Microsoft Whiteboard — the drawing app that you may have used in the past via the Share option in a Teams meeting — has received multiple improvements over the past few months. The interface has been completed updated with a number of new features and additional templates. Click this link to learn more about all …
Author archives: jarbenne
Choice
I’ve been attempting to support some educators in creating Choice boards now that we are back delivering content online. These gained prominence when we first shifted to remote learning, popularized by the Bitmoji Classroom images that were used to create the backdrop for a series of different links to various activities. They are basically mini …
Would that be a fair assessment?
On assessment: measure what you value instead of valuing only what you can measure. Andy Hargreaves The Case Against Total Points and Category Weights Traditional digital gradebook applications limit what we can measure. Built around the concept of totaling up points from various assignments — whether as a single fraction, or as differently weighted categories …
A Meek Monopoly
Two different articles in my news feed collided recently. One, by Rick Wormeli, focused on how we mistakenly subject students to educational practices from academic stages in their future, in the belief that by introducing practices from the next level, we are preparing students to succeed. The second article was about wireless headphones. Thinking that …
Carry that Weight
I’m in a new role this year at HWDSB, supporting the roll out of a new grade book application. One of the discussion items that has come up over and over, is how strands and overall expectations should be weighed. In our previous grade book application, teachers had the ability to set a weight on …
Passwords
When companies with some of the best devs in the world reveal security and password issues, it soundly reinforces the need for a password strategy like a password manager, and reveals how ill-equipped most users are to preserving their privacy. How many people do you know that use the same password for everything, including their …