Schoology.com is a website that allows you to make a virtual classroom. The interface looks very much like facebook ,so the students will not have any trouble using this particular website. Sometimes the learning curves for websites or new tools for students is steep. But with this Facebook-like interface the students will be able to jump right in with hardly any walk throughs.
In Schoology.com, I created multiple classrooms, assignments, and even assessments. This is a wonderful tool. Everything is self-contained on this website. This, however, could be a problem if it ever was to crash. I loved the easiness of creating any and everything on this website. I know this sounds like I am on their payroll but it is a fantastic tool. If or when I get enough computers in my classroom this is what I will be using.
I created 4 separate sections for Biology I and one separate Biology I online. The sections allow you to have different rolls but the same assignments. I do not know if there is a limit to the amount of classes you can have, but I haven’t reached it. I currently have five classes on this website.
I built a complete test on here just to see how you would go about doing this and it worked out brilliantly. You can choose whether or not to allow students to review their questions, how many attempts they get, time limits, and so many other tools. All those different settings were just for assessments. This is a very thorough website.
So, they seem to offer a lot of options for free. How do they protect the security of your information? What back-up do they have to save your files in case there is a problem? This sounds really good, and I am thinking about giving it a try. Did it take you long to get things set up and going? Does your district have any problem with you managing this type of information off site? I started looking at the site. I may just start using this, if my trial run with it pans out. Did you find this during our FSO class or did you know about it before?
ReplyDeleteI had heard about it before but hadn't looked into it. Then it kept showing up on all of these Web 2.0 tools websites so I decided to sign up. This did not take me very long. The set up is really similar to Facebook. It so easy. If you spend about 30 minutes with it you will be up and running.
ReplyDeleteHunter this seems like such an easy way to keep track of everything. Can you see who actually viewed your page? Do they have a sign in? Such a great alternative to the old fashioned way of using the paper trail. This seems to be a faster easier way to upload materials and post assignments. Can they access this from home?
ReplyDeleteThey can access this from any computer with internet. They have to have a sign in.
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