Tests and Quizzes
There are so many apps to help with administering assessments. Socrative is a popular app that many teachers, including myself, have been using for testing as well as its other great features. You can also run Socrative online without the app at http://beta.socrative.com/, and it has some cool new features! Here is a guide to using Socrative to administer a quiz:
Socrative- Student Perspective
Socrative- Space Race
Google Forms for Tests
Grading using Google Forms
Name Selector
Long gone are the days of magic popsicle sticks with student names to ensure that everyone was being called on equally. There are many name generators out there, below is one from www.superteachertools.com:
Hosting Online Discussions
I have been using my class wiki to host some online discussions with great results. If you are looking to increase student collaboration, or even just to vary your assignments, this is a great way to have a discussion. See my assignment in the video below:
Using Educational Games
Research shows that playing video games releases large amounts of dopamine--the hormone most often associated with pleasure, addiction, and learning-- into the brain’s reward center. While research has not been conclusive about what this means, it suggests that dopamine may have an important role in the modification of the brain when learning (Green & Bavelier, 2004). I have been looking for educational games to use in my class to increase student engagement, and there are so many great ones out there, both online and in apps. Check out my students having fun and learning to synthesize DNA:
The game above can be found on the Evolutionary Biology App from Kason_Apps.