What is Analytical Technology?
Believe it or not, many tech savvy teachers are already using many different analytical technologies in their classrooms. To put it simply, analytics is when you collect data, and technology is well, technology; websites, software, hardware, etc. This emerging trend is all about the best and more efficient ways to collect data via different tech resources so that a teacher can make the most out of each student's learning.
There are many different software companies and websites on the market for schools to use to collect this data. Some of those examples are INTUITEL, Chalk, Triumph Learning (formerly Waggle), Khan Academy, and moodle.
The purpose of analytical technology is the hopes of making learning individualized for each student. The goal is that a teacher can gear their lesson towards the progress that each student is making and even though teachers have always used data to drive their instruction, this is creating faster and more efficient on the spot data so that we can work with each student individually.
One way that my school is using analytical tech is through Khan Academy. Khan Academy is connected to collegeboard.org so all of the students' data from their PSAT and SAT are stored there. Khan Academy then created a personalized study guide for each student based on their scores and types of problems they got wrong on the test. As teachers, we can then go in to their accounts and assign more specific content to align with the classroom curriculum. It is great as a teacher to be able to see ahead of time who understands certain concepts and who needs more practice. Then I can assign those topics to students as homework assignments, and continue with the curriculum and standards in the classroom.
Other web 2.0 resources that include analytical technologies are different academic game websites such as Kahoot and Quizizz which my students love to use. More specifically I like to use Quizizz because students can work at their own pace and I can truly collect individualized data. This data helps me to see which standards I need to spend more time on, and which ones the students have mastered. The best thing about Quizizz is that you do not need to re-create the wheel. There are a plethora of teachers who have created other quizzes and I am able to take pieces of each one to create my own personalized quiz. I have also created different levels of quizizz and given students different game codes. They are all working on them at the same time, but do not realize that different students have different quizzes.
I just had one of my students go on Khan Academy because his individualized playlist on IReady had him way above what I was teaching in math. He watched the appropriate videos and did a few of the practice lessons and he was on his way! The success and the pride he had was amazing. He was able to continue with his IReady playlist and felt successful. I like how I can also assign videos and assignments using Khan Academy for my entire class that enrich my face to face lessons. I have added it to my Schoology page for the students to work on certain skills.
ReplyDeleteI actually like Quizizz better than Kahoot. Kahoot used to be my "go to" game, but now that I have learned about Quizizz, I'm hooked. However I have never given the students different game codes. Thanks for the idea!
I love it! In Khan Academy you can also assign different topics to different students. I have some students who are very low (on certificate track, not diploma track) and so they will be assigned topics on their level that meet their goals. Then I have a few students who are higher than others (maybe not as high as yours though!) and they will get an extension activity assigned to them. I do the same thing with the quizizz, and it is amazing to differentiate without the students realizing that it is happening. This is a major struggle in the secondary classroom where no one wants others to know that they are different.
DeleteI have very limited use with Khan Academy but I definitely like what it has to offer and I have heard such success stories of those using it. I was wondering if you can assign work to the students based on the standards or is it by topic? I have tried to use it with Google Classroom and it was very frustrating (didn't work as they said it would) but after hearing your success story and Sandy's story it definitely makes me what to try again.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree about Quizziz vs. Kahoot, while I like Kahoot, Quizziz is definitely my go to. I like that I can assign quizzes to students for them to complete but it doesn't have to be done in real time like Kahoot. I often use them for homework assignments, they are a great review and the students have fun completing them and they can work at their own pace and still "compete" against one another.
Yes! Kahoot is fun when I know that they are all getting the topic and want a quick refresher, but Quizizz is better for independent practice and mastery.
DeleteKhan Academy is sorted by grade and topic, so not quite the standards. However, I do find that since it is sorted by grade it seems to follow the standards. The cool thing for elementary teachers is that it is no longer just math, they now have Science and History (mixed with reading). Students can complete missions which will guide them through the things they need help with after taking a pretest.
I have had success using both Kahoot! and Quizizz in my classroom. I was introduced to kahoot! first, and although I liked being able to use it for assessments, I was not a fan of it being a whole group activity. I disliked having the entire class waiting for the final student to make their choices. I also had students who struggled with the timed aspect. When I was introduced to Quizizz I really liked the ability to be able to allow students to work at their own pace. I still use both, but I tend to use it as Kahoot! as a pre assessment or as an activator and Quizizz for summarizer or wrap up.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea mixing both Kahoot and Quizizz together. I really like that in Quizizz you can turn the timers off, or you can set questions up to 15 minutes, where in Kahoot the max time is 2 minutes.
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