classroom technology Archives -

Exit Tickets – No Paper Required

  What’s the best way to get feedback on your teaching, test students’ participation and check up on comprehension: exit tickets. The concept is simple: ask students a question or two before class ends, and have each student submit an answer. For some classes, these exit tickets work like ballots for anonymous feedback, in other →

Why tablets and smartphones are the new pencils and pens

We’re all used to taking notes with ink and lead, but maybe it’s time to update this technology. After all, pencils and pens can’t take pictures, can’t look up information on the internet and definitely can’t improve your students’ social skills and participation level. Worst of all, if your students lose, rip, or forget their →

5 Myths about Smartphones in the Classroom

1. They’re nothing but trouble One of the worst mistakes a school can make: telling students NOT to use the powerful computers they keep in their pockets. At a time when schools struggle with budgetary restraints, it just makes sense to allow students to use their own tools to collaborate, quickly look up facts, graph →

Ways to Approach Controversial Topics in the Classroom

Whether it’s a hot-button political issue in a social science class, a probing hypothetical in a philosophy course, or ethics in a science class, teachers often find themselves discussing controversial topics with their students. Best case scenario, students come from diverse backgrounds, offer a variety of calm, constructive opinions, and frame all disagreements in a →

3 surprising ways to keep students focused using technology

1. Allow smart phones in class Yes, you heard right! Mobile phones don’t have to mean disrupting beeps, giggles from back-row texters, or zonked-out young adults stuck on the fifth level of angry birds. Instead students can use them them to report feedback to you and even contribute in class with the help of mobile →