As a teacher who wanted to jump into the academic-social media world to help my students' retention and engagement, I had so many fears and questions that I held off on-boarding for a number of years. After only a few months of dabbling around My Big Campus, I was so annoyed with myself having held off for so long! Resources were available for students to view anytime they wanted (or even for their parents to see!). No longer did I wince at catching up the absent student or even the students that needed a little more time to grasp a concept. I could easily and efficiently differentiate instruction to reach my students where they were. This started a delightful cycle of increased engagement, success, and achievement in my classroom. We used My Big Campus to continue discussions after regular class hours, collaborate on documents, and turn in work digitally to save on paper and increase accountability. I used the social format to teach digital citizenship and keep students coming back to My Big Campus to see what was new and exciting. Instead of a static, 90-minute pit-stop in their Monday through Friday life, we became an on-line community that interacted over weekends, evenings, and even summertime. Combining my love of Star Wars with my love of My Big Campus, I offer these thoughts to any teacher teetering on the edge of testing the academic-social media scene chanelling some of my favorite characters:
"Use the Force." -Obi-Wan The Force, in this case, being the power of social media. Our digital natives thrive on the features that make social media engaging: collaboration, external verification, and a sense of community. Since you can deliver class content and instruction combined with the social media allure, students will be more engaged and interactive with the materials!
"The Force is strong with this one." -Darth Vader "This one" is My Big Campus- and the Force is super-strong with My Big Campus, actually! With Bundles, auto-graded assessments, Wiki-like Pages, and countless ways to collaborate, this learning management system is not only fun to use, but also aligns with 21st Century learning skills. Deliver content while you promote responsible digital citizenship!
"Do or do not. There is no try." -Yoda Give an assignment, post a discussion, join a professional learning network under Topics, integrate your Twitter feed, move unlimited files to Your Stuff, grab resources out of the Resource Library. Go ahead and jump in! The more features you take advantage of, the more you and your students will benefit from more efficient, individualized instruction.
"I've got a bad feeling about this." -Hans Solo So you are happily working along and something doesn't make sense/ doesn't seem to work/ doesn't seem right. No problem! We have 24/7 live support for teachers and students. Simply ask Bob Campus and he will get right back to you!
"When 900 years old you reach...look as good you will not." -Yoda Think about those old mimeographs and worksheets that seem 900 years old to your students! Certainly they do not "look as good" as an interactive game, engaging website, or catchy video. You can unblock resources for your students through My Big Campus that are current, relevant, and interesting!
"These aren't the droids you're looking for." -Obi-Wan Can't find what you want? Got a new feature request? See a different way of doing things? The great thing about My Big Campus is that it is user-driven. Send any needs or wants to support@mybigcampus.com to get on the feature request list! You can also tell us first-hand at our annual user-conference this year being held in Indianapolis. More info here !
"Fear is the path to the Dark Side." -Yoda Do not let fear keep you from becoming the most effective and engaging teacher you can be. Using My Big Campus is not only remarkably intuitive, but we are staffed with round-the-clock support to help you move your class to a blended learning environment or even flip your classroom!
With an ever-growing number of users and features, My Big Campus has transformed classrooms across the world. Students love the social aspect, collaborative activities, and engaging resources available to them. Teachers love the ease-of use, academic reports, and accountability.
Love it, you will!!
image from: http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/50-star-wars-quotes
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