The focus of today's session was familiarising ourselves with using Chromebooks and iPads and putting ourselves into "the shoes of our learners". It was beneficial to have the opportunity to do this as it highlighted the near to allow opportunities for students to familiarise themselves with these devices and their features also.
The first session involved completing several tasks using a Chromebook. I found this very useful as I have in the past found Chromebooks quite frustrating to use as I wasn't used to the different "pad" without the left and right click buttons. Today's session helped me to feel a lot more confident with using a Chromebook. It was also great to have the opportunity to learn and familiarise myself with the range of Chromebook shortcuts which will be something useful to take back to my learners. I have added these shortcuts to my Class Site in order for my students to have these to hand throughout the day to refer back to when they are completing various learning tasks. We will go through these together as a whole-class lesson.
The second session involved completing tasks using "Explain Everything" on an iPad. I did not have an iPad to use as we do not use these at our school apart from in the Junior classrooms. Instead, I used the online whiteboard. I really enjoyed familiarising myself with this and completed these tasks. Completing these activities highlighted the importance of allowing students time to explore these learning tools in order to become familiar with the different functions and to develop their confidence and independence with using these. Without the teaching and time to explore the students are less likely to use these and certainly not to their full potential.
The last part of the day was spent on screen-castify. I was pleased to have the opportunity to extend my confidence with using this extension. I completed the assigned task and then created a maths-based screen-castify (see below) which I then put onto my Class Site as rewindable learning for my students based on our current learning - Geometry/Transformations.
Kia ora Linda! I enjoyed reading your post about the devices session. It's great to see your reflection on your learning and to read about how you use Chromebooks and the Screencastify extension in your classroom. I agree, it is a really useful task to experience what our learners experience using the devices. I use the "Explain Everything" app in my junior class and I am fortunate enough to get a tutor in my class once a week so I can learn how to use the app alongside my students.
ReplyDeleteKia Ora, Michelle. Thanks for your comment on my post. It must be great having the tutor in your class to assist with your learning of using Explain Everything also. It is the best way to learn when engaging with these things at the same time as your students. I have really enjoyed bringing my new learning back to my class and showing my students as this has helped me to become more confident with it too.
DeleteKia ora Linda,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that the digital dig was a helpful way in which you could learn more about the chromebook. They are very easy to use but I understand the frustration when they are different from your own device. I know I am still learning things as I explore different areas with the chromebooks. I found the key is always asking if any of my students know, there is at least one who does.
What a great screencastify you have created for your students. It is so powerful for students to have their own teachers talking through things, and having it rewindable and available anytime is an added bonus. I look forward to seeing what you do with this in the future.
Ngā mihi,
Sharon
Kia ora Linda,
ReplyDeleteGreat to see you growing in confidence in using screencastify. Such a versatile tool for you and your learners. I find I need to remember to give the screencastify a title so I can find it easily again in my Drive.
Ngā mihi,
Maria