When Franklin Community High School English teacher Eric Jenkins asks his class a question, he doesn’t expect to see a dozen hands fly up.
Instead, he assumes he’ll hear fingers clacking on a keyboard.
Since Franklin students were given Chromebooks about two years ago, teachers have been finding unique ways to tie the laptop into everyday classroom use.
For Jenkins, that includes classroom discussions.
Jenkins uses websites and Google applications to his advantage so students can express their opinion, without the fear of giving a wrong answer.
Jenkins puts an image in front of the class and asks students to come up with words that convey the tone and mood of the image, Jenkins said. Students can type their answer through sites like Poll Everywhere, and the answer is projected on the screen in the front of the classroom.
“So that kind of gave us an in-the-moment list, rather than them listing and writing responses on the board,” Jenkins said. “It’s anonymous, so I feel like it’s less intimidating for them to do that, and it’s in a format that they’re comfortable in.”
And, if Jenkins wants to provide feedback to students on assignments or projects, he also can use his computer to show immediate responses about their work on the board in the front of the room, Jenkins said.
