PC150008My sixth period students taking their finals using Examview.

It’s been well documented that I’m not a fan of paper…and one aspect that I really appreciate about the integration of technology into the classroom setting is that it allows me to do away with many assignments that have been traditional dominated by paper. For the first time ever I’m attempting to go completely paperless for my final and end of course surveys. In order to do this I’m using a couple of different tech tools to accomplish this goal.

Examview

Examview is a program that allows users to create and administer test with a quick and very user friendly platform. While I’m usually an advocate for free resources for teachers, this is program does cost money but in my opinion is worth whatever our district pays for it. Here is how it works, the test generator allows me to create a wide variety of test questions using a very user templates…this means you no longer have to set your margins on word, yay! After I have created the test I’m then able to publish the test on our school’s LAN and students can take the test on their laptops. Once students finish, Examview automatically grades the test and records everything in a spreadsheet on a test manager program. There are a couple of reasons why I’m such a huge fan of this program, by having the test graded automatically my students receive instant feedback instead of having to wait a day or two for me to grade them. Second, it eases my workload by not having to grade the test…overall this is an excellent time saver and makes paperwork at the end of the semester so easy.

Google Forms

I usually give surveys to my students as a way to grade my performance as a teacher. Previous to this semester I have always used paper to do the survey but this year I decided to utilize the forms feature on Google Docs. Forms allows me to create a survey (or quizzes for that matter) by using a variety of questions…such as multiple choice or open response. After I have created the questions for the survey I’m then able to either embed the form onto my website or send it via e-mail…by the way, the e-mail feature is great for parent surveys. The results from the survey are automatically recorded into a spreadsheet that are very easy to access via Docs.

Ultimately it is not about the specific programs that I have found to help me accomplish my work in class, it is the result that comes along with them. Despite the fact that we have access to awesome programs like Examview, for some reason many of the teachers at our school are very hesitant to use the program. I suppose that the reason is that many people are perfectly happy with using paper and scantrons to administer test, and that is absolutely fine. To me though, I don’t see why a teacher wouldn’t want to utilize programs like Examview and Google Docs to save time and the amount of work placed on themselves. One thing that I think it is common many teachers often see technology as a something that will hinder their job performance instead of something that will help them be more efficient. Granted there is a learning curve attached to learning new technology, but the end game is well worth the extra effort. As teachers we cannot afford to be stagnant and refuse to jump on board with tools that can make our jobs easier…times are changing and we must be receptive to change as well in this ever evolving world of education.

Mr. McClung

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