Crossposted from http://www.edumacnation.com/2009/08/volunteer-o-matic/

(Click the image above to go to the Volunteer-o-Matic iTunes page)

We are truly becoming a paperless world and the Volunteer-O-Matic (iTunes Link) application helps this transition! Keep on reading to see what Volunteer-O-Matic does, how it works, and a few ways I believe a teacher can use it in the classroom…

Here is what the developer has to share on the Volunteer-O-Matic website:

Generic Software Products:

“Ever need to quickly pick a random name from a list for someone to handle the check go first taking turns make a pizza runkick off a discussion?

Maybe you want to make a list of tasks or chores you have been putting off and then randomly select one? Can’t decide what to drink next?

Well, with Volunteer-O-Matic you can create lists of names, tasks, items, or numbers in seconds and then let the app do all the hard work for you!

Volunteer-O-Matic features

- unlimited capacity for making lists of names, chores, tasks, and numbers

- convenient one-click interface to pick names right from your Address Book

- one-touch number list generation

- temporary removal of entries fromnext spin

- shiny buttons”

(Via Generic Software)

The description does a great job providing a general overview. At first glance the potential of the application did not become apparent to me until I bought it and began to experiment and brainstorm about its potential.

How does it work?

The user interface is super easy to navigate and use. The big green spin button is located directly in the middle of the screen along with a button for removing an entry and resetting lists. To change a list all the user needs to do is rotate the spin dial toward the left hand side of the screen. The right spin dial automatically changes to the list of your choice.

Located at the top of the screen is the List Manager button which brings the user to the location where new lists can be created and old lists can be edited.

The application has a few preset lists. This is helpful for gaining a general understanding of how lists can be generated and edited. I went ahead and created a list of student names to see how the list generating process worked.

I liked how the process of adding names was easy and did not require any extra button presses. I had assumed that after each name was added I would be brought back to main list. Instead the application allows you to keep entering names, or numbers/items, until you are ready to go back to the list manager page.

There is also an easy way for adding contacts directly from your address book. I find this detail to be extremely useful.

Once user lists have been made all that is needed is a spin!

If the user is selecting individuals for a group of tasks they can easily remove entries from the list and proceed to randomly select entries.

Overall the application is very stable, easy to use, and well worth the cost.

How could Volunteer-O-Matic be used in the classroom?

Here are three different classroom scenarios where I believe Volunteer-O-Matic can be used…

1) Content Area Projects

Each year I have my students begin to explore the research process. Typically we begin the inquiry process by generating questions and thinking about what it is we want to know about a particular topic. For example, one of the last projects I worked on with my students this year was an animal research report. I collaborated with my school librarian to compile a list of resources available for the students and together as a whole group we selected animals that would later be selected by the students. The process needed to be fair and I also wanted the students to end up with an animal that they would be interested in. I had the students select their first, second, and third choice and I randomly selected names out of a bag…

If, at that time, I had Volunteer-O-Matic I could have easily just opened the class list and gone through the process of spinning, selecting the name, and then finish by removing the name from the list. This would have saved at least 5 minutes of not needing to have the students tear up pieces of paper, jot their names down, and place their names (crumpled) into a hat. Five minutes seems like a short amount of time but in a tightly scheduled day those 5 minutes can seem like a half hour!

2) Reading Centers

Reading centers are a collaborative experience where students either rotate or are assigned to a particular center for a specific length of time. These variables are all dependent on a teacher’s particular management style. For my classroom I like to have a day where the students choose from their favorite reading center activities. I have been lucky over the past few years to have students who have diverse interests so selection time has always gone fairly smooth. The difficult nature of this process is that I end up having to prepare for 7 or 8 centers (later in the day) rather than the typical 3 or 4. Preparation in the beginning of the year is much easier when my materials are fresh and new. As the year progresses I tend to run out of supplies, pieces go missing, and overall the extra time seems to get erased by meetings, phone calls, and team planning.

With Volunteer-O-Matic I could have the students assist with creating a list of their favorite 7 or 8 centers. From this list we would randomly select 3 or 4. It is natural that there will be children who are emotionally set on a particular center. If they know, as well as the rest of the students, that the larger list will be decreased through random selection it may help them adapt easier to the change. I could use the application to narrow the list to half the number of stations and in doing so also reinforce the mathematical concept of probability and chance.

3) Morning Meeting

Each morning I conduct a morning meeting with my students following announcements. I have not always been consistent with these meetings though and sometimes I shorten or leave components out in order to finish other classroom business. It is my hope this year to become more consistent. As part of the consistency I hope to create a list of different morning meeting closing activities.

In the beginning of the year I will share each activity (game, song, poem, etc.) one or two times in order to introduce them to the students. From then on I will use a list generated in Volunteer-O-Matic to randomly select the closing activity for the morning meeting! As the year progresses, and new closing activities are introduced, I will keep adding to the list and all will be conveniently saved right in Volunteer-O-Matic.

What do you think?

As you can tell I am a big fan of the application. It is a simple yet powerful tool that can be used in a multitude of situations both at home or work.

Do you think you could use something like Volunteer-O-Matic in your classroom? How about at home?

Crossposted from http://www.edumacnation.com/2009/08/volunteer-o-matic/