Switch On LEARNING!

Switch on Learning (description)

At the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board, we are Switching on Learning by integrating Google’s powerful ecosystem into every classroom. This blog is a dedicated space for sharing the ideas, methodologies, and digital tools that transform the modern educational experience. Our Digital Toolkit We empower educators and students by leveraging a robust, collaborative environment: Google Workspace for Education: Driving seamless collaboration through Docs, Drive, and Classroom. The Power of AI: Utilizing Gemini and integrated AI features to personalize learning and spark creativity. Data-Driven Assessment: Using MarkBook to track student growth with precision and transparency. The Process of Learning: Leveraging Revision History to emphasize growth, iteration, and the visible journey of a student's work. From interactive Chrome tools to digital storytelling, we aren't just using tech—we’re using it to bridge gaps, foster global collaboration, and future-proof our students' skills.

5 minute assessment reviews: Triangulation

Hello again,

Today we are going to begin looking at how to triangulate your assessment, both by including observation, conversation and product in judging your students' mastery and by using three points of data guide your assessment.

The first video discusses using observation, conversation and product to assess our students.

The second video begins to look at using three points of data collection (that is three assessments) to both guide your teaching and also make your assessment more valid. This video is assuming that the 3 points of data are all equally weighted an that the course, or the unit is scaffolded and one concept is built on another. In a subject like English (my area), the assumption is that the entire course builds upon earlier concepts and understandings. In a subject like science or math, each unit of study might build upon earlier concepts in the course or just the unit and be scaffolded in that way.

I hope that these ideas can open a conversation about how teachers use triangulation to make their assessments fair and reliable.

The next video will dig deeper into looking at most recent and most consistent marks and I will do an English teacher explanation of measure of central tendency.

Let's keep the conversation going.

5 Minute Assessment Reviews: Damian Cooper on Triangulation & Curriculum Expectations

This begins a short series of 5 minute (or less) assessment reviews. Like many of you, I hear terms in education and know what they generally mean but find myself needing to do a quick google search to get the specifics if I want to think more deeply about the topic.

Now that I am focusing on assessment as your faithful Secondary Assessment Teacher, I thought I would share a few deeper dives into some of the terms and concepts we teachers talk about and are guided by every day .

The first in this series is an overview that is presented by Damian Cooper. It will give you a quick, 5 minute overview of what triangulation is and how that fits in with our own overall and specific curriculum expectations. Cooper suggests that using technology is the way to collect triangulated evidence and we will explore this more later in the series.

In the next post, I will look more specifically at triangulation and what that means in a short video.

If you would like to learn more about a specific aspect of assessment, evaluation or reporting and all the terms, ideas and examples therein, please email me and suggest a post.

Now, on to Damian Cooper:

Assessment v. AI

Will the struggle between valid assessment of students and Artificial Intelligence Chatbot generated work become the new Battle Royale in teaching?

The P.D. session on February 17, 2023 on ChatGPT and other AI applications gave us a glimpse of what is to come. Some teachers expressed concern that applications like ChatGPT might make plagiarism and cheating harder to detect. So, let's take a look at some ways that we can make our assessments and evaluations of students reliable, valid and rich (and more plagiarism resistant).

You can download a copy of the infographic here. Feel free to print it or share it.

Don't forget that Growing Success and Learning for All still apply and can help guide you.

Combatting "Fake News": Helping Students Distinguish Between Fact and Fiction

There is so much information in the world that we must teach students to distinguish what is true information and what is false information. EBSCO has a useful infographic to help you teach students to use critical thinking when choosing what to believe.

There is a link below the image to a .pdf that can be shared with students.

FACT or FICTION? Ferret Out Fake News

EBSCOhost for English Teachers, Language Arts Teachers, Literacy Teachers and Readers

Do you teach Literacy, English, Reading or Language Arts? You you have children who are in school? EBSCOhost has a number of databases that are perfect for Subject English or ELA students and teachers.

The infographic below provides easy reference to the EBSCOhost databases available through the Student and Teacher portals at www.wecdsb.on.ca.

As always, there is a link below the infographic to a .pdf you can share or post in your classrooms.

EBSCO for English .pdf

Exploring Canadian Points of View (EBSCOhost database)

Looking for a way to develop critical thinking? Looking to explore issues in Canadian news? Looking to debate? Canadian Points of View, a database available for free through EBSCO host, examines both sides of a variety of issues through a Canadian lens. The video below will take you through the database in under 4 minutes and hopefully offer some inspiration for your teaching.

Google Meet Reactions

Staff at the WECDSB will now have the option to use Google Reactions during a Google Meet. This is a quick and easy way to convey reactions from a large number of participants. For more information, visit:

Our Continuity of Education Site

Switch On LEARNING!