Highlights of Technology in the Classroom
Yet again I am in ore of the High School Faculty. I have been asked to write a contribution for the school newsletter and was struggling to think of what to write about. What snapshot should I choose to illustrate what an amazing group of individuals I work with? I am not sure that it is ever possible to adequately reflect what happens in the classrooms in a few words however, I must so these are my selected snap shots....We bought a class set of Google Cardboard and I was thinking about how to share ideas with the faculty. In walked Bob Sugden and on seeing them quickly asked if he could use them at the end of the week. I, of course, said yes and asked if he needed any support. No was his reply, we will experiement and see what happens and that is exactly what he did. He gave the pupils a link to the Within App and they download they UN piece "Clouds of Syria" a powerful piece where you become immersed in the life of a young girl in a Syrian refugee camp.
Just image that as a teaching tool, you can transport a whole class, without leaving the classroom. You can make the concepts that you teach real and you can make them more engaging. "...Instead of just being taught it in class, we were able to see through the eyes of an immigrant how their lives are and how they have been affected. It was a very eye-opening experience." - Caroline Gram, Grade 11The iPad Pro has been a game-changing tool in Mr G's math courses this year. He built tutorial videos for use either by the entire class, or specific to one student. Using the Explain Everything app, he can efficiently create personalized videos to cover concepts of concern in students. Explain Everything has also been used by the Math department to allow pupils, on the school iPads, to review topics and produce their own learning materials.“Mr G's video solutions to study packs have been helpful in understanding how to solve complex math problems, which a simple mark scheme couldn't explain. Moreover, Mr G worked through problems with us on his iPad in class that were later uploaded to Schoology, allowing me to easily access and review the more difficult topics later on in the course.” – Megan Roby, Grade 12He also explained that "working problems in class with students at their desks becomes more organized and efficient. Using Notability I have an unlimited reserve of workspace instead of scrap paper. Grid paper options, colours, and highlighting tools help students visualize math processes and illustrate key concepts. It’s easy and effective. When the students ask for the notes, I can email them with a few taps."“The iPad in the class is really useful not only for Mr. G but also for the students, he uses different colors to visually explain how to work problems out and it makes us understand the content much better. Also, it links directly to a copy on Schoology so even if he is working with one student the whole class can see how he solves the problems either in real time or out of class.” -Merije de Wit, Grade 11Pupils also use the Desmos app, either on the iPads or on Chrome, to immediately visualize connections between graphs and equations. These technological tools help make Math more visual and allow for a diverse teaching approach.This is a great example of a blog I forgot to post! So here is a snap shot from a couple of years ago!