Edu20

I recently lauded the features of Engrade.  I use this web service as a grade book, an attendance book, assignment calendar and message system.

Well, thanks to the Classroom 2.0 Ning, I found out about a site that looks to be even more encompassing than Engrade.  It is www.edu20.org.

You can check out all the features for yourself.  Most notably, it has an integrated quiz application.  In fact, it appears to have an integrated everything.

edu 2.0: the free, easy way to teach and learn online

At this point in the school year, I cannot compel myself to transfer to a new system.  So, I will stick with Engrade for now.  However, I will keep an eye on Edu20 for next year.  Unless, something better comes along.

Place Spotting

We did a fun little activity we did in Geography today. Here are the instructions I wrote on Engrade:

Go to www.placespotting.com.

Click on "Create.”

Select a Canadian or a World landmark. (Use Google to research one.)

Enter the name of your landmark in the entry field of the Place Spotting website and click "Jump To Place Or Address.”

Input at least 3 hints.

Input the Captcha code and click on "Store.”

Embed the image link (#3) on your blog.

Repeat this process until you have created 5 puzzles.

Here is a student exemplar.

Grademate

I have not posted an update on this blog in quite some time. The end of the school year is a busy time for all teachers, plus we are moving to a new town and a new job.

I will switch from being an elementary teacher to being a secondary generalist.

In preparation for my new assignment, I wanted to establish an online gradebook.

I have three sites bookmarked on Diigo. The most popular of the three is Edmodo. 361 people have Edmodo bookmarked, versus 43 for Engrade and 8 for Grademate.

Usually, when I am choosing software or an online resource, I opt for the most popular choice. So, I went to Edmodo first. However, Edmodo is not what I thought it was. It is not a site to keep track of grades; it is a private message board which can be utilized by teachers to communicate with their students. Edmodo is popular, I believe, because it allows students to send assignments to their teacher. Also, it is very Web2.0, with the ability to embed a variety of media.

Next, I tried Engrade and Grademate.

They both look about the same and offer pretty much the same services. I decided to go with Grademate for subjective reasons. I like the style and feel of it.

I still have some exploring to do, but for now, I think I might use Grademate for grading, in conjunction with Edmodo for sending and receiving assignments.