The kids were prepared and ready to go. And to document and backchannel all that we do, today's first few segments aired on Periscope, which was Twitter's live-streaming service before live-streaming became a platform function.
All performers were asked before their group went if they felt comfortable being live-streamed, and the one group who objected to being seen allowed me to use Voxer to record their presentation.
In years past, once the presentation was over, there was no record of it anywhere. Now, students can review what was presented and hear the ensuing conversations, which can help strengthen their learning. In addition to using Periscope and Voxer this year to create a more three-dimensional learning space and truly flatten the classroom, the students were also tweeting along using the class hashtag (check out#wjpsaplit) to see the conversation.
Using Twitter while the class discussion is happening provides a means for more reticent students to share ideas and questions while the conversation is happening. It also continues the conversation after class ends and provides curated documentation of the lesson all at once.
Students had a fruitful discussion of Orwell's craft and overriding meaning in the text. They talked about characters and their correlations to history; now, the kids can listen to it later and reflect on what they took away from the conversation.
As I learn more about technology, I'm better able to implement it in our learning environment in a way that can help kids develop as learners. Hopefully, by modeling the usage, they will also learn to use these tools in their learning even after leaving my class.
That is always my hope.
How can you ensure students don't miss any learning opportunities in your classes? Please share
This post originally ran on my Education Week Teacher blog in September 2016