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Redesigning Education: Meeting the Challenges of the 21st Century focuses on the child as an active learner and encourages them to take ownership of their learning. Learning must be meaningful for children to gain a proper understanding. The emphasis is on skills development. ICT plays an important role in gaining and sharing knowledge.
As a teacher in a junior school, many workspace apps would be too difficult for children to use independently but I think Google Slides would be a good starting point as it would provide them with an opportunity to gather and share information with their class and others.
I will use Google Slides with my 1st Class children in September where they will gather evidence of seasonal change within the school garden. They will take 3-5 photos which show Autumn, upload them to slides and then label or add a short caption and present to the rest of the class as a group.
https://classroom.google.com/c/NzcwMzEyNDEwMjg3
The use of Google Classroom (GC) tools provides opportunities for pupils to have improved learning experiences. They are able to demonstrate their learning and interests using a range of tools available to them through GC e.g. sites, slides, docs. This is both motivating and engaging as children explore a variety of methods and chose their preferred method.
Using Rubrics created in GC provide children and parents with a clear understanding of what is expected from assignments and also clearly shows what assignments have been submitted on time.
Using Google Classroom for assessment provides a record of the pupils learning journey, enabling them to see their progress over the years. The Gradebook feature enables the class teacher to track and measure children’s results against the average.
GC tools allow teachers and school management to identify areas across the curricula, not just in IT, where improvements are warranted as part of SSE.
As a teacher in a junior school, Google Classroom would be too difficult for the children to use independently. I see the benefits though as a class teacher. Tools such as Google Sheets could be used as an assessment tool.
This would be extremely beneficial in Literacy and Maths, in particular ,as it would enable the teacher to record and monitor pupils’ progress at a glance. It would also enable the class teacher to share results in reading and phonics etc easily with SET, and thus inform the development of Student Support Plans when necessary.
Using Google Sheets as an assessment tool would be an effective way of integrating and embedding collaboration and improving teacher’s practice in line with SSE.
