Tag Archives: tech

65. Survey Monkey

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If you need to collect a lot of data or want to encourage pupils to consider how data collection can be carried out then Survey Monkey is the website for you.

A basic membership is free: it allows you to create and carry out a 10 question survey online.

A paid for membership allows you to customise your survey and download the results. The survey can be longer than 10 questions.

I’ve introduced SurveyMonkey to the staff where I teach. We have used it to survey pupils on their opinions of feedback/marking in books, pupil experience of IT, staff implementation of IT, feedback from CPD sessions, data collection for Masters research and even collecting food orders for parents evening!

In class, you could also use it to start a discussion on bias, types of question, how appropriate different charts are and why companies use sites like SurveyMonkey to collect consumer data.

58. Free Revision App

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I’ve recently started using the Edexcel Past Papers revision app (Apple & Android compatible) with my GCSE and A-Level classes.
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It is basically a database of past papers for all Edexcel subjects and qualifications, even iGCSE. You search by qualification, then subject, then exam session, then paper. The papers and mark schemes are already available on the internet, but the app is much quicker than googling them. It is not a complete revision resource, but it is fairly comprehensive app. Some of the PDFs are e-versions, some are scans. You can also share papers by email, which allows you to print.

The recent material is still only available through the secure teacher area of the Edexcel website, so your mock exams won’t be compromised.

My Y11 have downloaded it for personal use when they are on study leave. They suggested that even though they don’t use Edexcel for every subject, they could use it as a source of extra questions when they run out of revision materials. I’m actually impressed that they intend doing so much revision!

My Y12 have used this app in class for checking their work and also when they have forgotten the exam paper I have copied for them. It also saves me having to print out new papers and dashing to the printer. I find it rather handy having a selection of mark schemes in my pocket, especially when students are working on a variety of papers.

Note: This app has mixed reviews on both itunes and the Google Play store. I think it depends what your expectations are and what device you have.

47. Light bulb moment

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Here is a ridiculously simple classroom tip that was thought up by one of my pupils today.

 

Situation

The class were using past GCSE questions, compiled in a Word document, photocopied back to back and stapled.

 

Problem

After completing a table of values, the question said ‘Use the graph paper below…’, except the graph paper had ended up three sides of A4 away due to a crazy quirk of Testbase (GCSE exam question software) and Word. Cue much mumbling and enough paper shuffling to make me think a hamster was rearranging his bedding!

 

Solution

One pupil simply asked if she could take a picture of the table of values, so she wouldn’t have to keep flipping pages.

 

So simple … pure genius!

 

Within 5 minutes, the class were quietly doing very accurate cumulative frequency diagrams, without silly mistakes and rustling.

45. Show me the money

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If you offer personal finance as a compulsory part of the curriculum, stop reading now.

‘Pay day loan’ companies have been the subject of several news stories over the last few months. Do they make money from those suffering from financial strife? Are the people who take them out too short-sighted to see the long term impact? Are they bad at Maths?

Personally, I don’t think there is a simple answer to any of it. That is the reason I’ve started including pay day loans when I do percentages with KS4 pupils.

Loan calculator
This idea arose when I was revising with older pupils who had the skills to work out percentages, but were struggling to apply them.

I showed them the loan calculator sliders on Wonga.

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I asked the class to estimate how much different loans would cost for different numbers of days. They showed their answers on whiteboards. I then showed the actual amount owed and we discussed it.

The questions they came up with and how they justified their choices were brilliant.

Student Examples
If you are always £100 short at the end of the month and continually paid off the loan with interest, what would you owe after a year?
(They spotted that after each month you would need £100, plus an extra months interest etc)
What is the APR? What does APR mean?
(It was 4214% on the day we discussed it)
Why do you pay fees on a loan?
Are pay day loans a bad thing as a one off, emergency solution?
(They were split on their answer to this one)

Some of these questions wouldn’t be relevant in a GCSE, but they are life skills which will hopefully benefit them in the future.

By the way, they were ‘gobsmacked’ when they realised how much interest you pay back on a mortgage and what percentage of your wages go on monthly repayments!

42. Fake texting, Real learning

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I discovered this great website, ifaketext which generates roughly six lines of fake text messages.

Ice-breaker

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I used it as an ice-breaker for revising cumulative frequency. The class read the texts and discussed what they could remember and whether those pointers were helpful. There were four screens of hints.

In fact the class liked it so much I printed out the fake screens and they stuck them in their books.

Motivation
I’m also using the site to encourage more engagement with homework for lower ability students.

I could have set the homework task ‘Write down key facts that help you work out percentages’. Instead I asked them to ‘Imagine a friend had texted for help with a percentages homework. What would you text back?’

When they hand their work in, we can turn the best advice into fake texts to stick in their books or use in a wall display.

Two of those who have homework ‘issues’ have already said they are going to text each other tonight to do their work. This resulted in the following unusual question:
‘Please Miss, can we hand in our work by showing you our phones?!’

33. Infographic 1

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This made me laugh:

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Originally seen on Pinterest, linking to Fail blog

The main thing that caught my attention was how the infographic is constructed and how it could be used for other tasks. It’s made using Grafio. The app is available as a lite (free) version or a paid business version (£5.99 at the time of posting). Not available on Android devices.