Mobile technology use to keep students engaged: Remind101

Mobile technology useto keep students engaged:Remind101 Michael Sawyer ITEC 7445 Dr. Chiavacci November 1, 2013 Emerging Technology

Remind101 • What is Remind101: • Remind101 is a free website that allows teachers to text message students without the teachers and students (and parents) without ever exchanging phone numbers. • Teachers can schedule these messages to be sent at any day or time. • Quick and easy way to get information to students. • https://www.remind101.com/

Remind101 Tutorial

Mobile devices to keep students engaged • Allowing students to use their mobile devices in the classroom takes trust and patience. • The teacher must trust the student to use their mobile device for educational purposes. • Be patience with the students who abuse the mobile device policy in the classroom. • There will be times were some students will be prohibited from using their device but allow there to be some leeway in the rules.

Osborne High SchoolTechnology Vision • At our school we are encourage to use technology to keep students engaged in learning. • The primary goal of OHS is student achievement and this can be accomplished successfully with the use of mobile devices.

Remind101 • The use of Remind101 by teachers and students supports Osborne's vision of student achievement by keeping students engaged in learning while using technology. • Remind101 will allow teachers to communicate with students in away that students frequently use (texting).

Remind101 use supports Osborne’s Vision cont. • With the average high school students attention span getting shorter and shorter, with the ability to get what ever information they need at their fingertips it is important to play into this. • Reaching students, safely, on their mobile devices helps students staying engaged in their everyday classes.

Objectives • The main objective of using Remind101 is to keep the students in the loop of the daily class. • Increase individual students achievement through the use of Remind101. • Use Remind101 as a supplemental use of teacher and student contact.

Benefits from Remind101 • Students will be given text updates. • Allows teachers to communicate with students quickly and safely. • Using Remind101 allows teachers to send quick content related questions to students. • Remind101 allows teachers to remind them of important dates.

Benefits from Remind101 • I use Remind101 to send EOCT text updates to keep information fresh to the students. • I also use Remind101 to keep the students informed on changes in the class. • I encourage parents to also sign up for the text updates to stay informed with the class.

Target Population • Cobb County high schools has over 34,000 students, and I would bet that 92% of these students have a mobile device. With this what better way to reach these student then with a text message keeping them up to date in the class. • Osborne’s population is getting close to 2,000 students and of those 2,000 student, 92% of them have a mobile device in which they can receive text messages.

Equipment and Software • Remind101 is a free and easy website to sign up for and navigate. • Only thing needed to use Remind101 is a computer or a device that can access the internet. • Remind101 allows teachers to set up more than one class or keep all classes in one easy accessible place. • Remind101 allows teachers to set up updates for up coming dates which makes sending updates very easy.

Technical Support • I, in all my dealings with Remind101, have never had a problem with the site or the updates that it sends. • Cobb County has first-rate technical support as well as internet access which allows for easy access to Remind101. • In the case of needed support Remind101 does have a support section (located at the bottom of their website) for their support team.

Limitations • Using Remind101 the only limitation is the 140 character limit that the site puts on their text-updates. However, you can send multiple text at one time. • In the rare case of a high school student not having a mobile device to receive text message could also be a limitation.

Cost of the Technology • This web-based tool is free! • There is no additional charges when using this website. • Only cost is the time that is put into setting up the text updates. • This is also an extremely safe way to text students in which neither the teacher nor the students have each others numbers.

Potential Funding Sources • There will be no need for any extra funding because this site is absolutely free and does not require any extra money. • There is no indication that Remind101 will soon charger for their services. If this were to happen then this issue could be addressed.

How do teachers use this Technology? • The website is extremely easy to use and the ability to send out the updates is very simple. • Using Remind101 teachers can keep students up to date in the classroom. • Teacher’s can send prep questions updates when ever the deem necessary.

Meeting the content… • Using Remind101 can be easily used to send updates on EOCT prep questions. • Using Remind101 can be used to guide students and keep them up to date with content related information.

Learning goals… • The possibilities are endless when using Remind101 and can be used a number of ways to attain different learning goals. • Using Remind101 can help teachers reach the higher-order thinking skills by offering text updates on discussion questions before or after the class.

Differentiate instruction. • Remind101, in my opinion, lacks in the category of differentiation. • However, with the ability to select individual students a teacher can use Remind101 to send the students who need extra help little hints and reminders.

Communication • This is where Remind101 hits it out the park. • Remind101 main focus is communication and making it easier to communicate with students on a more personal level, text messaging.

Research Evaluation • I was only able to use my personal experience and one other site as research evaluation for Remind101. • Both of which netted positive results.

Research Evaluation • According to the remind101 blog a section regarding “The psychology of texting and how it relates to students” by AdityaBansod. In which, she references a study done by Acisioon “The psychology of texting among adults”. • She states that the use of text messages does three things: • 1. Strengthen the relationship between teacher and students/parents. • 2. Provides social proof in which students will begin conversation about the messages. Which helps spread the information you are trying to convey to the students. • 3. It gives a little nudge in which students do not have an excuse to forget assignments. As well as expanding ways students communicate – text messaging.

Research Evaluation • My personal experiences of using rermind101 in class have been excellent. • I have been using remind101 for over a year now and the performance results from the students that have signed up have out scored the students on all formative and summative assignments. • I am intrigued to see the results from the EOCT in comparison to the students who are signed up for the text updates and the ones who have not.

Implementation and Professional Learning • I personally don’t think that professional learning will be required for the implementation of Remind101. • The biggest task will be to introduce the teachers to this extremely helpful website.

Reflections • When I first discovered Remind101 I was very unsure about how useful the site could be. • However, after signing up and seeing how easy the site was to navigate I was automatically hooked. Now the tough part was selling the idea to the students. • Although, this seemed like a daunting task once I started to explain how the site worked and I expressed the positives of the site the students also began to join.

Reflection cont. • Now entering my second year of using remind101, I have proof that the students who sign up for the text updates do better not only on in class assignments but also the EOCT. • With that being said I have had more students sign up for the text updates and will hopefully get all students to sign up for the updates next semister.

Work Cited • Bansod, Aditya (2013, October) “The Psychology of Texting and How it Relates to Students”. Remind101 Blog.http://blog.remind101.com/post/64333779652/the-psychology-of-texting-and-how-it-relates-to • Bourne, Vanson and Jones, Graham (2012, July 18) “The psychology of SMS: Why do we still love to text?”. Retrieved from Acision Innovation Assured. http://www.acision.com/News-and-Events/Press-Releases/All-Destinations/2012/The-psychology-of-SMS-Why-we-still-love-to-text.aspx

Mobile technology use to keep students engaged: Remind101