Category: EdTech Inquiry

Hey bloggers!

Through this inquiry we have learned a lot about FreshGrade and we look forward to the opportunity to use it in our future. When doing our research we relied heavily on the FreshGrade website and because of this we don’t have many resources to share with you. With that being said, we wanted to make sure all the information we provided was accurate which is why we chose to use FreshGrade’s website. 

To summarize this inquiry, we want to start off by saying GO FOR IT! We understand that tech can be very intimidating, however, we strongly believe that FreshGrade is worth it. FreshGrade has so much to offer for students and parents which is so important in building relationships with students and the families you teach. By using FreshGrade you provide transparency that parents will appreciate, it also allows parents to feel more trusting in your teaching when they are able to see what students are doing weekly. 

One way we have used other resources for our research was looking at parent/teacher reviews of FreshGrade. This was really interesting to see because there appeared to be mixed reviews. Some were slightly aggressive in stating that FreshGrade is a tool to force parents into teaching their students. However, most were very positive, noting small issues such as updates and bug fixes. 

A crucial aspect of technology is privacy. FreshGrades privacy policies appeared to be safe from our understanding. We are not lawyers or very familiar with the privacy policy world but from what we found we would say it is safe for families to use. One particular part of the privacy policy that stood out to us is that students under the age of 13 need parental consent to use the website. However, we wondered if students that are 13 and up no longer need parents to be on FreshGrade. For example, student A was 14 and decided they did not want their parents on FreshGrade seeing their homework and their grades would they be able to set that rule? With further research we may come to find the answer, however, we believe this is one that will come to light when actually using the software. 

We are very grateful to have had this opportunity to explore this unique, engaging, and free (!!!)  software. As we are eagerly thinking about our teaching practice that is quickly approaching, it is beneficial to know about softwares we will most likely be using in the near future. This EdTech project allowed us to dive deep into the FreshGrade world- a world we can not wait to enter in 2 years. 

Thank you so much for joining us on our learning journey!

Nat & Laurence

FreshGrade can be intimidating to use if you aren’t confident with technology. We have a few tips on how teachers can make their transition into FreshGrade as smooth as possible. 

1. Use FreshGrade frequently! 

By using FreshGrade often it will keep your skills sharp! Additionally, it will keep parents updated on what their students are doing in the classroom. These updates can come as often as you would like, but we recommend doing them at least twice a week. By using FreshGrade frequently you will also be able to monitor students’ assignments and organizational skills. This can be done by checking their folders!

2. Use their Report Card Program!

FreshGrade offers a great program for making report cards so take advantage of it! It is simple to use and can be updated as frequently as you need to. Additionally, FreshGrade does a great job of tracking and recording students assignments and learning progress making their grade book capabilities that much better.

3. Host a Tutorial for Parents.

To enhance the transition into FreshGrade, host a tutorial night for parents who have not used FreshGrade before. This can be done right after school, or later in the evening (whichever works best for the parents in your classroom). Keep in mind parents may have to bring their children in with them so if possible have a designated area in the classroom for students to play in, and let parents know they are able to bring their children if necessary. Parents will likely appreciate the fact that you took extra time out of your day to ensure they are able to effectively use FreshGrade, especially those who struggle with technology! 

Thank you so much for joining us on our learning journey. We learned so much about this platform and we hope you did too. Our next steps is preparing for our presentation on March 24. Hope to see you there!

Laurence and Natalie

Hello Bloggers!

Today we will be having a look at some reviews the public has made on FreshGrade. We will be looking at 3 different sources: App store and  common sense education. These softwares are softwares that have reviews of many different apps, websites, programmes, etc. 

1: The App Store: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/freshgrade-for-teachers/id945490163

Rating: 3.1 stars/5 

Overall, the reviews are VERY good. Everybody is saying they love the software and that it is an awesome form of communication between parents, students, and teachers. The main negative feedback we are seeing is that recently, there has been an update and since that update, the software is slow and tends to crash. As well, back in 2015, there was no marking available on the software. This has changed since then!

2: Common Sense Education:

https://www.commonsense.org/education/website/freshgrade

Rating: 3 stars/5

There were a total of 8 reviews on this site. 7 of the reviews gave 5/5, whereas 1 review gave 1 out of 5. We decided to have a look at this, as we were very curious as to why this person would give such a low rating. This person believes that FreshGrade is a tool to force parents at home to do the teaching; which is simply not the case. If teachers use FreshGrade properly, then the parents are on this software simply to communicate with the teacher and monitor their students progress, NOT to teach their child. 

Overall, the reviews to FreshGrade are VERY good. The negetive reviews are aspects of the software that have been fixed, or are simply unavoidable at times such as random lags and crashes. 

Thanks for tuning in and see you next week,

Nat and LOBO 

Hey Bloggers!

Today we dove deeper into what FreshGrade provides for teachers, we found 5 major headings on their website and explained how they work.

What does fresh grade offer to teachers?
Fresh grade offers lesson, activity and blog customization; organize student work; assess student progress; connect and communicate with families, students and fellow staff and professional development.

How does FreshGrade allow for customization?
They allow teachers to make an unlimited number of classes and groups within those classes. Additionally they offer tools that allow you to tailor to your students. Tools to assist in lesson planning and assignment making and scheduling.

How does FreshGrade organize student work?
FreshGrade offers digital portfolios for every student and learning journals. This makes capturing student learning simple and easily accessible. They also allow teachers to label, sort, and filter students portfolios. Having this tool will ensure that each student has proper organizational skills and has easy access to each of their assignments.

How does FreshGrade allow teachers to assess growth?
FreshGrade has a gradebooking system that has the option between standards-based, score-based or anecdotal. They provide opportunities for formative, summative and interim assessments while supporting custom assessment scales. This is great as each classroom in a school can make the gradebook system work for them.

How does FreshGrade connect parents, students and staff?
Fresh grade supports communication between parents, students and staff by offering conversation toolsets while also offering outlets to send messages or share announcements to individuals or groups.

See you next week!

Nat and LOBO

All information retrieved from FreshGrade
Photo retrieved from Unsplash.com: Chris Liverani

Hey bloggers!

Today we are diving into the overwhelming world of privacy policies. We always find that these policies can be draining to look at and we often scroll to the bottom and accept them. But what are we allowing when we check that box off? That’s what we want to share with you today about FreshGrade. We have found the answers to four main concerns when it comes to privacy and they are listed below.

Children’s privacy

FreshGrade does not knowingly collect the personal information of children under 13. This doesn’t mean it can’t happen, if a school has been given authorization for a student under 13 to use FreshGrade the student may use the services and FreshGrade may collect their information. We didn’t see it written explicitly, but based on FreshGrades guidelines for students under 13 we assumed that those students would need a consent form completed by a parent or guardian, and students over the ages of 13 would not. 

Where is information stored:

The information collected by FreshGrade is stored in British Columbia. The Information is stored and processed with full compliance to the “British COlumbia Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), Canada Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and provincial Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Acts (FOIPPA)” 

What they do with the your information: 

As many companies do FreshGrade states that they may share information with third-party companies as well as other companies in the FreshGrade umbrella in order to allow them to complete tasks for FreshGrade. This is related to “ business development, software design, hosting, customer support, accounting, and other similar services”. Additionally, the personal information stored by FreshGradecan be transferred to another company through a company transaction such as “merger, sale of company assets or shares, reorganization, financing, change of control, bankruptcy or other corporate event”. 

How confidential is FreshGrade? 

FreshGrade states in their policies that they do not sell or share students personal information for marketing or advertising unless given consent from parents. However, they  do collect, store, process and share student information to provide their service or “as authorized by a school or parent” . As we mentioned earlier, this information can be shared with third-parties. FreshGrade does offer statistical information to parents, teachers, students and the school based on the information entered. This information will always be presented in an aggregate or anonymous way. In conclusion, I would say FreshGrade isn’t 100% confidential as they do share personal information to third-parties and did not disclose what aspect of your personal information is shared or if it is done anonymously.  

All information retrieved from FreshGrade.com

Photo retrieved from Unsplash.com: Helloquence

Hello fellow bloggers!

After discussing a little bit in our previous blog what FreshGrade is, we decided to dive even deeper into the software and discuss the Pro’s and Con’s of it.

Pro #1 – One outlet yet so many possibilites

When it comes to lesson plans, grading, portfolios, and parent communication, FreshGrade has it all. It is clear, organized, and easy. FreshGrade also offers seminars for professional development day to allow teachers to learn how to use the software effectively in order for you to know exactly how to use the software. 

Pro #2 – It is free!

What more could you ask for! 

Pro #3 – Students can use it as well

Not only is there parent/teacher communication, teachers can communicate with their own students on this software. If students are missing an assignment, going to be late for class, etc, teachers can communicate with their students directly on the website. Although this may be trickier for younger grades, older grades can benefit from this. 

Pro #4 –  FreshGrade is easily accessible

FreshGrade can be used on several platforms and devices. For example, FreshGrade is supported on Chrome, Safari, Moxilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. It is also available on mobile devices through the Apple App store or Google Play store for android devices. 

Con #1 –  Lacks some creative tools

This may not be the best software for creative junkies. It is missing tools such as drawing and voice recording systems. These tools could be beneficial for a range of students. 

Con #2 – Not all parents/students have a laptop or computer at home

This is probably the biggest setback to this software. It is important to check in with the parents at the beginning of the year to see if all parents have a laptop or device to use FreshGrade. Otherwise, you may have to consider another option. 

Con #3 – It is time consuming

FreshGrade is something a teacher has to use daily. It is not like a report card system that happens 3 times a year. Parents want to be updated weekly, if not daily, as this is what FreshGrade is all about. 

These are the most important Pro’s and Con’s we found. After reading these, what do you think of FreshGrade?

See you in two weeks!

LOBO and Natalie 

All information retrieved from:  https://freshgrade.com/ 

Hello fellow bloggers!

After deep thought and consideration, we have finally decided on what we want to focus our attention on for the Edtech inquiry project. We still want our main focus to be on the primary grades, however, rather than doing several kinds of technology in the primary grades, we will be exploring how to successfully integrate FreshGrade in the classroom and the benefits  for teachers, students, and parents. 

We chose to do our project on FreshGrade because it is an outlet we are very unfamiliar with but feel as though it can be an excellent tool to include into our future classroom. Based off of the slim information we know, it offers a blogging platform for students and teachers; grading and feedback page that parents have access to; and communication between families, students, and teachers. Although we do not know too much about this platoform, we are excited to learn more about what FreshGrade has to offer and how it can be utilized in the primary grades.

Here is a video that breifly summarizes what FreshGrade offers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oizBrhWhyY

See you next week!

LOBO and Natalie

Hello fellow bloggers!

This is Laurence and Natalie! We will be doing our EdTech inquiry project together and can not wait to deepen our learning about technology in the classroom. 

Since both of us want to teach at the primary level, we instantly knew we wanted to do our project focusing on the primary grades. Although we did not know what we wanted to do our project on exactly, we felt that this was a great start. Knowing which grade level we wanted to focus on made it easier to choose our final question, which is “how may we successfully integrate technology in primary grades?” After sharing our question with Rich, he told us that this topic may be too broad. He told us that if need be, we may focus on particular technology for instance types of technological devices, apps/software, and websites that work best for the primary grades. We will have to do some more research to know whether or not this will be necessary. 

For our next few blogs, we will be exploring what types of devices and apps are used in primary grades and how they are used, whether that be for math lessons or language arts lessons, etc. Then we plan on discussing what tools we believe would be most successful and eventually which ones we feel we may use. For now, we will be focussing on researching information, to help us support the blogs we have planned in the future. 

We look forward to sharing our findings with you!