TET Task 3 - Score: Pass PDF

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Score: Pass...

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TET Task 3-Technology Evaluation Western Governors University Chad Roush

The instructional setting of my district is much different this year from before. My classroom is structured with desks scattered six feet apart per CDC guidelines and my roster count is much smaller than before with my largest class being fifteen students. I do not have a classroom aid because of this. Our school has now become one to one with technology, each student has received a Chromebook assigned to them. The learners in my classroom are general ed students ranging from a 10th grade reading level (2 students) to a 2nd grade reading level (one student) The content area I teach is sixth grade English Language Arts, a blocked class which is ninety minutes long. In the new school year with COVID-19 it’s been highly important to keep remote and online learning options available. Due to this, I have spent a great deal of time reading and reviewing online resources for my students to use, should we have to go remote. I wanted to be sure I was “browsing” these sites with a purpose in terms of being sure that the site was beneficial to my distrcit’s needs and students abilities. To help me with this process, I decided to use evaluation tools to guide my research. I have found two specific rubrics that I find helpful for my home district. The evaluations tools are included directly following this written assignment. The first evaluation tool considered came from the Triple E framework, which I was familiar with from my understudy at Kent State University. This rubric was helpful to me for several reasons, the first being that it was familiar. I did not have to learn any new verbiage or rely on a resource I was not already in tune with. My favorite part of the evaluation tool, and the second reason I considered it was the rubric gives a scoring measurement at the conclusion of your evaluation. You simply score each component of the site or app and add to a summation at the end. The reflective score of the site/app gives a bottom line grade for your future usage. The second evaluation tool, and the one I chose to use for this assignment, was found through online research and experimenting. The rubric comes from Hopkins Public Schools. Specific positives

about this rubric include: eighteen graded areas, three categorized subject areas and a criteria section of the rubric which gives an explanation of exactly what you should be looking for on the site/app. Above all though my favorite feature of this evaluation tool is that it is technology specific, leaving almost no areas to mark “N/A” or non graded. Thanks to these features, I will be using this evaluation tool to review an online platform my district is looking to pilot in the coming year. The findings from my evaluation tool showed that commonlit.org is going to be an excellent service for my district. I would like to highlight several areas of positivity reflected on the rubric. The engagement and interactivity topic proves the site will keep my students on task an entertained when using the site. I scored the site “superior” for this topic on the four category rubric. The rating reflects the sites material because there are guided questions as the students read, context clue and definitions next to unfamiliar words and some articles even include media and illustrations about the text. These attributes rank above all software we have used in the past. A second attribute in which the site scored superior was documentation. I scored the site this way due to its user friendly showing of grade level standards and objectives. The unit plan section of the website even gives overarching objective lists for several passages at a time. Two areas of the site I feel could be improved scored a “good” on the rubric. I scored them “good” as in good enough. The Layout and Navigation of the site scored “good” due to its consistency. There are times when you must click two pathways to get results that should only take one. For example, to see how a class scored on an assignment, you must click the assignments tab, then the specific class, then the assignment again. Having each class’ assignment links on the homepage would eliminate unnecessary navigation. A second area scoring “good” was the sites age/grade appropriateness. My reasoning for this scoring being less than superior was the assignments programmed for sixth graders show a Lexille level higher than some of my sixth graders read. This has not been an issue on other sites as the articles can be adjusted. This site however, only gives on option of the reading. For me to differentiate, I must assign separate articles to separate children, which raises

questions at times as to why others are doing different assignments. I also scored the site “good” in adaptability due to this same issue. I highly recommend this site according to my Hopkins Public School evaluation tool. The site scores “superior” on the scale thirteen out of fifteen topics. Highlights of the software include content and quality, curriculum connections, engagement/interactivity, and cost/benefit. Any district can obtain a virtual classroom through the platform and use it as needed. If you look to use it every day, there is no charge; if you use it once in a while, there is no charge. The service also connects with Google Classroom, a software many districts nationwide use. There are grade level assignments, topic related assignments, and unit plans available that correlate with state standards. This site is an A+ when compared to other online reading programs!...