My cohort and I are currently completing our second course in our Technology Specialist Program, and throughout this course, we have reviewed a lot of the elements we learned about in the previous course, but dove a little deeper this round. What I appreciated about this particular course was the opportunity I had to actually practice many of these platforms with my students, when previously, in the summer, I only could theorize what would happen in MY classroom.
Two of the particular artifacts we exercised and dabbled in were GAFE and another collaborative web 2.0 tool. I particularly, am fond of GAFE and the elements it offers to both teachers and students, and the other artifact I explored was called FlipGrid, a micro-video-blogging website that allows students to respond to the teacher’s question and one another.
Through this course, and with guidance from my instructor, what I have come to appreciate about GAFE is the seamless collaborative qualities it offers. If you were to ask anyone in my building, as a teacher, I cannot get enough of “teamwork”, and I feel that Google did a FANTASTIC job bringing it all together for educational purposes. I love the fact that I am able to jump into my students’ work and suggest while they are in progress, I love that students cannot lose papers in the Abyss of the Desk, and I love that it is SO MUCH easier to read students writing (even with their inventive spelling). I have a friend, from another district, who is overwhelmed because her school just recently launched Google, and she is ready to throw the computers out the window! And I am so excited to go over to her house and show her the wonderful possibilities. Seriously, Google offers, slides, forms (my personal favorite), docs, sheets, and even hangouts! And all of it organized into your Google Drive! Not to mention, holy, user friendly!
The second platform I experimented with was FlipGrid. Understandably, I ventured away from the majority of other classmates, but I am happy I did! For one, if I need to learn about schoology, I know I have at least five people who can help me...and by venturing off, I was able to experiment with something others haven’t and bring it back to my cohort and share my experience! FlipGrid is a micro-video-blog, where students are responsible for answering their teacher’s question. Coupled with an interactive response to teachers, students are also able to comment and respond to one another’s micro-video-blogs. I believe this provides students who are afraid of speaking in front of others, an opportunity to practice, and re record until comfortable posting. This is particularly well suited for our ELLs who experience anxiety when speaking.
I appreciate your venturing! I have noticed since taking these classes that I tend to stay in my comfort zone with tech, especially Google products. I enjoy trying out the new to me tools and challenging my comfort! I used Schoology because I was unfamiliar with it and I am interested in moving my classroom LMS to it. I think the features are impressive and I recommend you look into it!
ReplyDeleteI took a reading summer class and it was hard to "theorize" what would be happening in my classroom. I know that I would not have been as successful if this class was done online. I need to see and hear people "live" in order to be my best.
ReplyDeleteI love how you are able to show others your love of Google now. My personal favorite part of Google is the "revision history" button. I remember so many times forgetting to save something on Word or accidentally hitting escape before I saved my final product. I really like it because I am able to see what students are working on in a word document as a group. I have given a group project out and had a student tell me a group member was not working on what they needed to, I was able to go back through and see who had been working on what and it was so nice. It actually saved me in my personal life a few weeks ago. I shared a document with someone and she is not very tech savvy and she cut out her wedding vows instead of copying them. She had though they were gone to the world so she left her house to go to the rehearsal dinner. I was able to bring them up in a matter of seconds. It saved everyone a ton of time.
ReplyDeleteSheila, you are absolutely right! In the summer we could only theorize all the possibilities of how an assignment could potentially work out. This time around I really enjoyed creating some lessons and actually using them with my students. It gave me an opportunity to execute the lesson and reflect on what went well or what needed to be tweaked.
ReplyDeleteI also have to say, I'm glad you were in this class because you always asked the right questions! Thanks!
I think I have an even deeper appreciation for Google education tools now that I have read your reflection. It really has opened up a new world of collaboration and feedback possibilities, and yes, no papers shoved in desks is a huge bonus. You also make me curious to try FlipGrid. It sounds like a fun and useful tool.
ReplyDeleteI could not agree with you more about the benefits of using GAFE. Its applications are available online for communication and collaboration among school stakeholders. I am also interested on deep on the FlipGrid platform. It offers a great social learning environment for students to be engaged by recording themselves, sharing and replying each other’s ideas through their own videos. FlipGrip is a great medium for students to demonstrate their learning orally. I will keep looking at it in order to use it in my instruction. Thank you for bringing this Web 2.0 tool out to my attention.
ReplyDeleteI concur about the benefits of GAFE! The organization aspects alone are amazing, no longer can students use the excuse "My dog ate my homework!"
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing FlipGrip. I am eager to learn how to use this. It sounds like it differentiates well for students who struggle with writing and reading.
I truly enjoy working with you and your positive outlook with GAFE!