I’m writing this over the week-end following back-to-back snow days on February 13 and 14. It’s the middle of February and as we all know, winter seems to have hit us with special intensity this year. The prolonged cold wears you down, and successive snow storms wear you out. And we’ve had enough snow days and delayed openings to consider additional school calendar adjustments.
I would propose that as a faculty, we come together around the idea that class learning can proceed uninterrupted even if students are not on campus. We would make the commitment to utilize online learning tools in every class so that lessons can be presented and students can be engaged in genuine learning activities. These activities would likely not be the same if all were at school, but they would be curricularly-based and of value to student learners.
What are the tools at the disposal of our faculty if weather dictates remote learning? I’d like to mention a few and encourage sharing among colleagues. In each division, there are teachers who have found online resources that work well. Share them with your division colleagues.
Our primary tool in all divisions is our class site on KnightSite. Each class site offers a variety of ways to offer material to students. Documents can be posted for students to download. For instance, if you want students to write an essay on a topic, a Word document might have the writing prompt and a few background links to check. Or a science teacher might include a chart of data that needs to be analyzed. Similarly, video can be posted as well, either as a link or as an embedded file. There’s a tremendous amount of video source material available to teachers; two rich sources that come to mind are Discovery Education and Khan Academy.
A teacher could easily create his or her own video if material is to be presented. A very easy technique is to talk in front of a video camera (for many, this means your phone) and then upload the video to YouTube, Vimeo, etc. Provide the students with the link and they can watch you just as they might do in class. A different sort of video can be created using software such as Screencast-o-Matic. This software is hosted by a website and very easy to use. It allows you to record what’s on your desktop, in effect making your computer monitor into a video. Talk using a computer’s built-in microphone (standard in laptops, tablets and phones) and now you’ll have a soundtrack with your visuals.
I believe I mentioned in a recent email that the Topics tab provides a convenient way to house a lesson. The lesson can be clearly identified. Downloads, videos, photos, links and even a chat feature (called Discussion) allow for lots of curricular flexibility. Topics can be customized to be appropriate for learners, K-12.
Snow days are ideal for project work. Students often have uninterrupted hours to fill and an activity that engages their interest by having them do something creative is ideal. This is particularly true for younger students. One site that can help is Glogster. Essentially, this site allows students to create online posters that can include photos, video and text. A graphic-design minded editor allows students to play with shapes, colors, fonts, etc. to create something visually interesting. Glogster is a social media site so privacy settings are important. But with some advanced work, teachers can easily assign, see and share student work.
I would propose that as a faculty, we come together around the idea that class learning can proceed uninterrupted even if students are not on campus. We would make the commitment to utilize online learning tools in every class so that lessons can be presented and students can be engaged in genuine learning activities. These activities would likely not be the same if all were at school, but they would be curricularly-based and of value to student learners.
What are the tools at the disposal of our faculty if weather dictates remote learning? I’d like to mention a few and encourage sharing among colleagues. In each division, there are teachers who have found online resources that work well. Share them with your division colleagues.
Our primary tool in all divisions is our class site on KnightSite. Each class site offers a variety of ways to offer material to students. Documents can be posted for students to download. For instance, if you want students to write an essay on a topic, a Word document might have the writing prompt and a few background links to check. Or a science teacher might include a chart of data that needs to be analyzed. Similarly, video can be posted as well, either as a link or as an embedded file. There’s a tremendous amount of video source material available to teachers; two rich sources that come to mind are Discovery Education and Khan Academy.
A teacher could easily create his or her own video if material is to be presented. A very easy technique is to talk in front of a video camera (for many, this means your phone) and then upload the video to YouTube, Vimeo, etc. Provide the students with the link and they can watch you just as they might do in class. A different sort of video can be created using software such as Screencast-o-Matic. This software is hosted by a website and very easy to use. It allows you to record what’s on your desktop, in effect making your computer monitor into a video. Talk using a computer’s built-in microphone (standard in laptops, tablets and phones) and now you’ll have a soundtrack with your visuals.
I believe I mentioned in a recent email that the Topics tab provides a convenient way to house a lesson. The lesson can be clearly identified. Downloads, videos, photos, links and even a chat feature (called Discussion) allow for lots of curricular flexibility. Topics can be customized to be appropriate for learners, K-12.
Snow days are ideal for project work. Students often have uninterrupted hours to fill and an activity that engages their interest by having them do something creative is ideal. This is particularly true for younger students. One site that can help is Glogster. Essentially, this site allows students to create online posters that can include photos, video and text. A graphic-design minded editor allows students to play with shapes, colors, fonts, etc. to create something visually interesting. Glogster is a social media site so privacy settings are important. But with some advanced work, teachers can easily assign, see and share student work.
You’ll want to work in the education section of the site: http://edu.glogster.com//what-is-glogster-edu/ Here’s how the site describes itself: “Glogster EDU is the leading global education platform for the creative expression of knowledge and skills in the classroom and beyond. We empower educators and students with the technology to create GLOGS - online multimedia posters - with text, photos, videos, graphics, sounds, drawings, data attachments and more. Glogster EDU is so simple to use that now over 7,000,000 people (including students as young as 4 years old) across the planet are reaping the benefits of this amazing system.”
Google Drive is another useful tool for remote learning. It’s an online suite of sites that allows for interactivity, creativity and project-oriented work. Google Drive is a feature of Google that allows users to upload documents, forms, presentations, etc. and then share editing privileges with others. So a group of students, for instance, could work collaboratively on a story, each from their own home. They’d all log-in to the same document and could, in real time, add, critique and edit content. They could build a PowerPoint presentation in the same fashion. (PowerPoint, the name we’re familiar with, is really a Microsoft product. In Google Drive, that type of document is called a Presentation.) One caveat: Google account holders need to be +13 years of age.
Much of what Google Drive offers is very familiar to us. Users can create, edit and share the Google equivalent of Word documents, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and draw in a Paint-like editor. But Drive separates itself from the familiar Microsoft productivity suite by including the Form option.
By choosing to create a Google Form, users have at their disposal a template to survey or quiz other users. In a Google Form, each question can be set up as a text response, multiple choice, checkbox, choose from a list, a scale, a grid, by date or by time. When your Form is complete, it can be posted on a live web site, can be embedded into another site or sent as a link. Responses to the Form go directly into a spreadsheet that editors can access. The end result is a free, easy-to-use instrument to collect data from others. Teachers can use a Form to find out information from students. Students can create and disseminate a Form as part of an information gathering project.
Here’s an overview of Google Drive: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2424384?hl=en
If we want to provide consistent, continuous instruction in the face of school-closing weather, online tools offer a great solution. But they’ll only work if teachers find resources that make sense by grade and content. I’ve offered a few resources to get everyone thinking about the possibilities, but encourage ongoing conversations about online resources that are helpful.
I'm mindful of the fact that online education must be considered in terms of age and content. Many lower school students, for instance, may need parent supervision when using a computer and this may suggest other approaches to out-of-the-classroom learning during inclement weather. That said, I believe all middle school and upper school students can be productive learners at home. And with careful planning and thought, perhaps some lower school students can take advantage of online possibilities as well.
Google Drive is another useful tool for remote learning. It’s an online suite of sites that allows for interactivity, creativity and project-oriented work. Google Drive is a feature of Google that allows users to upload documents, forms, presentations, etc. and then share editing privileges with others. So a group of students, for instance, could work collaboratively on a story, each from their own home. They’d all log-in to the same document and could, in real time, add, critique and edit content. They could build a PowerPoint presentation in the same fashion. (PowerPoint, the name we’re familiar with, is really a Microsoft product. In Google Drive, that type of document is called a Presentation.) One caveat: Google account holders need to be +13 years of age.
Much of what Google Drive offers is very familiar to us. Users can create, edit and share the Google equivalent of Word documents, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and draw in a Paint-like editor. But Drive separates itself from the familiar Microsoft productivity suite by including the Form option.
By choosing to create a Google Form, users have at their disposal a template to survey or quiz other users. In a Google Form, each question can be set up as a text response, multiple choice, checkbox, choose from a list, a scale, a grid, by date or by time. When your Form is complete, it can be posted on a live web site, can be embedded into another site or sent as a link. Responses to the Form go directly into a spreadsheet that editors can access. The end result is a free, easy-to-use instrument to collect data from others. Teachers can use a Form to find out information from students. Students can create and disseminate a Form as part of an information gathering project.
Here’s an overview of Google Drive: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2424384?hl=en
If we want to provide consistent, continuous instruction in the face of school-closing weather, online tools offer a great solution. But they’ll only work if teachers find resources that make sense by grade and content. I’ve offered a few resources to get everyone thinking about the possibilities, but encourage ongoing conversations about online resources that are helpful.
I'm mindful of the fact that online education must be considered in terms of age and content. Many lower school students, for instance, may need parent supervision when using a computer and this may suggest other approaches to out-of-the-classroom learning during inclement weather. That said, I believe all middle school and upper school students can be productive learners at home. And with careful planning and thought, perhaps some lower school students can take advantage of online possibilities as well.
Finally, some recent news about other schools have found ways to utilize
online resources for student learning...
