Part of the delay is that I have been re-evaluating how I use technology in the classroom. My area of interest has always been around the area of assessment. As little as five years ago, the teacher was the one who tended to do enter grades and comments in a computer system. The student would go and receive their assessment data and pass that on to their parents.
Then came the advent of Google and everything changed. We had kids become self-assessors and partners in assessment with us. Suddenly, that electronic gradebook wasn't quite as important. We invited students to self-reflect using rubrics, comments, and audio/visual. We would become co-collaborators with students. However, their parents were not always getting this information as there was no "platform" for a parent to be able to login to.
In mid-2014 we were introduced to Google Classroom. We had a nice merge of all of the great things that Google had to offer. Students were able to go to a management system where they could pick up their assignments, complete them, and then turn them in. However, if you are using categorical grading and using rubrics to report, the system is not perfect as teachers cannot attach rubrics. We can share a rubric on Google and then paste in the link. Parents had one place where they could view data and then see the supporting work.
It was my plan to move forward with this in the 2015-2016 school year. After receiving a class set of Chromebooks, I thought that I was all set. And then the Freedom Of Information and Privacy Act (FOIP) starting creeping into conversations. Being in Canada, there is some discussion over whether student information and school work can reside on Google's U.S. based servers. Our school district is continuing to investigate this. I decided not to wait.
Two solutions that I'm currently investigating are FreshGrade (www.freshgrade.com) and Microsoft Office 365. Both are located on Canadian servers and, thus, do not violate FOIP. I have been experimenting with Office 365's offerings and will write a serious of posts about that experience in the coming weeks. The bottom line at this point? Office 365, while quite different, can easily be used in a school setting.
The other option is not so cut and dry. I am currently piloting FreshGrade with other teachers in my School Division. I have purposefully not been in contact as I wish to have an unbiased experience with it, and in turn do not wish to bias others. I will also write a series of posts about FreshGrade in the future as well. The bottom line at this point? I'm not sure if I like it or not. There are aspects that are fantastic about it....but then there are parts that can possibly leave the parents of older students confused.
Wherever my experience lead me, there is no doubt in my mind that 2016 is shaping up to to be a fantastic year of discovery for both my students and myself. More to come soon!
