•First, it is better for students because all of their homework is
easily and consistently organized in one place.
•Second, it is easier for me than google sites. It has a form I
fill out to post assignments so I am consistent every time, and it reminds me to change due dates for classes that meet on different days.
•Third, it allows students to interact with each other in a
way that extends collaborative learning from the classroom to their homes. Schoology works for me because it has a very accessible interface. This is the home page that students and teachers see when we log in.
You can see that all my upcoming
assignments are clearly listed on the right. All of my assignments are English because that is all I teach. If I were a student, I could have five to eight different courses listed here. All of my homework would automatically appear in the same place. If students want to focus on a certain course this is what they see. This is a block of sixth grade English. The most useful functions for me are assignments and discussions. You’ll notice that a student’s homework for this particular course is still posted on the right hand side of the screen. This is an example of the I prefer this to google sites because I assignment page. You can see do not have to do any formatting. that it is clear which assignment is Schoology asks me questions about tonight’s homework and which are assignments, and I input information. past assignments. It is less work for me and more consistent for my students. My students enjoy discussing texts on the assignment page itself. Sometimes they discuss it, and sometimes they ask each other clarifying questions. This is helpful to me because I do not have to respond to as many confused emails. This is what it looks like for students to turn in assignments on Schoology. Schoology keeps track of whether or not the student submitted the paper on time and how many revisions he/she has made. In the 8th grade, I often use the discussion feature. You can see that I have posted an New York Times Article about homework. My students followed the link to read the article and then discussed it on this page.