Greetings everyone! I hope you are all having a great time self-isolating and keeping yourselves safe! Today I will be recapping our first online class and the presentations we saw. I will be supporting my post with my personal pros and cons of Zoom. I will also touch on what I learned about Twine.

Class Schedule

  • Used Zoom
    • Kicked us off twice of Heather’s computer
    • Had to switch to mine
  • Pros of Zoom
    • Large classes can participate
    • Screen mirroring of the desktop to view presentation
    • everyone can participate and speak if they wish by raising their hand and unmuting themself in a calm manner
  • Cons of Zoom
    • hard to hear everyone if computers pick up feedback from other computers
    • some students may be able to goof off in the background
    • if someone does not have access to a laptop or wifi they are not able to participate
    • there is a hard learning curve for the set up for those who are not technologically educated

Next, I will be outlining what I learned from the presentations today

Presentation #1: Photography in the Classroom

  • Photography in the classroom
    • Students can take the camera home and take pics of their life
    • Learn about photo editing and uploading
  • Photography as an assessment tool
    • Portfolios 
    • Reggio Emilia → portfolio of learning
  • Pros:
    • Place-based pedagogy
    • Displays work in authentic ways 
    • Documenting memories
    • Connects personal lives to class
  • Cons:
    • Equipment (expensive)
    • Have to teach how to use a camera
  • Ethics:
    • Photo release forms 
  • Primary Ideas:
    • Photo scavenger hunt (eg. go take pictures of nature)
    • Take pics-write story
  • Intermediate Ideas:
    • Start a photography club
      • Historical building photoshoot
    • No copyright if they take their own photos

 

Presentation #2: How is Kahoot Beneficial to student learning and understanding?

  • What is Kahoot
    • A website/app to create quizzes
    • Have to use own devices and connect 
    • Promotes sociability amongst students
  • How to create a Kahoot:
    • Make an account as a teacher or student
    • Different templates: eg. slides, formative assessment, puzzles
    • Type in a question and put an image
      • True or false, multiple-choice, open-ended questions
  •  Game-based student response system
    • Class/individual competition
  • Pros:
    • Provokes attention amongst students 
    • Promotes student interaction
    • It’s fun!
  • Cons:
    • Usually one answer only
    • Technology issues 
    • Usernames
  • Solidifies learning

 

Presentation #3: Technology shortcuts in the classroom

  • Spellcheck, Talk to Text, and Text to Talk
  • While these technologies are very crucial for some students with designations and learning differences, they can be used by other students in a way that makes them lazy and causes them to lose necessary literacy and language skills

 

Presentation #4: SMARTboards

  • A controlled whiteboard connected to a computer and projector
  • Have a touch-controlled screen 
  • Digital ink
  • Pros:
    • Interactive and engaging
    • Reduce paper
    • Low maintenance 
    • Write notes on a whiteboard → they are save 
  • Cons:
    • Expensive $$$
  • Ideas: 
    • Group activities 
    • Videos and games
  • Tips and Tricks
    • Change pen size, font, colour
    • Recording function 

 

Presentation #5: Screen Time: Beneficial or Detrimental 

  • How might we incorporate meaningful screen time in the classroom?
  • Misconceptions:
    • Stupid
    • Unhealthy
    • Social awkward
    • Earlier death
  • Have a discussion with students
    • Personal information
    • Stranger danger
    • Digital footprint
    • Seeing is not believing 
  • Lastpass.com
  • Useful Applications for kids:
    • Raz-kids → reading levels, tracks student progress, fee
    • Mystery science → interactive activities
    • Explain everything

 

Our final activity of the day was Twine:

  • Twine was used to make Bandersnatch
  • Use to make poetry
  • Use to make choose your own adventure stories
  • Can insert images or links
  • Interviews: buyers guide 
  • Use Chrome, saves to your hard drive in cookies. Don’t clear your cookies!
  • Do not use on safari 

Here is a screenshot of my Twine story. It is a fictional tale about my friend Heather.