Three Digital Resources for Educators!
App
- I first heard about this app this week at my placement in a local High School. Although this app does not deal specifically with digital equity and media literacy, it is a great app for educators that I wanted to share. This app allows educators to scan, print, and scale quizzes and tests. It is a free app, but there are some limits you can avoid by using the paid version, which is an easy seven dollars a year. It is also available on Android and iOS devices and does not require use of the internet. However, the app does require an internet connection to sync grades into the system. Overall, I think this is a great resource that can help educators use their time and resources wisely.
Website
- This "award-winning website rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials" (ISTE, pg. 78). In a time where there are multiple conflicting stories out there, this site is one of many that can help students understand the importance of fact-checking and sourcing. what I like about this particular website over some of the others is the "Truth O Meter" that lets students visually see the degree of truth of what was said. I think this can be particularly useful in Middle School settings during election seasons.
Video
- While there are many non-educational resources on this section of YouTube, there are also many great videos that can help further connect the classroom material to the outside world. These videos also help students to understand and appreciate the power of technology as they are able to experience a "virtual reality" setting without expensive VR headsets. One video that I find particularly interesting is a 360 degree look inside a Hurricane, which could be a great component to a science or modern history lesson.
Specific Resource
- The ELA 6-12 curriculum continually stresses the importance of argumentation and citing sources. I would use politifact.com in conjunction with other sites and resources to teach a lesson in a debate unit. Students would first analyze a recent political speech and throughout various levels of research, they must decide on how accurate or truthful the politician was. Students will then check with on this website and other fact-checking sites to see if they were able to detect or uncover most of was misspoken.
Digital Equity
- ISTE provides a plethora of resources and recommendations to insure digital equality within schools. They wrote that educators should “survey students about their phones and phone plans” (ISTE, pg. 88) before assigning any work requiring internet access at home. I believe this to be one of the first steps that educators must take in order to promote digital equity in their classrooms. How can a teacher educate their class when they are unaware of that students' ability to access material? The answer is that they simply cannot. I will also promote digital literacy by routinely checking out any computer/chrome books that may be available in my school to give students the opportunity to practice and refine computer skills.
- Resource: INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION. (2018). EDTECH FOR THE K-12 CLASSROOM: Iste readings on how, when and why to use technology. S.l.: ISTE.
Hi Maria,
ReplyDeleteMy CT just recently allowed me to use ZipGrade to grade his students' tests. It was so fast and simple. It even tells you which question was missed the most so you can look back and decide if it was well-developed on your part. I would recommend it to any educator. Your suggestions for the use of politifact.com is brilliant. Students are often unaware of the nature of politics in our country beyond what they hear from their parents and families. All students should be given the opportunity and tools to accurately analyze a politician's speeches and claims. I think that our country and culture would improve greatly if young people looked deeper into these topics and learned how to spot false statements and double-speak. Great work!