T-Intersect » Reviews http://riverflowing.com/network/tintersect Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:40:39 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Digital Gradebooks: In Retrospect http://riverflowing.com/network/tintersect/2010/09/digital-gradebooks-in-retrospect/ http://riverflowing.com/network/tintersect/2010/09/digital-gradebooks-in-retrospect/#comments Tue, 21 Sep 2010 04:47:47 +0000 mike http://riverflowing.com/network/tintersect/?p=677 I certainly cannot understand how anyone would create a grade book by hand anymore or even in Microsoft Excel with so many options for digital grade books.  I led a training this week on two options for teachers at our high school for creating a digital grade book: it either comes down to the district-provided grade book and Easy Grade Pro.  And in retrospect, it’s really no contest.  Though there are some problematic issues with any electronic grade book not connected to the district’s system (not browser based, risk of losing data, moving final grades into the district system), Easy Grade Pro has been the premiere digital grade books for many years.  Sometimes we as teachers will suffer through a small inconvenience a few times a semester if it means more power over the majority of our semester.

Easy Grade Pro allows for excellent reporting, quick and convenience macros to avoid repetitive tasks, the creation of terms for monitoring progress over multiple progress periods, and numerous advanced tools for a power user.  For any teacher in this education business for the long haul, it mystifies me why anyone would want to settle for the most powerful tool for getting your grading agenda done quickly and competently?

Here’s my Easy Grade Pro two-page guide.

]]> http://riverflowing.com/network/tintersect/2010/09/digital-gradebooks-in-retrospect/feed/ 0 My Problem with the Kindle http://riverflowing.com/network/tintersect/2009/08/my-problem-with-the-kindle/ http://riverflowing.com/network/tintersect/2009/08/my-problem-with-the-kindle/#comments Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:24:53 +0000 mike http://www.riverflowing.com/intersect/?p=389 Yesterday, I read a negative review of the Kindle E-book reader in the August edition of the New Yorker.  People differ whether the Kindle will “change everything.”  Books will forever remain with us.   The Kindle and the IPhone/Touch are improving with each new version, and perhaps one day get there. (Some information I had not heard in previous reviews is the large number of titles not available and the writing fades in the sun).

My primary objection with the Kindle is its cost.  For the same price, I could purchase 30 books from the book store.  I don’t know if I even read 30 books within a year.   Besides, there are very few books that I reread or wish to own.  The  public library  is still free of charge and carries most books.  Also, the cost of digital copy of a book should not be the same price as a printed book!   I still wish there was a lower cost Kindle with a syncing feature like the Sony E-book.  I seldom have to have a book at a second’s notice.  I’d wait until I got home  if it would reduce the overall cost of the device.  A $200 device sounds more appealing, and hopefully the industry will address the cost issues with the device and the digital content.

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