For this week’s blog post I am investigating a web 2.0 tool to use for my professional activities. I have wanted to try an online platform for recordkeeping and managing classroom and student information. Engrade is an online tool for managing classroom records, lessons, and other related information. It includes a grade-book, attendance records, booklist form, student records, lesson pages, and an email function.
Parents and students can be given access to class information such as grades, assignments, messages, and a class wiki space, where study guides and other learning support materials may be created and viewed.
Engrade is a free, private, and secure site. It was created by a group of California based Internet entrepreneurs. Their aim is to help educators help students be successful.
I will begin by creating a few online presentations and resources. These can be shared through the site with students and fellow teachers. Lesson materials can include formatted text, images, links, YouTube Videos, and flashcards. I am supposed to present a poster-making lesson to a fifth grade class soon. Perhaps I will try creating the lesson here on Engrade.
The site also collects and allows access to other members’ lessons and wiki spaces. I will try creating a wiki for the first time!
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| Engrade also generates a class calendar and a handy seating chart! |
Another popular feature of this tool is the grade-book. I have always kept a paper book and marked work and averaged some number grades and counted plusses, checkmarks, and minuses. This platform will help me to keep formalized records and be able to quickly calculate averages and final percentages for quarterly and year-end grades. I don’t know how useful this will be for me in first grade. However, for upper elementary classrooms, I think this type of platform might make record keeping more consistent across grade levels and between classrooms. In our school there is a lot of variation in how grades are assigned, recorded and tabulated.
All of this is new to me, at least the practical aspects. The preliminary data entry seems fairly straight-forward. I will have to try posting some lesson material to see how it presents on the site. I don’t know how user friendly the site is when accessed by parents. When I have more information recorded and stored on the site, I may open it up to a few visitors first, to see how it all works. Then I may invite parents and students to give it a try!
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| There are many interactive features to explore. You can view Engrade by linking here: |
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