I think good use of digital technology in math and science includes tools that make thinking visible and allow teachers to respond to learners and provide feedback before errors become misconceptions. For this reason, I think all student-response systems like plickers or socrative are a good place to begin. As a primary school teacher, my focus has been on helping teachers to help students develop learning portfolios that demonstrate what students currently know and help them determine what their next steps in learning are. A portfolio shared with the teacher will help the learner make thinking visible to the teacher and allow the teacher to counter misconceptions. Digital portfolios remain a challenge in primary school due to teachers feeling that they are not prepared to support students and do not have just-in-time technical support. The prevailing feeling among teachers at my school is that primary students are not able to access these tools because they are too young to enter passwords and connect to the internet. Our board is working to remove these barriers to access by providing tablet computers that are always connected to the internet. As such, students have only to enter a username and password to access their portfolio and I find they are often able to do this independently by the middle of Grade 1.
Hi Tracy,
I think visible learning is very important within the classroom. I have used Socrative in the past and it’s definitely a great way to engage students. Have you tried Nearpod? It’s more engaging and has more options. It might be something to look into! My students love Nearpod and are always asking if the next lesson will be on there. In our district and school, many teachers use FreshGrade, an online digital portfolio for documenting learning. You’re right, it’s extremely difficult for primary teachers to upload all the content onto their students’ individual portfolio as they teach young students especially when there in not enough technical support. Some teachers have buddied up with their intermediate buddy classes so those students can help assist younger students K-2 to upload content to their FreshGrade portfolios. Thanks for you post!
I have not heard of the platforms you mentioned, so I will definitely check them out! I know that lots of classrooms do buddy up as a solution to accessing platforms for visible thinking. In my personal experience, I have taught in Grades 1-8 and have found that teaching even very young learners to navigate the platform is entirely possible, but it remains difficult to convince other teachers that this is the case.
Hi Tracy,
I really connected with the idea of using a digital portfolio to help teachers address students misconceptions, particularly in at the primary level. The portfolio is a great way to track learning, have the students explain their thinking, and record all of it to show progress over the course of the year. The school I’m currently working at uses Seesaw as our platform for online portfolios, and it has been wonderful for helping teachers who might be hesitant to move to a digital folio. Might be an option to look into, in addition to the other ones posted by Amanda above? Their interface is extremely user friendly, and has the option of using QR codes to sign in as classes rather than having students type in an email and password (for the younger grades). Thanks for your thoughtful post!
This is definitely something to consider as I support other teachers in moving toward using digital portfolios. While I am personally comfortable with the platform provided by my board and find the interface quite elegant, I find that many other teachers are not and I have a bit of a hard time understanding why there is such reluctance to buy in. Maybe if I were to demonstrate another platform where teachers could see the ease and utility of it they might be more likely to buy in.
Hi Tracy,
Having an online platform where students can share their learning, goals, and questions is an incredible tool that teachers have at their disposal. Like you, we use them in our school across grade levels starting in kindergarten. There are a number of student-friendly platforms out there now that are accessible for students. Our K’s, for example, use SeeSaw where they simply need to find their picture on the iPad and choose their icon rather than type anything. We have also used EasyBlog Jr. and Edublogs for older students. One thing I love about these portfolios is the ability to share with parents. Often, parents can offer explanations and help clear up misconceptions that students have as well. They can also comment and ask clarifying questions to get more involved with learning.
Thanks for your thoughtful post!
Sarah
Sarah, you make an essential point about the ability to share the portfolios with parents as a means of demonstrating student learning. At present, our students own their portfolios and parents must use the child’s information to log in. I always find that the number of clicks required to access something reduces the likelihood that parents will actually go to check it out. You may have a point about using something as simple as a blog!
Hi Tracy
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I agree that making students learning visible is important for students, teachers and also parents. Our district has taken on a new assessment portfolio called Freshgrade (many of you may have heard of it before). It is an online portfolio (in replacement of paper report cards) where students, parents and teachers are able to post pictures, videos and text regarding student learning. I have been playing with it myself and I think it is a fantastic tool for capturing student thinking. For example, when I am asking my students to sort shapes based on like characteristics. I set up a video camera near by and tape the students as they try different arrangements of the shapes. We then discuss their end product and I add this as text to their video. When this is uploaded to the system, parents are then able to see and comment on their childs learning.
I believe that this is a “good” use of technology because it goes beyond a single “right” answer on the test, or just the students end product. We are able to see and discuss student thinking processes as they are happening.
Shayla