Hypothetically In Context

Useful or Relevant in My Context

Teaching with any online component, I think, would need to have some specific components:

• Ability to see individuals face to face. I have taken a couple of classes online, and although it does not compare to sitting amongst my peers, being able to visibly see classmates and instructors appeals to my learning style. A couple of classes only met 3 times over the course of a semester and I found that extremely difficult to navigate content without regular exposure to other perspectives.
• A way to provide content and receive student work for assessment.
• A way to communicate outside of email. Some way to be able to provide feedback easily and regularly.
• A way for students to connect and collaborate with each other.
• Ways for students to be creative with what they create.

Yes… I’m Listening… Go On…

 

uBlock Origin – When Katia introduced this tool in class, I immediately checked it out and have not looked back. I forget the days of having to sit through an ad or two before a video starts. I find myself looking at the icon by the address bar showing how many ads have been blocked on a specific tab.

 

Something else that I noticed, unrelated to education, is that sites that I stream from are starting to plead with me to get rid of the adblocker.

 

Minecraft – I have used this in the past, but recently learning about teaching Treaty Education via Minecraft has reinspired me. Learning about the students I work with over the course of their first term leads me to believe that there will be a small group of them who I will have to work hard to sell them on the experience. For the most part though, I think there will be huge buy-in from the students. Likely too much, and I will be setting myself up to look at students’ access to Chromebooks!

 

YouTube – I am by no means a YouTuber. I am just fine keeping myself off of as many online platforms as possible. I have used YouTube for years to find (and vet) resources to supplement lessons or activities in the classroom, especially lately when trying to spur on independent learning. Much like my views on Screencastify, Loom, or other tools that one could record lessons or content on, I am just not comfortable with it. However, providing it as an option for students to create their own content on and submit via the link is something that I will add to my toolbelt. I have already had some students submit dance assignments from Art class this way. Of course, it also provides me with an opportunity to discuss privacy with students.

 

Quizizz – Learning about this tool, I really like the gamification element to learning, the variety of pre-made question sets across a broad set of topics/subjects, the ability to create my own sets of questions, and the ability to see the results afterwards. A good formative assessment tool for sure.

 

 

Edpuzzle – Like Quizizz, I see Edpuzzle as a formative assessment tool and a way to collect data for assessment via triangulation. Being able to insert my own questions into videos allows me to draw attention to specific items in a low pressure, low risk environment as students can roll through videos and questions independently.

 

 

Flip – Flip is a tool that I had used sparingly, but the more that I have gotten into it, the more that students have used it, and the more that my peers have talked about it, I am seeing more and more uses for the tool. Providing students with a way to create audio or visual content that can be submitted as student work for assessment, or as a means of generating discussion through an online medium, Flip has many potential uses in the classroom. The filters and commenting are cool extras, but I like that as the teacher, I have the ability to moderate comments and other settings that are similar to social media (views).

I’m Just Looking Around, Thanks

As with any tools or topics that we have discussed in class, a lot of it comes down to comfort and confidence in my own use. This is just like in-person teaching. If I have certain lessons or activities that I enjoy and have built comfort in using, and the students have enjoyed them giving me confidence to use them again, I will. It will take a commitment to myself to unpack and dig into these apps or tools to build that confidence and comfort, and some exploration with the students will help for sure. Like any other professional development, a circle of colleagues that I could turn to for help, tricks, and tips would be super helpful.

If I Had To Choose…

I have grown to be very comfortable using Google Classroom, so I do have a way to communicate, distribute materials, and receive student work. Students have also become more and more familiar with using the Classroom as they begin to use it much earlier than when they get to me in Grade 8.

I would definitely need to expand my repertoire of tools that allow for an online format. I have not used tools like Screencastify or Loom to record lessons. I have not created content on YouTube either. This is a glaring weakness in my online instruction, because it means that I need to be on camera with a whiteboard behind me to provide instruction and examples, much like I do in the classroom. I chalk this up to not wanting to hear my own voice! Maybe I will outgrow this discomfort in the later stages of my career though, as I ponder the ability to provide a link to any lesson at any time. I do worry though, that using pre-recorded lessons does remove the ability for teachable moments and pushes questions to the end of the lesson.