Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
In my Sway and below in this message, I outline a large project that can bring together so many collaborative skills – as well as ICT and digital skills, and many other 21st Century and curricular skills. But these skills will need to be taught – sometimes in isolation, sometimes not – before children can bring it all together. Digital technology has the great ability to allow pupils to integrate so many skills.
Schools will require a whole school approach – such as within a Digital Learning Plan or other subject curricular plans – to enable children to build all of the skills required for such a project. These skills cannot be taught in one school year or a couple of school terms. A wholes chool integrated approach is required.
In this context, teachers, such as me, can focus on skills development required at my stage – the skills I am teaching in my year for my class at their level. Children must be taught the digital skills required, such as safely searching on the internet from trusted sources, using M365 software and much more. Children also need to learn the skills of research such as gathering information, analyzing, synthesizing, and more. Children also need the literacy skills to read, write and present information, and more. Children also need to develop collaborative skills, learning to work in pairs, groups and skills to evaluate and reflect on their work, and more.
It is only within structured plans that teachers can support children to develop the required skills to an independent level – to enable children to take on project work.
This is the type of approach and work I will engage in with my pupils.
Content of Sway on Collaboration below:
Pupils will work together to examine the impact of dumping rubbish in a local stream. This project allows them to develop their 21st Century Skills, to use Microsoft 365 tools, to build digital skills and other develop other key curricular learning.
Children can work in groups to target the following areas:
1. The problem of dumping – what is it, how often does it occur and why is it a problem.
2. The type of rubbish dumped – what is it and how does each material type impact the environment.
3. Streams – what are they and where do they go – how do they fit in to the eco system.
4. Life in streams.
5. Overall damage to the environment – what is happening, what are the results and what actions can be taken to stop it.
Pupils can create a class brainstorm for each of the five areas.
Pupils can record key vocab for each area.
Pupils can record the key vocab in a Microsoft Form.
Children will then which area they would like to work in – giving them free choice. This creates five areas of research.
Pupils can use a Class Notebook to track progress on the project in each of the areas.
Working interdependently, pupils can conduct research online in each of their areas and gather key information. They can develop key questions to ask. Pupils will decide what evidence to choose. Overall, they will select the important information needed for the project. Each group will decide how to represent their information. Each group could make a Powerpoint of the important information they have selected or a video or Sway (multi-modal choice). Pupils will revise their work based on feedback from their peers and teacher.
Each of the groups will be required to bring their information together and to make choices on their overall presentation – selecting the information that makes their point. The group can present the information to parents as a form of local activism (working for a specific audience); can write to the council regarding their findings – and suggest actions to be taken to prevent dumping in the local stream.
In doing a project such as this, pupils will develop their ICT and digital skills, can avail of the Microsoft 365 suite when choosing modes to record, create and reflect on their project. They will develop their collaborative skills, including communicating, analysing, synthesizing, writing and presenting skills. Within each choice, within each group additional paired and group collaborative skill development is possible – such as time-keepers, recorders, writers, editors, etc. Pupils can take on various roles, including that of a scientist or videographer if they film the local stream or presenter, etc.
Consider how you can use Digital Technology in your classroom to enhance students’ learning?
How can you now apply School Self Evaluation Guidelines to your teaching?
As an individual teacher I can benchmark myself against the standards in the Digital Learning Framework using the SSE framework. I can take stock of where I am and set myself some targets to achieve in a way that is achievable and beneficial to my teaching and the pupils’ learning. It is important to continually assess and reflect on my own use of ICT to enhance pupils’ learning. Pupils live in a digital world and it is important that teachers inhabit that space too.
Pupils needs to build on their digital knowledge and skills in a step-by-step manner. Taking M365 as an example – children can start with Word and typing skills at one class level, then add in Sway or Forms at the next class level, then add in Teams, etc – taking a step approach to skill building. All for the benefit of the pupils abilities to produce the content they will need in a 21st century world.
This step approach ensures the use of Digital Technology is embedded into lessons and learning activities.
What impact can developing your own use of Digital Technology have at school level (SSE)?
This can have a big impact, firstly on my own pupils and in my own classroom, as I grow the skill levels and competencies of my pupils, as well as enriching their learning, and in providing them opportunities to develop 21st Century Skills by investigating, collaborating, producing and doing so much more. I can then also share my expertise with my colleagues and support some of them if they would like that. And they can do the same with me. If we all build up some expertise in some areas then we can transfer that knowledge to each other – all for the benefit of the pupils. It is best to do this coherently and consistently within a guiding framework such as the DLF. A whole school, structured approach is the best approach, for the benefit of the pupils.
I am part of the digital team in my school and we are about to embark on an ambitious digital learning plan – built around M365 – that will transform the structured approach of digital learning in our school.OneNote and OneNote Learning Tools can support and expand deeper learning opportunities for pupils through the excellent integration with all of the M365 apps it provides. OneNote allows you to draw on all of the features of Word, Powerpoint, Sway, and others to create highly interactive lesson plans.
OneNote is excellent for lesson and resource creation. It can incorporate video, oral, Powerpoint, worksheets, links to further information, set tasks/worksheets, create learning intentions and assessment criteria. It is an all encompassing tool that is easy to use for the person creating and for the pupil interacting with it.
Being able to post worksheets (insert print) is an excellent feature. Same for presentations or video content.
OneNote allows pupils to work independently or in pairs or groups – working on the same document from different locations. It also offers excellent opportunities for SEN pupils and pupils with ASD. Immersive reader is an excellent tool for pupils with dyslexia. The multiple communication features, including Pictionary, video and more – are really good for pupils with ASD or other SEN needs. Learners of all types can potentially be facilitated in OneNote.
It is also easy to set work and pupils can collaborate on it and work on it with ease.
As a teacher, you can keep editing or adding to a resource, which means it can be updated or it can be used at different class levels, with the chance to change the level of the resource. Such resources can be easily stored and share on OneNote with colleagues.
It is also perfect for keeping a record of the pupil’s work.
Here is a link to my OneNote lesson:
Microsoft Teams is really easy to use and navigate, and so it is open for everyone to use, including staff, pupils and parents.
Teachers can be part of different teams within the school – from class-level teams (i.e. all the 5th class teachers, and possibly the SEN teachers at that level), to teams within the school, e.g. Digital Team, English Team, or as a whole staff communicating on day-to-day issues and resource-sharing. This includes the ability to plan meetings using the calendar.
It also crucially includes the ability to meet online, to share resources in the Files/Folders and to chat on the chat. This allows for so much collaboration. Lessons can be planned easily, with opportunities to meet and chat, and for a single location for resources to be stored. Not only that, but resources can be worked on simultaneously be several people. Team-teaching or learning support sharing are easily planned this way. Teams also allows for easy communication via the chat function as often or as little as required.
I personally have quite a few teams in place allowing for very focused work on specific areas with access to specific resources in the Files. It is easy to store, share, save in Files.
The Microsoft Streaming of Powerpoint is very useful for making supports and presentations for other teachers or for making presentations to pupils. It is also great for making flipped lessons.
Pupils can make great use of Teams to ask questions on assignments, submit assignments and access resources in folders.
Some challenges relate to training – more is always needed and more time for this is also always needed. For pupils and staff. You also need whole school buy in.
Another issue I have encountered is the need for emails for pupils under the age of 13. As a school we are not permitted to create these emails – so I need a solution to this.
The reading accelerators are great and can be particularly good for learning support.This is the link to my Microsoft Stream Powerpoint video:
Sway is an excellent tool to allow children to bring together so may of their digital skills and 21st century skills. They can take and edit photographs, make and edit videos and make and edit voice overs. They can work on these together in pairs or groups as well as independently. They can hone their writing and presenting skills. Children can undertake projects but also Sway can be used in individual lessons and not always as part of a project. The same with homework – Sway can be used for homework but we need to be careful not to just use it for homework. Sway offers so many options, from presentations to newsletters to possible social media/website posts (it is not unlike Canva) or more. There are also options here for recording oral language lessons in English and Irish, or the recording of work in many lessons. It also provides opportunities to save children’s work as an ongoing assessment record or for assessment for learning.
Forms is also excellent for assessment purposes. Children can also make their own multiple choice quizzes – so, like Sway, they can continue to produce as well as consume/use this tool.
Forms is an excellent tool for gathering information in the SSE process. It can be used to survey parents, staff, BOM or pupils – with ready-made, accessible data to hand. A student council could also make their own Form to survey the pupils on any topic.Here is the link to my Forms quiz. It is a great assessment tool, especially for assessment for learning.
