myMitty Assignments and Maximum File Size

When creating an assignment in myMitty, an often overlooked field is the default assignment size.

Maximum Size is located in the Upload section, just below grading a due date

If you have assigned a video project, double-checking the maximum file size on your myMitty assignment is very important. The default size is 10MB, which is a generous amount of space for a paper or a presentation.  However a 2 minute student video will be between 50 to 150 MB in size.

To be safe, when creating a myMitty assignment for student video submissions, change the Maximum Size from 10MB to the course limit (currently 250 MB).

The course limit is a dynamic setting - if 250 MB isn't sufficient, the IT department can increase the limit system-wide.

A quick way to check the current size limit on a myMitty assignment is to click on the assignment. The upload page will have the maximum size for an uploaded file listed right above the Upload this file button.

Rubrics for Assessing Technology Based Student Work

I came across a article on EdTechTeacher.org full of helpful links for creating rubrics to assess digital student work (video, blogs, wikis, Voicethread). From the article:

A common question that we get with regard to technology projects is "how do I grade it?" The 21st-century communication and collaboration skills which are used with most technology based projects are, in many ways, real-world problem-solving skills. The standard, multiple-choice type tests simply are not going to be able to assess students' learning. Instead of thinking of the assessment itself as the measurement, we are going to need to examine our students' performances of understanding. In other words, the assessment is the tool through which we can gauge how much our students have learned.

 I'm including a few links from the original page that I thought were interesting.

• Rubistar - create your own customized rubrics.
• Teacher Checklist for Blogging Projects
• Media-Making Rubric (from KQED) - mix and match to make your own rubric for video or presentations
• Blooms Digital Taxonomy & Blog Journaling Rubric with Examples
• 7 Things you should know about VoiceThread
• Scoring VoiceThread discussions

If you have any rubrics or assessment strategist for student digital work please share your thoughts in the comments.

iPad Enabled Mastery Model

Chett Garcia uses a "mastery model" in his Algebra 2 class. He broke his course into key concepts and allows his students to retake key concept quizzes as many times as they need to in order to prove mastery. The most exciting part is that he uses myMitty & the iPad to proctor the quizzes! He saves six hours a week from not having to directly proctor the make up quizzes. Here's a video of Chett explaining this exciting process:

How might you be able to re-enivision your assessments with the iPad?

Using Guided Access on the iPad

Using Guided Access on the iPad

Link to video on iTunes

Here is how you would explain to your students how to initialize the "Guided Access" mode on their iPad :

1.  Open "Settings"
2.  Go to the "General" tab
3.  Tap "Accessibility"
4.  Tap "Guided Access" (under 'Learning')
5.  Turn "Guided Access" ON
6. Tap "Set pass code".  Type "1,2,3,4” (or whatever you'd like they pass code to be, but make it easy).
7.  Make sure "enable sleep" is OFF.
8.  I would also make sure that "Auto correct" and "Check spelling" are turned OFF when using Guided Access:  go back to the first page of the "General" settings, tap "Keyboard", turn "Auto correct" and "Check spelling" OFF.

When you are ready for the students to activate the "Guided learning" mode, have them:

1. Open MyMitty to access the quiz.  
2. Once it's open, have the students press three times the "Home" button and the window will shrink.
3. Have them draw a rectangle around the URL window and Google search window (make sure they're completely covered in grey).
4. Finally, have them press the "Start" button.
5. Also, make sure the “motion” button (bottom right) is “OFF”. If left on, the student can move the iPad from “landscape” mode to “portrait” mode and this will turn “Guided Access” off.

When they've completed the assessment and want to quit out of the "Guided learning" mode, they need to click the "Home" button three times again, enter the pass code , and tap "End".

I would suggest have the students do the set up earlier (maybe the day before), so that all they need to do is open the assessment and then start the "Guided learning" mode without having to do the set up.