Unlike the majority of people in class last week, I generally see Infinite Campus (and similar programs) as a useful tool for teachers, students, and student's parents'. I acknowledge that it may seem time consuming and hyperactive, but it has many advantages that are being ignored. First, I think it's just a new way of taking roll. I don't see it as a waste of time because I would just take roll on it in the first place, not take attendance in a book, then transfer that into infinite campus. This can help my organization by keeping all my attendance in one central location that can be located from anywhere with internet access. The same can be said for grades can be uploaded to Infinite Campus immediately. I know some teachers do not want every single assignment to be graded on an A+, A, A- etc scale; some prefer check, check plus, or fail, or another system. I would still argue that these grades can be kept offline, then ultimately imported online as one portion of the grade. For example, if a teacher is going to base 20% of the grade on daily in-class writing, they can import one number for that grade at the end of the semester. They can tell students and parents that they will alert them if there is a problem. It also allows students and their parents to see how many times they have been tardy or absent. While it may be ridiculous for parents to breathe down their child's neck by checking their attendance and grades every single day, attendance and grades and parent involvement are important issues that are all addressed with Infinite Campus.
My biggest worry with Infinite Campus is that the only students or parents who take the time to check it regularly and utilize it will be the ones who would be just fine without it. Many students who have a lot of absences, or tardies, or low grades, may not have involved parents who care whether or not they can access their child's report. There are certainly flaws to the system, but as a student, I love being able to log into ICON and check my grades, and I think a lot of students feel this way. It annoys me when teachers refuse to use ICON's grade section because they do it offline. Obviously, I've never actually been a teacher, and I'm sure every teacher has individual critiques about the system, but I think it deserves a better name than we're giving it, and it can be useful if people give it more of a chance.
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ReplyDeleteJohn, I had some of the same thoughts during the discussion. I don't think the system is perfect, but like so much in teaching, it seems to be one more thing that must be given time, be worked with so it helps students rather than hindering their learning. I guess that's our challenge as teachers, or maybe more accurately, one of the many challenges.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, John. I think that infinite campus can be very useful, particularly as a student. But I also think you're comment, "there are certainly flaws with the system," is correct, as well. I can only speak from a student's standpoint, I don't yet know the hassles and imperfections of infinite campus or ICON. However, knowing what I know from a students perspective, I feel that it is worth the time and energy to become acquanted with the programs.
ReplyDeleteI like hearing your positive points John. It gave me pause- and I am not hating on the idea of an online system as much. I had not considered attendance- or setting your own expectations as a teacher.
ReplyDeleteI will say, as a student I am not a big fan of Icon and am struggling with getting in the habit of checking it and seeing it as a helpful tool rather than a hindrance. I am old fashioned though, and miss checking out the reserve materials at the library and getting my reading done for free. Maybe you can shed some positive for me about ICON, so I can stop being a Negative Nancy about it!
You bring up a lot of good points that weren't even discussed in class last week. I didn't have anything like Infintie Campus back when I was in high school, so I can't really form an opinion on it yet. I do, however, agree that it is really annoying when teacher's don't use ICON to show grades. Technology like Infinite Classroom isn't going anywhere, so I think as teacher's we just need to accept it, and learn to work with it rather than against it.
ReplyDeleteHi John,
ReplyDeleteNot to reiterate other comments, but I like how you looked at the benefits of Infinite Campus. It's easy to get caught up in critique and fail to see the advantages of such a system. The one thing I would enjoy (particularly as a student) is having grades displayed in a more private manner. My high school simply posted grades somewhere in the classroom by ID number. However, it was fairly easy to figure out what number corresponded with what student. The relative privacy of this site seems to benefit students.
You are right, it is a tool. It can be used for good or not so good. You are also spot on that the students and parents who constantly check their grades are not the students and parents who need to, which can also mean that now you, as the teacher, are spending more time dealing with those students and parents, than with the struggling students and parents. Like a lot of tools, it may be only benefiting the few who didn't need it to begin with.
ReplyDeleteI am in the middle on this debate, I use Power School (the Iowa City equivalent) for attendance and grades, and I don't use a traditional gradebook. From that vantage point it is just an electronic version of the same old thing, except, you have to play by their rules, (no grade curving). Also your ability to grade is limited by the bandwidth in your district...and what happens when the whole kit and kaboodle crashes? Maybe we will finaly be done with grades!