Archive for February 2014
BaiBoard – Collaborative Whiteboard
BaiBoard
BaiBoard is a collaborative whiteboard, collaborative being the magical word. Using BaiBoard, an instructor can write a problem on the board and follow the student as they response to the challenge. The magical part of the equation is that the student does not need to be in the same room or even same hemisphere as the instructor. This is real time collaboration.
This apps is pretty powerful, but it does have its limitations. The Chat function works, but I had issues with the Push to talk feature. Push to talk works but it records on one end and the viewer must download to hear the message.
BaiBoard allows you to upload images and pdf documents and to write on them. It allows you to use your natural handwriting or a text feature. It has a limited amount of clipart and a few functions such multiple pages and zooming. It is easy to share or invite attendees through email.
The session creator can work in collaboration or presentation mode. In collaboration mode other attendees can work interactively on the board. In Presenter mode attendees are limited to view only. Attendees may also enter a presentation mode, but the creator can turn it off whenever they want.
Overall it can be a useful product and the price is right. You can pick it up at the app store for free. Check it out at, https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/baiboard-collaborative-whiteboard/id490534358?mt=8
Blackboard 9: Item Analysis
Blackboard has an often under-utilized feature to help faculty better understand exams at a much deeper level than simple grades. This feature is called Item Analysis. An Item Analysis performs a detailed analysis of quizzes and exams to help you determine if the questions are reliable.
An Item Analysis can be run from the grade center, the instructor tools area, or the from the content deployment site.
Once you are at the place where you see the exam name, right click on the action link and choose Item Analysis from the menu. In the Item Analysis window make sure the selected test appears in the selection box and click run.
The first thing the Item analysis gives you is the test summary, number of questions, average score, average time, discrimination and difficulty level of the question.
The discrimation factor is determined by comparing the the question answer to overall test score. A question is a good discriminator if students who answered the question correctly also scored well on the test.
A question’s difficulty level is determined by the percentage of students that answered the question correctly.
Item Analysis Summary
In the second section of the results the exam is analyzed by question. The question type, decimation, difficulty level, graded attempts, average score, std dev, and std error results are displayed.
Item Analysis Question Summary
Clicking on the question hyperlink will give a detailed review of that question.
Item Analysis Detailed Question
Using the Item Analysis tool will help assess your students overall learning experience.
ThingLink
ThingLink
ThingLink is an iPhone and iPad app to create interactive images. You can upload images from your harddrive, iphone, ipad, facebooks, or web address. With the click of a button you can add video, music, photos or webpages to your images to make them interactive. The image appears pristine until you move your mouse over it and then markers will appear. When you mouse over the marker the additional information will appear. The apps and website allows you to track your stats, follow various users, and share your images.
This app could easily be used in the classroom to help students understand various concepts. This image of heart disease in the human body would be a perfect example http://www.thinglink.com/scene/448887981541949442 of classroom use.
This app has a companion website located at http://www.thinglink.com/. You can download the app from the App Store for free at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/thinglink/id647304300.
ScratchWork
ScratchWork
ScratchWork allows you to take notes and browse the web at the same time. You will not need to keep flipping back and forth between items. It also comes with a custom math keyboard. Check it out at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scratchwork/id380860518?mt=8.
