Learning and teaching with Quipper

It was supposed to be just a way to divert the class’ attention from Facebook to something more “educational” and ensure that learning would continue through Christmas vacation.

This was how I (and my students) got hooked on Quipper School.

One reason Quipper School is a good choice for e-learning is … it’s FREE!

With just a few clicks, you can access various online learning sites. A teacher can get hold of students’ performances and evaluations without marking a paper or lifting a pen.

Quipper offers a simple setup to allow the teacher to “get the hang of it” in just a matter of minutes. He or she can even collaborate with other teachers and send messages to parents about their kids’ progress.

I started by introducing the idea that pupils could chat with me about the project I was going to assign since everything would be done online.

Everything online

Specific worries and problems were immediately raised such as the lack of computers or Internet connection at home, parents not allowing kids to go to Internet shops and the fear of making mistakes in account setups.

I suggested free Wi-Fi zones, tablets and android phones, instead of personal computers, laptops and netbooks, and the cheapest Internet access, the Pisonet. I also gave my students a short tutorial on how to create an account with Quipper.

Suddenly, everyone was excited to get started. I kept my fingers crossed throughout that Christmas break.

New Year of 2014 delivered assorted messages through Quipper chat. Some expressed satisfaction, others only wanted to say hello and others had questions on how to proceed with the project.

I was very proud that

95 percent of my elementary students were able to meet the project deadline, which I was able to access easily through my Quipper account.

I showed them the results of their work and asked how they felt.

One said he was a little disappointed since his score was not what he wanted. Many of the kids said that because they were working online, they felt they were just “playing” or having fun, just like accessing their Facebook accounts.

After that Christmas “experiment,” my students are now more eager to learn when I tell them a weekend assignment, based on the week’s lesson, will be posted on Quipper. Teachers can post a topic and a quiz or exercise on students’ accounts.

They can even create “groups” so that exercises are classified according to students’ abilities.

My students also eagerly await the results of their work when I open and show my account on the board since the Quipper teacher can monitor everyone’s progress through individual and class management.

My classes and the school principal were able to meet two executives from Quipper, who came to see me personally to ask what we thought of the software and to find out from children’s and teachers’ experiences how they could improve their services.

I was even featured on their website, Facebook accounts and promotional video.

The J. Zamora Elementary School teachers got a free demonstration lesson-workshop from Joseph Ganderson, a London-based marketing executive who dealt with all the excitement and uncertainties of the faculty members.

Deeply involved

With the constant e-mails, text messages and calls of Quipper executives here in Manila, I am now exploring how teachers can truly benefit from Quipper and how we can use it on a larger scale.

Takuya Homma, Quipper marketing director, after meeting with English supervisors and some English master teachers of Manila, promised to help in retrieving class progress reports and consolidating them into district and division levels to allow supervisors to access them immediately, instead of waiting for encoded copies.

This will greatly help identify much more quickly the strengths and weaknesses of  schoolchildren.

For more information, visit www.quipperschool.com.

The author is the District 6 coordinator for journalism, information and communication technology and reading in Manila.