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Technology In Practice

Tips For Teaching w/Technology

We'll Support You In Class!

Do you want help introducing a tech tool to your students?

Aidan, Kris & myself are more than happy to help introduce tech (remote, or IRL) to your class. We can also spend time, or an entire Digital Essentials class period helping your students, or supplementing an existing project in your curriculum!

If it makes sense for one of us to come in more than other (ex: Do you want Kris' database, or Sora expertise? Aidan's website building skills?) We can come into your class even if we don't regularly teach Digital Essentials in that grade. 

Just let us know as a team in advance, & we will work out the logistics.

We are also as excited as you are to help in a more significant way with interdisciplinary projects. Let's collaborate!

Manuela Aronofsky

Formative

About Formative:

Formative is a skills assessment tool that allows teachers to create 'formative' assessments, or assignments out of any lesson material. Formative could be used for any subject, or in any content area, and would be helpful as an asynchronous lesson activity.
Using Formative, teachers can upload any PDF worksheet, image, or document and turn it into an assignment, or assessment by adding interactive elements to the content. Students are then expected to engage with the document in a more active way than merely reading the content.
Student responses in Formative appear in real-time, and are easily navigable in order to view progress, and/or grade.
The Formative 'Library' also provides many pre-created lessons, and/or assessments.
Interactive elements that can be added to Formatives include the ability for students to:
  • Type a written response
  • Record an audio response/reflection
  • Enter numbers (great for Math)
  • Draw an image
  • Upload an image
  • Answer a multiple choice question
Formative would be a helpful tool for easily assigning asynchronous homework, extra practice, assessments, or extensions on a certain topic.

Technology Requirements:

Teachers should create Formative assignments on their Macbook. However, it is usable on any device for viewing content, or assigning homework. 

Students can interact with Formative from any device (iPad, or Chromebook), once you have shared the Formative assignment with them.
There is no Formative app. Students on iPads can engage with Formative assignments via the Safari web browser, or the Chrome browser (Chromebooks). Students do not need Formative accounts, in order to see, and complete Formative assignments.

At the bottom of this page is a list of recommended devices & browsers to use Formative on!
Below is a video introduction to Formative for teachers:

Account Information:

Berkeley Carroll has a school account with Formative, so any teacher can get access to all of the premium features. You just need to sign in at formative.com with your BC Google account, then email helpdesk@berkeleycarroll.org to have your account verified. 

Creating a Formative Account:

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  • Click "Sign in with Google" and sign into your Berkeley Carroll email address.

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  • Find Berkeley Carroll School, enter your name & Click "Let's Go!"

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Verify Your Account

We need to verify your account before you can access all of the premium features. Just send an email to helpdesk@berkeleycarroll.org asking to have your Formative account verified. We'll take care of the rest!

Signing Into Your Formative Account:

  • Navigate to goformative.com
  • Click "Login" and sign in with Google using your Berkeley Carroll email address.

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  • You'll then be able to see all of the Formatives you've created, and/or assigned to your classes.

Creating a Class on Formative:

You can watch this Tutorial as a video, or view it at your own pace as a scrollable list of steps (Select "View it - List" and scroll down on the dropdown menu for this option.)

1. Once you've logged into Formative, Click Classes

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2. Click Google Classroom Sync

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3. Sign in with your Berkeley Carroll email address

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4. Click Allow

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5. Select the class, or classes you wish to import

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6. You then have to select each student within the class (I don't know why!)

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7. When all of your students have been selected, Click Import

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8. Then Click Close

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9. You'll then see the classes you have imported. Click the name of the class to open the roster, and make sure that all of your students have been imported correctly.

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Here's an interactive tutorial

https://www.iorad.com/player/1698326/Formative---How-to-Create-a-Class

Creating a Formative:

This is a longer video, which will show you:
  • How to start a brand new Formative
  • How to add enhancements (questions) on top of an existing file, such as a worksheet or PDF
  • A few different types of questions you can add to a Formative (short answer; multiple choice; essay; true/false)
  • How to add a video to a Formative
  • How to add standalone questions (not ones that are enhancing existing content)
  • How to adjust point value, and question order
  • How to Preview your Formative
You can watch this Tutorial as a video, or view it at your own pace as a scrollable list of steps (Select "View it - List" and scroll down on the dropdown menu for this option.)

1. To create a brand new Formative (assessment, or assignment), Click New Formative

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2. Click the blue 'Plus' sign to add your first question

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3. I'm going to start my examples by showing you how you would add questions, or other enhanced interactions to existing lesson content. This could be a worksheet you have saved, a lecture slide, an image, or any file you want to add a question to. 

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4. To create questions on top of existing content, Click Enhance a PDF/Doc/GoogleDoc under "Upload Your Own Content"

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5. Navigate to the file you want to enhance, and upload it

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6. Here is the image that I uploaded. This is a slide that I downloaded as a JPG, but it could be a PDF, scanned worksheet, or any other file from your computer, or Google Drive. I now want to add an interactive question to it.

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7. Click anywhere on the image to add a question, and then Select your question type. I'll start with Short Answer.

Note: The grayed out questions are not available on a Free account. They will be when we have a Premium Berkeley Carroll account.

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8. You can change the point value of the question by Clicking the small number next to the question type. All questions will be set to 1 point by default.

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9. If you wanted to change the question type, Click the dropdown menu & change the question type

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10. Now the type the question that you want the student to answer. Remember, this question is based on the content you have uploaded (in this case, the slide that defines Clickbait.)

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11. If there is a correct answer to your question, you can type the correct answer in (this is only applicable for auto-grading purposes.) 

With a Premium account, there is the ability to allow partially correct answers. 

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12. If you want to align your question to a specific standard, Click Select standards set to find a list of standards. This is optional.

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13. To add your next question (and any following questions), click the Blue plus sign under your completed question. You can add as many questions as you need.

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14. I have now uploaded another image that I want students to read, and engage with. Click anywhere on the image to add a question to it!

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15. For this next example, I'll add a Multiple Choice question

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16. Click in the Question Box to type the question you want students to answer

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17. Click in the answer choices to type your answer choices

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18. You can add more than one question to one piece of content. If your whole Formative is based off of one worksheet, for example, you could add all of your questions to it. Just click on different parts of the image to continue adding questions.

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19. For example, you could add an Essay after your Multiple Choice question, and ask students to reflect further on why they chose that option.

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20. Other questions include: Multiple selection, Show Your Work (great for Math), or True Or False. Remember, all of the question types will become available with Premium accounts.

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21. In a Show Your Work question, students can draw, type, or even upload an image into the answer field that shows their process in answering the question.

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22. Here's an example of a True or False question.

You can see from the image that it now has 3 different questions relating to this image of headlines (questions 2, 3 + 4). From the student view, they will appear in order like a regular quiz.

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23. You can also add questions, or content to your Formative that stand alone. Not everything has to be an "enhancement" of existing content.

For example, you could have students watch a video as part of the Formative. To do this, Click Video.

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24. Paste the Youtube, or other video link into the field & Click Update

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25. Your video will then appear as part of the Formative.

To add instructions, or a 'title' to a specific question, such as this one, Click the small blue plus sign above the question you want to introduce.

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26. You can then Click Text Block to write anything you want above the question

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27. For example, you might preface a video by instructing students to watch it, and be prepared to answer questions about it below

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28. You can also add a standalone question (so once again, not one that is linked to, or enhancing a specific document).

For example, Click Essay to create a standalone essay question.

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29. Here is an example of what a standalone Formative Essay question would look like (not one that is attached to other content)

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30. At any time, if you want to re-arrange the order of your questions, Click on the 6 vertical dots, and drag the question to where you'd like it on the Formative

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31. At any time, you can also Click the small blue "eye" icon on the top of your screen to preview your Formative from the student view. This is really helpful!

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32. Here is what the Preview view of a Formative would look like.

When you're satisfied with your Formative, you can share it with your class (instructions on the next video!)

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Here's an interactive tutorial

https://www.iorad.com/player/1698329/Goformative---How-to-untitled-task-name

Sharing Your Formative:

You can watch this Tutorial as a video, or view it at your own pace as a scrollable list of steps (Select "View it - List" and scroll down on the dropdown menu for this option.)

1. Name your Formative by Clicking Add your title here - this is a good idea, because it will auto-post to Google Classroom. This way your students won't be confused by an untitled Formative.

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2. When your Formative is named, Click Assign

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3. Click Adjust settings (optional) to see a few added options for assignments

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4. A few of these added settings include the ability for students to see, or edit their Formative after submitting; auto-return scores; or return correct answers. All of these features will become available with Premium accounts.

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5. Select the class you want to assign your Formative to

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6. By Clicking Assign & Post to Google, your Formative will automatically post to your Google Classroom.

You do not have the ability to add instructions, or anything else to the post unless you go into Google Classroom and edit it afterward.

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7. By Clicking Assign Only, the Formative will not automatically be posted to Google Classroom. However, students in the assigned class will see it as a Formative to complete when they log into their accounts

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8. If it prompts you to log in to your Google account, log in with your Berkeley Carroll email address

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9. It will then give you the option to access a link to the Formative as well. Weirdly, Google Classroom appears again as an option to post (but if you're at this view, it should have posted already as an assignment!) 

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10. Students can alternatively access this Formative (not through Classroom) by logging in at goformative.com (using their BC email addresses). When they've logged in, they will see all of their assigned Formatives.

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11. Click OK when your assignment has posted

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Here's an interactive tutorial

https://www.iorad.com/player/1698354/Formative---How-to-Share---Assign-Your-Formative

Below are a few more "Frequently Asked Questions" that may help you use Formative in your teaching practice:


1. How do I see student responses, and grade them?
2. How do I assign a pre-created Formative to my class (one that I didn't create?)
3. How do I use teacher-paced mode in Formative? (New features 2021!)
4. How do I give "delayed feedback" in Formative? (New features 2021!)
5. How do students record video responses in Formative? (New features 2021!)

1. How do I see student responses, and grade them?
As soon as students start to complete your Formatives, you can see their answers by:
  • Clicking on "View Responses." The default view is by student.

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Watch the video below (created by Formative) that goes more in depth on grading student responses:

 


2. How do I assign a pre-created Formative to my class (one that I didn't create?)
Formative has a library of pre-created assessments you can use, and share with your class. It's important that you look carefully at the whole Formative before sharing it with your class. 
To access the Library of Formatives:
  • Click "Library" from the Formative Home Screen (you have to be logged in).
  • Then type your search term (ex. "Digital Citizenship" in the screenshot below).

  • If you see a Formative that looks interesting, Click on the Blue Plus Icon, and it will appear as a preview on the right-hand of your screen.

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  • If you end up wanting to share one of these Formatives, Click on "Add to my formatives list" at the bottom of the preview.

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  • Then Click "Go to your new Formative" (if you're ready to share it right away), or you can come back to it later, because it will be saved in your Formatives collection (the screen that appears when you log into Formative).

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  • You can now share this Formative the same way you would share one you created!
This video (created by Formative), also shows you how to use the Formative Library, as well as how to publish your own Formative to the Library.

 3. How do I use teacher-paced mode in Formative?
Formative's traditional format allows for self-paced lessons and assessments that provide real-time data, so teachers can send immediate feedback. Now, you have the option to control the pace of questions so the whole class can progress together at the same pace. More information on teacher-paced mode can be found here. To set this up yourself:
  • Create your lesson/assessment, or select a pre-made Formative from the library
  • Assign it to your students. As you are adjusting the lesson settings, toggle ON "Teacher-Paced Mode. 

    Note: Teacher Paced mode will automatically disable the options to restrict to individual students, schedule open and close times, and set a time limit. These controls can be restored when Teacher Paced mode is toggled off. 

  • Open Teacher Paced mode: After assigning, the Join Instructions will show in a popup window. Selecting a class from the right side will launch Teacher Paced mode in a new tab. 

  • Start the Lesson: When you are ready, click "Start" in the upper right corner. Then, you can control which question or group of questions students are seeing. Any student that joins in will automatically view the current question. 


4. How do I give "delayed feedback" in Formative?
If you do not want students to see your comments immediately, or until you're done teaching all of your sections, you can now delay feedback until the formative has been closed. More information on delayed (or instant) feedback can be found here. 
  • To send delayed feedback, first in your Assign Options, set After Submission to "Keep visible (no edits allowed)" and the Return Scores option to "when closed". 
  • In the "View Responses" select one of the two options: "now" or "when I close the assignment". After selecting "when I close the assignment", you can choose to send your feedback "Instant" or "Delayed". 


 5. How do students record video responses in Formative?
Students can now respond to your question by recording or uploading video! There is a 2 minute limit to recordings and uploads.  To add a video response question:
  • Click on the "+" icon to add a new question to your Formative
  • Choose "Video Response" from the blue icons

  • Prompt/ask students to provide a visual response or explanation

 

Here are a few ways you might use Formative...

  • Create an assessment, or practice quiz for students to test their knowledge of specific content
  • Create a digital "worksheet" as homework, a skills check, or an extension
  • Make your old assignments (paper worksheets; packets). You can scan these onto your computer, and then upload them to enhance them. But your phone camera is probably good enough to do this without a scanner!
  • Ask students to "show their work" (for Math, reading comprehension) or more by drawing their answers. Formatives to not just have to be writing!
  • Upload a video, piece of artwork, or other document for students to engage with, and answer questions about

Below are examples of Formative in practice:

  • 6th Grade Science: Water Unit Quiz - Enter the Join Code to view this formative: JOIN CODE M5YA2J
  • 6th Grade Science: Flowers and Vertebrate Studies Enter the Join Code to view this formative: JOIN CODE SQB7EY
I like grading with Formative because it can auto-grade a variety of answers and I can see all answers for one question at the same time. For written answers, Formative can learn from how you are grading and predict grades on free-response questions. It's also super easy to edit within Formative to switch up a quiz for retakes.
 - Emma, Science Teacher

Here are more resources from the Formative support pages:


​Do you have a specific Formative question that you can't find the answer to?
Email Help Desk: helpdesk@berkeleycarroll.org with "App Request" in the Subject Line.

Do you want to see how other educators are using Formative?

Interested in updates, or how they're approaching Remote Learning? Browse their Twitter feed!

This box is to collect new, helpful updates that Formative is releasing. If you know about more updates, or are using new features for this tool let me know!


  • (February 2022) View Student Login Sessions: All Formative users can access their Login Sessions page to view current and past sessions within the last 30 days. This function helps manage security threats such as stolen passwords, logged-in sessions on unknown devices or remote devices, and more. Access the login sessions page here.