Pop Quiz

The first day of school is just around the corner.  Here’s a great post about giving a quiz on the first day of class.  I do something similar.  My quiz has 26 matching questions.  On the left are 26 different technologies.  On the right are 26 years starting with 1440, the year Gutenberg invented the printing press.

I give them that first one.  I let them work in groups of two or three to try to figure out the rest.  It gives me enough time to take each student’s picture.  The only way I can learn all the names is by making a cheat sheet with names and pictures.

Half of the technologies on my list were invented after 1980.  Most college freshmen don’t know the CD was invented in 1982.  It has been in the news a few times in the past week, this being the 25th anniversary.   I wonder how many of them caught that bit of news.

I finish by showing a PowerPoint with all the answers and pictures of each technology with the inventor if possible.  It is my first chance to show a proper PowerPoint.  I point out that no bullet points were used.

My last slide is my ever-growing list of technologies.

I link it back to ISTE’s NETS for Teachers. One of the standards states that teachers will demonstrate continual growth in technology knowledge and skill to stay abreast of current and emerging technologies. A teacher must have a plan.  At that point, we start on the plan.