Week+5+-+Assessment+and+Evaluation

=And now onto the REAL fun: MARKING!!!!=


 * We opened class today with a quick look at Smart Boards. I must admit I had never seen one before coming to Ottawa U, and then I was overwhelmed by them being in every classroom. However, in most of the cases, the professor has even less idea of how to use it than the students do. Essentially, it is nothing more than a glorified projector for PowerPoint presentations. And that is a major problem, because essentially these tools are being wasted, we could learn so much more about them than we do, and I think it starts with training the staff here. It is one thing, in a high school where you only have one for the entire school, to waste everyone's time training on it because there is a slim chance to use it. But its an entirely different thing when every class in the building has one, but very few of the professors are able to use it for more than the aforementioned PowerPoint projector. I know that has very little to do with this course, its just my rant for the day.
 * Anyways, ever since I started here, I've been fascinated by the Smart Board. I really like the possibilities that come with it, especially if it can be combined with the Smart accessory, its like a writing pad that interacts with the board (I haven't seen one at the University, but they did have one at the school where I did my first prac). As a quick example, I did a review in my class that involved playing a game of Jeopardy, but it became difficult maneuvering from the computer and keeping up with the rest of the class. The Smart Board, I'm sure, could have made that activity easier to do, and could have avoided delays that assuredly meant I lost some of the class. Overall, I'm excited for these new toys to become more widespread, and I look forward to being able to work with them and explore their many uses.
 * Cyber bullying is certainly one of the drawbacks of young people's reliance on the internet and social networking. It is just way too easy for one student to write/post something negative about another, and then have all their friends see it pop up in their news feed. I'm not saying I long for the days when kids would bully each other in the school yard, however it was much easier to see it and do something about it then (as long as you were paying attention as the teacher). Teachers, naturally, wouldn't be associated with their students on a social networking platform, [[image:cyber_intimidation_2.JPG align="left" caption="Just as painful as physical bullying..."]] and so would not have any idea that something was going on. New legislation is coming in that can allow administrators to take notice of things that occur off of school property (things like cyber bullying) but really, can it help that much? And how long before the idea of "Big Brother", the all seeing eye, becomes a reality? Its a dangerous road we're travelling, and I'm intrigued, but also scared, of what the future will bring.
 * I really like the idea of having a program (such as Markbook) that can help with figuring out percentages and things of that nature, because it is always a huge struggle for me to figure those things out. As well, having a central database with student information, parent contact information, trends in their progress, among other things. It also keeps track of seating plans and attendance, complete with photos (in case you have a senior moment, and lord knows they happen). Having everything in one, central database that you can reference saves someone like me, who is totally unorganized, a lot of time trying to sort through that information. With that being said, I still want to make sure I have a paper trail of everything, because as we've talked about in this course, and in a lot of my past experiences with things, you've gotta have backups. Backups of essays, backups of assignments, backups of music lists, you gotta have something. So, while the tech is great, don't totally lose the paper trail. I'm hoping to try and live by those words during my career.
 * I'm still having a hard time with rubrics, so I was glad we talked about Rubistar, How to use the right words, the right expressions, things like that, are still a struggle, so I'm glad there is a place to go to get assistance (at least in the early going) regarding these things.
 * Turnitin is another story entirely. I like the idea that there is something that can check for plagiarism, I really do. Realistically, a teacher isn't going to be able to be familiar with every source on the internet, so to have a place you can bring essays to make sure students are not just copying and pasting is a good thing. My problem, though, is that I feel like that's where we're going as a society, and that is where we are being taken. I mean, we sort of alluded to it in this class a few weeks ago, instead of copying a note the student could conceivably just use their phone to copy it and its stored in their database. And that really, to me, isn't the right way to do it. But I feel like we're turning into a "copy & paste" [[image:killswitch.jpg align="right" caption="Funny, but effective"]]society, where if we like someone's idea, we find a way to use it and make it applicable ourselves. My Facebook status is more often than not a quote from a movie or a television show, and very rarely is it an original thought from my head. And I wouldn't even consider myself a digital native; with the overloading of blogs all over the place, it just seems much easier to copy and paste someone else's idea, slap your name on it, and call it an essay. My point though is not that we need to get rid of blogs, but instead we need to try and teach our students about citing resources, using correct punctuation when an idea isn't their own, and in general just being responsible internet users. Then, Turnitin can be used as a tool by the teacher to help students, not to nail them for plagiarizing. Okay, that's two rants in one wikipost, I better wrap this up soon before I get really fired up.
 * Finally, a quick word on the readings: I already alluded to the idea of digital natives/immigrants above, but I'm a little worried at the idea of students that get bored easily and have very short attention spans. I know that's the direction we're going, and I realize that there's not much we can do about it, but if our young people are constantly bored then I think we may be in trouble. I realize that the onus now is probably on me to make things exciting and engaging, but man is that going to be tough. On the other hand, with advances in technology, and the opportunity to try and integrate those things into the class, I feel like it may make the problems with engaging students a little easier to handle. And I feel like if I'm excited about something, it will hopefully make the students I'm trying to help also excited.