Chronicle – Teacher’s iPad App Simplifies the Management of Assessments

Revisiting a Highly Rated Assessment Tool for the iOS Platform

There are so many excellent assessment tools now available to educators. How does a teacher begin to manage them all? Student Response Systems, free poll and survey tools, digital quiz tools … the purpose of these assessment tools, as well as more traditional ways of assessing students, simply come down to “checking for understanding.” Who knows what and how well do they know it? Based on these insights, teachers make important decisions on how to best meet the needs of their students.

Don’t get lost in the ocean of assessment tools.

Chronicle – Helping to Keep it Simple

Learning outcomes, lesson objectives, standards, IEP goals, report card descriptors … whatever the name, these are all basically destination points that teachers must not lose sight of in this new wave of assessment tools.

Chronicle, introduced on EmergingEdTech in 2013, uses all the features of the iOS platform to allow teachers to capture student data via text, pictures, videos, and audio recordings. In addition to providing an integrated grade book, Chronicle has a unique Traffic Light System that can work in conjunction with any assessment tool.

Here’s how it works:

Each student has their own traffic light “signal.” As a teacher assesses their students (through interactive white boards, Google Forms, or any other assessment methods), students’ signals can be marked red, yellow, or green, based upon their level of understanding. Teachers can then enter the descriptor of whatever is being assessed (learning outcomes, lesson objectives, standards, IEP goals, report card descriptors – the destinations!). This descriptor is known as the Assessment Tag. The Assessment Tag can then be stored in a scrollable list (a virtual travel log), which can be entered any time in order to view the students categorized according to their assigned signal colors. Red is on top as these students are in most need of follow up.

This categorized list helps signal the teacher as to what actions to take next: Can I go ahead and move on to something else? Do I need to exercise caution with certain students? Should I stop to help this student or group of students? Do I need to throw out some life vests?!

Chronicle leaves the teachers free to take the actions they deem fit. In doing so, they have the option of adding individual or group notes, and/or adjusting signals as students’ levels of understanding change.

Kate Peila from Purely Paperless gives her feedback on the Traffic Light System:

“Honestly, I use this feature more than any other feature in the app. The assessment tags allow me to do a quick skill-check or observation during instruction and save the results. So, for instance, if I am teaching place value and kids are working on their whiteboards, I can wander around and tag the kids that understand, need a little more support, or simply do not understand the concept at all. It's easy to see the information in the visual, color-coded display.”

Final Destination

Furthermore, when a teacher advances to a student’s individual page, he or she can easily view a student’s Traffic Light History. This provides a list of all Assessment Tags (destinations) and the student’s assessed colors. A teacher is able to easily pinpoint student strengths and needs, which among other things, becomes very useful for reporting, be it report cards, child study team meetings, or parent-teacher conferences.

New Arrivals

In addition to helping simplify the management of assessments, many new and exciting features have arrived through various updates within the past year. Chronicle continues to evolve upon feedback from its growing list of users. Rated a 5 star app, its value is found in the design and feedback from teachers.

Summing it up quite nicely, a user in Australia states, “I think that Chronicle is brilliantly designed and I'm so impressed with what you have so thoughtfully created. This is what happens when teachers create apps.”

Whatever your favorite assessment tools or methods may be, find out more about how Chronicle can help manage them all. Chronicle Lite is free and can give a feel for how the full-version, priced at $19.99 on iTunes, works. Comprehensive tutorials, accessed by using the YouTube link on the Powerhouse Education website, can also be used to further explore Chronicle’s uses in the classroom.

Get Chronicle Lite here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chronicle-lite/id684755553?mt=8

Full version, priced at $19.99 on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chronicle/id680147760?ls=1&mt=8

Powerhouse Education website: http://www.powerhouseed.com

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Book Review – Teaching and Learning With the iPad: 20 Days to Expert
August APP ED REVIEW Roundup – Lesson Planning Apps