In Fort Wayne, Indiana, a strong sense of community and successful academics go hand-in-hand. This belief has always sustained Fort Wayne Community Schools (FWCS), a 160-year-old district that thrives with the help of its hardworking people and high standards for achievement.
In 2019, FWCS hosted a professional learning session featuring Jon Corippo, 22-year educator and co-author of the renowned EduProtocols series.
During his presentation, Corippo showcased Quizizz, an online learning platform already widely used by FWCS teachers with individual accounts. However, Corippo’s presentation illuminated the Quizizz District Plan’s expanded opportunities for rostering, data, and differentiation, all of which got teachers interested in new and innovative ways to use the platform, said Shannon Quigley, FWCS District Technology Coordinator. This immediate buy-in and usage growth helped solidify the need for an upgrade.
“When funding became available, we were ready,” Quigley said. “With some tools, the free version is good enough, but we really felt like the additional features on the Quizizz District Plan would enhance instruction in the ways that we wanted. It gave teachers more resources to make learning effective, and the tools felt more attainable for students.”
By upgrading to a Quizizz District Plan, FWCS gained
- LMS integration and rostering with Schoology
- More insightful data, and grades synced with PowerSchool
- Standards tagging, nine total question types, and enhanced tools for differentiation
- Unlimited districtwide library access and account storage
- Greater engagement, motivation, and mastery for all students
- Increased collaboration opportunities for teachers
- Professional development and dedicated support
Blended Learning Opportunities Enhance Instructional Quality
Following Corippo’s visit, FWCS purchased a Quizizz District Plan because the platform fit well with the district’s vision for instructional technology, said Quigley, a 16-year FWCS veteran who was an elementary teacher and instructional coach before transitioning to her current role. Quigley’s IntegratEd team works to help FWCS teachers access, create, and use technology to “leverage digital learning experiences” with students.
“We don’t want to see technology as a filler or an isolated component of instruction,” Quigley explained. “We want technology to enhance teaching, not drive it, so we work closely with our curriculum and professional learning departments to make sure we are targeting students’ needs based on our data.”
The successful implementation of this blended learning concept, made even more popular following the pandemic’s influx of educational technology, requires intentional tools selection, flexible instruction, and strategic data analysis. Quizizz makes all of these easier.
Alignment of Academic Goals with Technology Tools is Top Priority
Along with the ability to effectively blend the platform with various styles of teaching, the Quizizz District Plan helps reinforce specific FWCS academic initiatives.
“One of our district’s core goals right now is focused around literacy,” Quigley said, “so everything we do with IntegratEd, whether we’re introducing a tech tool or modeling a strategy, works alongside those teams to make sure we’re strengthening the core programs that all of our students are engaged in.”
In addition to literacy, FWCS is also focused on goals for social emotional learning and numeracy, so when evaluating district technology product purchases like Quizizz, Quigley and her team conduct rubric-based due diligence to ensure the tool 1) addresses these initiatives, 2) is easy for students and teachers to use, 3) offers valuable data, and 4) provides a robust return on investment.
“We’re really working to build the strength of our phonics and phonemic awareness program,” Quigley said, “so using the Quizizz audio/video question and answer type to have our younger students hear and say sounds is going to be really powerful. It’s something that’s normally hard to do individually, but with Quizizz, you can have kids use the platform to do this independently and in stations. I’m glad to see it supports learning that way, and I’m excited about what we can do with audio/video this year.”
Highest Engagement Delivers Strongest Results
Quizizz passed the test when it came to meeting FWCS’s instructional technology and curriculum-based requirements, but one of the platform’s best qualities is engagement.
“Quizizz makes learning fun,” Quigley said. “If we can get kids hooked on learning and have a vested interest, then that’s half the battle. Any time I’ve been in a classroom and I’ve used Quizizz as a component of the lesson, engagement is always 95 to 100 percent. Once teachers see this potential, that’s the biggest payoff.”
Though Quigley’s days as a lead classroom teacher are behind her, she still uses Quizizz when called to cover as an ‘administrator’ substitute.
“It’s my go-to,” Quigley said. “If I can rework any lesson in the day, I put Quizizz in there and kids go crazy, they love it.”
Helpful in pinch-hit situations? No doubt. Saves time and is easy to use? Of course. However, the platform has really evolved and leveled up its overall Quizizz District Plan value by genuinely listening to educator feedback, compassionately understanding student needs, and relentlessly designing a tool that strives to satisfy both.
“Knowing that the team at Quizizz is receptive to different teaching styles and different ways that we can continue motivating students to keep learning fresh has been a really big selling point,” Quigley said. “For example, the addition of Lessons was huge. Having the instructional slides in between the various question types shows that Quizizz is not just a quick game. You’re teaching, while you keep the students engaged, and gamifying everything is really what they enjoy…That’s what we hear from teachers: ‘My kids love Quizizz.’"
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