Using Your Gizmos Trial

Part 2 of 3: Nuts and Bolts

You are now into your second week of your Gizmos Free Trial. We hope you are discovering how useful they can be for teaching concepts in math and science.

In this edition of your free trial newsletter, we’ll give you some tips on the “nuts and bolts” of using your account.

Setting Up Classes

Your Homepage contains up to six tabs for classes. You can add Gizmos to classes, enroll students, and view student results on assessment questions. When you find a Gizmo you like, add it to a class by clicking the Add Gizmo to Class button and clicking “+Add” next to the desired class or classes.

To learn more, read the Adding Gizmos to Classes and Adding, Removing, and Renaming Classes help documents.

Enrolling Students

If you signed up for a Gizmos “Teacher Plus Students” trial, you can enroll up to 35 students in each of your classes. The easiest way to do this is by letting students self enroll by providing them with a Class Code. If you wish, you can manually add students with the Manage Roster tool. Students who already have ExploreLearning accounts should self-enroll from within their accounts. The Enrolling Students in a Class document gives more details on enrolling students.

Quick tip: To retrieve the username and password of a student, click the tab for the class in which the student is enrolled, and click the Manage Roster link below the class title. Each username and password is displayed next to the student’s name. See the Retrieving Student Usernames and Passwords document for more details.

Teaching Tips

Gizmos can be used in many settings and contexts. Because they are online, they can be used in the classroom, in a computer lab, at home, or anywhere else with internet access. You can start by projecting a Gizmo onto a screen or interactive whiteboard for use in a whole-class lesson. Once students are familiar with how Gizmos work, let individuals or teams of students use the Gizmo on individual computers.

The Teaching with Gizmos Demo Movies show how you might teach specific lessons using Gizmos. You can read about some of the creative ways teachers are using Gizmos on the Case Studies page.

Checking Assessment Results

Each Gizmo is supplied with five multiple-choice Assessment Questions designed to provide a quick check of understanding. (These questions were not designed to be a used as formal assessment.)

Once students have submitted their answers, you can view their results by clicking the “Assessment Results” link next to the Gizmo on the Class page. If you like, you can reset student results so they can have another chance to take the assessment.

Have Questions? Ask Support!

If at any point during the 30 days your trial is active you have questions, comments, or concerns regarding ANY aspect of your Free Trial, please let us know. You can email us any time through our Support Form.

Stay tuned for Using Gizmos Tips and Tricks Part 3 that will arrive in your email inbox soon. If you can't wait, you can read it right now on our Newsletters page.

Keep Going with Gizmos

If you would like a customized quote for bringing Gizmos to your school or school district, please contact your ExploreLearning account executive: