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Collect Student Work

Ready to collect student work, but aren't sure what's the best tool for the job? It all depends on the type of reflection required. Before we explore some of the tools, let's review some quick tips.

Tips for Collecting Student Work

Tip #1 - Define your Purpose

What's your purpose in collecting student work? Are you creating a digital inbox (not in your email, I hope) that students can drop their assignments into for easy grading? Are you encouraging students to create digital portfolios of their work? Maybe you want to do both! Make it easy for you to review student work, while allowing students to add an item to a digital portfolio that will follow them wherever they go.

Make It Easy to Grade

Students have a dropbox or virtual space to turn in their work
Students don't have to wait on you to collect their work, they can turn it in at will
You can review student work and grade it in sequence or jump around as needed
You can add feedback/suggestions for improvement, then send it back to the student for refinement

Student Digital Portfolio

Students can turn in work to you, but it is added with minimal intervention to their digital portfolio
Students can select what to display
Students exhibit ownership of their eportfolio
Student eportfolios must be portable, moving with them from grade to grade, but also, with them when they exit the school system
Student skills & competencies are reflected. Show alignment to curricular/state/national standards

One to Grow On - Showcasing Student Work

Another question common to both areas is, "How will this work be displayed?" Students and parents often take pride in how work will be displayed to others. As a teacher, you have the right to display student work online (after appropriate precautions, release forms and parent permission, have been taken) for a limited time after the student leaves your classroom. What is your process for showcasing student work, and does the system you've selected to use make this easy?

Tip #2 - Plan Ahead for Storage Needs

One question few ask about students turning in work is, "How much storage space is available in whatever system that has to be used?" Some additional questions include:

Given that student work is often kept for the long-term (a year or more with ePortfolios), where will that work be kept?
What is the exit policy for student data? Since this work is often FERPA protected, you will need to keep track of this. Is there a way to "age" student work so it's automatically removed after a defined time to protect copyright?

Tip #3 - Ensure Compatibility with Various Multimedia Formats

Most student products take the form of text, images or video. Here are some common formats you should encourage students to create their work in:

Solutions for Collecting Student Work

About Seesaw (Google Doc)
100 Ways To Use Seesaw

Seesaw Up! ISTE 2017

Get Seesaw Plus Free for a Month

Want to kick the tires on Seesaw? While you can certainly take advantage of its best features that way, there is a LOT more to Seesaw in its Plus version. Learn more about the excitement by visiting Angela Gadtke.

Why I Seesaw by Rafael Alba (@RafaelAlbaEd)

Nearpod is an interactive presentation and assessment tool that can be used to amazing effect in the classroom. The app’s concept is simple.

A teacher, or student, can create presentations that can contain Quiz’s, Polls, Videos, Images, Drawing-Boards, Web Content and so on. The children can access a teacher’s presentation through a code. It is up to the teacher to then move the class through the presentation and let them interact with the media as they go.

The app is ‘web based’ and is accessible on a ‘log in’ basis. This means that you can access your Nearpod account through any device that connects to the internet. Transform your existing PPTs, PDFs, and Google Slides into engaging Nearpod lessons by adding interactive activities. (Source)

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