Post #11

Focus Question #4:
 I personally have used the student participation system at my school and I absolutely loved it. The teacher whenever we had a review would create a computerized web sheet to which we could answer the questions A-D and when it was finished he saw a listing of which questions people got wrong. Coincidentally it was also a math class. I found that more students were willing to participate and distractions were taken away seeing as how the review was timed and the highest score could get a bonus on the test. Another interesting part of this is that he would hand out the remotes numbered one through twenty five and would have already known which number went to who because he would write that number on the clipboard and see how that number compared to the other numbers, but because they were random every time we never knew who had which remote. Another cool thing about it was we used it to take tests and when the tests were finished we instantly knew how we did on the multiple choice sections of the tests and would then be able to figure out how we did on the short response questions in order to know our grade in the class.

Tech tool: Taskstream
This tech tool is more for the entire school to decide whether or not they should use it. Taskstream appears to promise a lot of security on a school's sensitive student personal files. Taskstream offers constant encryption with the promise of a Https: secure URL site where as the current site collier county is using does not own rights to the Https name. The site also follows the federal section 508 guidelines along with W3C WCAG recommendations. So this site offers a large amount of security and ease with their product along with a mountain of features to incorporate. however I would not suggest this tool to any school below eighth grade, because then it serves no real purpose except for a respected performance analysis software. For the most part this site appear to be a complete package which would then advise a huge cash deposit be made for the enculteration of this product into our school system so no real decisions can be made until real problems occur with the angel program. This is because even if the Taskstream site works so much better and easier for everyone teachers will still need time to relearn all the information they have gathered from the angel program which we all know was a slow transition to begin with.

Summary:
For the most part this chapter is about the proper way of assessing and increasing the amount of teacher and student involvement in the course.
For some teachers it is not fair that their entire career be put to the test by a standardized test. Also because so many teachers place so much value to that test they start to make beginner mistakes and only cram testing information down their students throats and thus the students do not learn anything. Now I know the argument if a teacher cannot educate their student enough for them to pass a test then they are simply not fit to educate. That is a good point and so far through my observations I have not found one single teacher's job be put on the line by their students test results. However government's pensions based on a school's overall improvement on this test may lead some teachers to fall in this trap and go unnoticed for many years until it gets out of control. Which then leads to the opposite side do teachers need to be given full reign as to what to teach then with no boundaries? I do not believe in this solution either and whereas I was at first skeptical of a review board member coming into my class critiquing my educating style it now seems like an easier method with a lot less focus aimed at a simple test. However I believe the real sollution is choice, why not let educators choose which way they wish to be evaluated either by a set passing limit of their students passing a standardized test, and those who wish to partake in a self and third party member evaluation of their teaching style.
Students are not alone in this as well students can evaluate their progress along with the teacher's recomendations. A teacher can present a class rubric to be handed out on the first day and it can take the form of a check list of: I understand it, I do not understand it, or maybe a evaluation on the different components that make up a student's grade. For example when students record their test results they can then analyze the results and see where they need improvement on and which chapter is posing the most problems whether it was the homework, quizes, etc.
Finally the most noteable part of this chapter is the studdent participation system to which I refered to above. To me I find it amazing and extremely helpful to all those who actively participate and it gives great opportunity for those who chose not.

Reference:

Maloy, R., Woolf, B., & Edwards, S. (2011). Transforming Learning With New Technologies. Boston : Pearson Education, Inc.

TaskStream.com 2013. Retrieved from: https://www1.taskstream.com/solutions/