Supplementing my Instruction with Technology Tools

Last week, Red Owl showed us how we can use Google Docs to create online quizzes for our students and have their scores automatically reported on a spreadsheet. After a lecture I could assign a homework assignment that asks students to take one of these online quizzes, relating to what I just taught that day. I would tell students that they can use any resource they wish to answer these questions but if they follow along with my lecture and take good notes they will see that the quiz is very easy - and covers all the learning standards that I covered that day. They could even do the quiz during a lunch break or at the end of the day in the library - this way the information will still be fresh.

The questions on the quiz should be very familiar to the students because I will be addressing them all throughout the lecture that day. They should be fresh in their short - term memory until something else stimulates them when they walk out the door and continue their day. I ask them to open their notes when they get home and answer these questions because I will then be asking them to transfer information from their short term memory into their long term memory. I could even take all the quizzes that I have created for a unit and make a test from the exact same questions, but with more fill in the blank and free answer responses.