By Kenny Brenizer
The Periscope (Carlisle, Pennsylvania)
Schoology is a successful resource for both students and teachers in the classroom. It was created as an online website for teachers to easily manage class work and assignments.
It’s set up in a way that mimics various other social media sites, with a recent activities page and notifications for upcoming events. Kelli Murphy-Godfrey, an instructional technology specialist, calls Schoology a “learning management system” and is a replacement for MyBigCampus as it was discontinued.
Murphy-Godfrey said, “There is not a specific focus to bring technology into the classroom, rather the focus is to provide access to resources within and outside of the classroom.”
Though the point of using Schoology didn’t revolve around using more technology, it does provide a chance to gain more online experience for students who don’t use it as often.
“Higher Education uses some type of [learning management system] as a blended learning option,” argued Murphy- Godfrey. “A blended learning classroom is very similar to what those using Schoology see in our district. There are aspects of traditional classroom with the teacher and then many learning activities are also incorporated in the online environment of the [learning management system.]”
In using the website, more opportunities are created. Tests can be taken on the website, assignments can be turned in, teachers can even post updates on what to do if they’re absent. All the instructions would be found online which would save time and prevent miscommunication between what the teacher assigns and what the substitutes tell students.
“There are discussion forums, postings, assignments, and collaborative learning opportunities much like a traditional classroom,” said Murphy- Godfrey. This gives students the ability to interact with their work while still moving at their own pace to complete the assignments.
Schoology provides a place to get any online documents your teachers put up. If all the teachers started using this website, students no longer have to go to each individual teacher’s website for assignments. It would save time and effort in the process.
An important thing to remember is that the URL is http://carlisleschools.schoology.com without the triple w we’re all used to.
Photo Credit: B Rosen