InnovationAssessments.com brings to mind a testing service. And so it once was!
Was…
But the pandemic spurred its growth toward the full online teaching platform that it is today!
Not to disparage our educational testing apps. This platform started out twenty-odd years ago as a test generator for multiple-choice tests. The test generators, test question bank management apps, secure online testing, and algorithmic AI-assisted scoring of short answer tests and summaries makes it a powerful tool in your teacher’s toolbox.
But…
While we kept the name (Do you realize how hard it is to rebrand a website?), we are more than our name! I invite the reader to explore the collection of apps that makes this a top-notch teaching platform.
For starters, Innovation evolved under the demands of real teachers and students in real classrooms. As my colleagues and students shared suggestions for apps and upgrades over a decade, I modified and adapted the software. My coding students were assigned to try to hack it; I built defenses. My teacher colleagues had lots of ideas for ensuring assessments integrity. We collaborated to built something reliable and intuitive to use.
It is difficult to compose a promo for Innovation because by the time we list all the features, we have lost the attention of the reader.
Lesson Planning
The first thing that I did not like about Google Classroom was how clumsy it was to communicate assignments to kids. I don’t like the comment stream approach. And what about students who are ahead and want to see what tomorrow holds? The planning app at Innovation is the first thing students see when they navigate to their course playlist. They see this week and all the assignments. They can jump to them from the planner or scroll down the playlist. There is a custom note option just for today’s lesson.
Curating Resources
It is important to me to be able to effectively curate my resources; my links to assignments on and off Innovation. I want to be able to hide things until the time is right, lock tests with a key code, schedule the visibility of tasks to the best moment, and so forth. Innovation possesses all of these features and more for efficient curating of class online resources. Link to Google docs and website of any kind, manage who has access and when, hide unit plans for next school year.
But it is also easy if you curate your resources elsewhere!
Many subscribers to Innovation curate their links at Google Classroom or other platforms. Well, most use Google Classroom… But that’s okay! Innovation is a verified app on the Google system. You can embed a link to your Innovation task on Google classroom and after a quick authentication app, students are engaged in the day’s lesson.
Proctor
The proctor at Innovation is an algorithmic AI that monitors and reports on student activity. My colleagues and I wanted to know whether students were really watching our video assignments or whether they were pasting in text in some places; we wanted to know how long it took students to do a task and when they logged in and from where. Proctor AI gives detailed information about what students are doing online in your 21st century learning space.
Study Apps
The Tutor app and the flashcard system are perfect for drilling terms and facts.
The algorithmic AI coach advises students on short answer, summaries, and outlines based on a corpus of models on which they were trained.
Modifications are easily made to drills to accommodate special needs.
Innovation has what your students need to study and what teachers need to scaffold their objectives to individual needs.
The Etude
The Etude is our favorite app. Teachers embed a lesson in video, PDF, and/or audio format and include guiding questions. There is note-taking space for students. The Etude is the perfect tool to curate deliverables online in 1:1 laptop classrooms or in remote teaching situations.
Merit Badges
Manage merit badges to chart progress. Invent your own or import ours. As students earn new skills, automated badge awards provide visual evidence of progress.
Ventura!
Students love playing this Jeopardy-like game. It is easy for teachers to generate games from their test question banks. Suitable for in-person or remote learning situations, the Ventura game is a hit with students.
Why not try it out!
Look, I know we’re a small startup company, unknown and not really able to compete with Google, Scoology, and the big names.
But…
This platform has a lot going for it.