.
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There is a section to post documents and resources for sharing with students, parents and other teachers.
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Other teachers can be added onto the classroom site so they can insert comments, pics and resources.
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Has great help blog where users ask questions and make suggestions. Questions are usually answered in a timely manner.
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There is a section that can call up sections of the Ontario curriculum for planning and assessment purposes.
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Makerspace Webpage
I chose this etivity for my digital portfolio because it represents the direction in which communication to both parent and student is heading in the future. The idea was to create a tool that introduced our Makerspace to new students coming to our school, existing students to see what challenges they will be doing and most importantly to community partners. The community partners are the ones, at least in our neighbourhood, who support the Makerspace through donations of items for the challenges. Having a web site to refer them, and new partners to, shows what we have accomplished through their support. It also serves as a tool to connect with other Makerspaces locally and internationally.
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