Plickers can help you Teach!
After the presentation of the discussant and the
demonstration she did, I’ve tried using it and exploring it to see and
appreciate its beauty. Using my laptop and my android phone and of course the
downloaded Plicker cards, I’ve tried mimicking a classroom scenario. It was
hard since I didn’t get real participation from students because it was just
a practice but I’ve found out that those cards will be used by the students to
have their responses. All they have to do is to rotate the card to give their answer
and the instructor will just scan the card to acquire the instant results. As
simple as that.
Numerous studies have confirmed the efficacy of heightening
student opportunities to respond to growing academically engaged attitudes. When
it comes to the reliability of Plickers as an educational tool, there are also existing
studies that exposed its splendor. In 2019, David Bradley Kent indicated in his
paper that Plickers is an ultimate tool that can be used to engross students of
all ages in formative assessment. He further emphasized that it is unique because
it can do the assessment by taking technology out of the learner's hands while at the
same time, assessing all students at once. In 2017, Morgan G. McCargo conducted
a study about the effects of Plickers as response cards on academic engagement
behavior in high school students. He hypothesized that the use of it will augment
academically engaged behavior class-wide and minimize disorderly behavior among
students. Thus, based on these two pieces of literature, we can say that Plickers
can help empower student engagement at school.
What I love about Plickers is that is it is so enjoyable and
easy to use. It boosts student engagement because no one will be left behind
and everybody will be given a chance to stand and deliver. Moreover, it can be
done in real-time and it will surely ease your burden in terms of getting the data
of your assessments because it can give you automatic feedback. Furthermore, I
love the fact that it uses online games and lessons in which it can really help
me up as a college instructor, especially that our school is only catering to online learning.
I can’t wait to utilize this tool in the upcoming academic
year. I know it will be difficult to orient or train my students to effectively
use it because it is very simple to use if we look at the procedures. It is
also accessible because it can be used by students of all ages and they don’t
need extra efforts or modifications just to participate or be interactive in
the class. I am hoping that my plan to use it will be put into action. I will
do my best to make my class more engaging and enthusiastic so that my students
can appreciate online learning. With the aid of these available applications or
tools and with our undying passion for education, we can successfully thrive,
prosper, survive, and get out one piece and triumphant from this maze-like
predicament!
Google Suite Can Save the Day!
What makes Google dominating and rising? Is it because it controls
the cloud? Is it because it powers up everything? Or is it because it is the most
superb educational tool nowadays?
Did you know that it is not called Google Apps now? Ladies
and gentlemen, let’s pave the way for the Google Suite! It’s creating a revolution
in cyberspace because of its massive capabilities and the huge opportunities
it brings. One of its servants is Google Forms. This tool helps people to go
beyond the office suite. If you’re a teacher, this tool can give you advantages
of efficiently doing assessments, especially in this new normal learning
environment where most educators find it hard to handle online education. Aside
from that, it can also your means to communicate, get feedback, and collaborate
with students and colleagues for it will provide you real-time and quick
results. If you are a researcher, this is a big hit for you because you don’t
need to meet with your respondents in the far-flung areas just to administer
your survey questionnaires and experience various risks. Through Google Forms,
we can save time, space, effort, and money. It’s your best buddy when you think
that the pandemic hits you hard!
I really consider myself a big fan of Google Forms
because it can let me do a lot of things. In my work as an educator, I can make
use of it to conduct quizzes or exams and give assignments or homework. It can
also help me organize webinars and in-house training and symposiums. In fact,
libraries nowadays even use Google Forms to acquire feedback from the users
aside from using library management systems. It helps me and my students successfully
conquer their research despite the restrictions of the pandemic. It can be our
remedy in every pandemic’s misery!
Moreover, I also want to emphasize the superiority of the Google Suite as a whole. It is not only free for educational institutions; it can also help them handle gracefully the new normal education because of its known accessibility and functionality. Google Suite awes me so much because of how it effectively facilitates easy interaction, collaboration, learning, and teaching without being problematic in terms of cost and technicality. From the productive or office suite up to the high-end online experiences, Google Suite can really promise you one thing—awesomeness!
As to the existing studies on the usability of Google Suite,
most of the results denote the majesty of this online universe. In the paper of
E. Romero and colleagues (2018), it was highlighted that Google Suite for
Education and ‘Google Universe’ in general is a prevailing group of combined
tools that is worth utilizing. It is a boundless option if educators and learners
want to work in the most engaging way using collaborative and easy-to-handle
tools for enhancing their learning approaches. Aside from this piece of
literature, there are massive studies about the Google Suite as an effective
tool for teaching and learning. These studies can attest to how exceptional it is.
Definitely, I will continue enjoying the benefits of Google Suite. Without it, I can’t really imagine how things will work accordingly in my life as an educator and a regular individual in the darkest hours of the pandemic. Without it, the world will surely meet its downfall. Yes. It’s not an exaggeration but I think that could happen, especially that there are many learning institutions that rely on its mercy and compassion. I know that there is so much to explore because Google has lots and lots of features. Possibly, it will require so much from us, but one thing is for sure, Google Suite can always save the day!
Photo Credits: https://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/1755-real-time-formative-assessment-without-the-need-for-student-devices
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