Tag: educational technology

Digital Education in India.

With the world getting a virtual transformation during the ongoing pandemic, the open digital education has become the need of the hour to assist the students with bridging the gap between time and knowledge. As Covid-19 gripped the world with its microscopic spikes and brought the entire world to the standstill, several sectors of the economy and market took a hit and had to be shut till they could be operated without risking the lives of their foot soldiers on duty.

Lockdowns were imposed all over the world and with that came the need to keep the world running and the virtual world came to the rescue. In India, lockdown started from 21st March 2020 and is expected to last till 14th April 7, 2020, however, given the rapid spread of coronavirus in the community, the decision of uplifting the lockdown remains much anticipated.

One of the major schedule and lifestyle change occurred in the life of students all across the country as the schools and colleges were shut down immediately under the protocol of lockdown to safeguard the future generations. Nevertheless, with the termination of the lockdown still being the topic of debate it is not known for sure when the classes could be resumed and hence many universities have now opted for the digital education as a step forward to help the students stay focused on education.

What is Digital Education?

The term digital education refers to the innovative use of digital tools to deliver learning through teaching using effective modern day technological tools. Learning services could be in the form of face to face, blended or fully online courses. This provided the benefit of accessing the content at a convenient time and location to the learner thus resulting in a more personalized learning experience.

Besides that, this new tool is known to improve the interaction between the educator and learner, and the ability to provide the teachers with better feedback which further helps to enhance the quality of teaching.

A lawyer can provide advice and assistance as needed throughout the individualized education program (IEP) process while you do most of the work, or a lawyer can be directly involved as your formal representative. You can find special education Lawyer near me.

Digital initiatives in Higher Education by Indian Government

To ensure the smooth learning process during the lockdown and for students to avail the full benefit of e-learning, Indian HRD ministry has launched various digital initiatives which will allow them to participate in online classes as they would do it physically in colleges, and also utilize the study material to its full potential.

We provide you below with the list of digital platforms curated by various branches of HRD ministry.

Audio-video e-content

This initiative by the human resource department ministry provides the e-Learning platform for all the courses from class 9 to post graduation. Courses are hosted in four quadrants:

  • Video learning
  • Reading serial material
  • Self assessment test
  • Online discussion portal

The learning is provided free of cost but to avail the certification an amount has to be made to the department.

SWAYAMPRABHA

As described by the ministry, The SWAYAMPRABHA is a group OF 32DTH channels devoted to telecasting of high quality education programmed on 24*7 basis using the GSAT-15 satellite. Every day, there will be new content for atleast (4) hours which would be repeated 5more times in a day, allowing the students to choose the time of their convenience. The channels are uplinked from BISAG, Gandhinagar.”

The content includes

  • Curriculum based course content for University students
  • Curriculum based course content for students from class 9 to 12
  • Curriculum based courses that can meet the need of life for Indian citizens
  • Competitive exams preparation sets

Access Journals and E-books

National Digital Library

This initiative has led to the excess of free educational material to all, ranging from primary to post graduate level. It is believed to be extremely beneficial to all kinds of learners, students, teachers, lecturers, professors, research scholars etc. The material is available in more than 70 languages and extremely free of cost.

e-PG Pathshala

This is the platform providing e-Learning facilities to the postgraduate courses and it works through the following three verticals

1. e-Adhyayan

This platform provides video content and 700 + eBooks for various post graduate level courses

2. UGC MOOCS

UGC is one of the national level coordinator of SWAYAM and works on producing Postgraduate e-learning courses on SWAYAM.

3. e-Pathya

This is the vertical particularly created for the offline access of the e-learning material for the postgraduate students.

SHODHGANGA

Shodhganga is the platform that allows the Ph.D. scholars in all the streams deposit and publish their theses for access to the upcoming professional in their respective fields. Till now 250000 theses have been published on the esteemed site.

E – SHODHSINDHU

As stated on their respective website, e- Shodhsindhu aims to provide access to more than 15000 journals and a number of bibliographic and factual databases in a wide range of disciplines at a lower cost to educational institutions.

Accelerated hands on learning

1. e-Yantra

e- yantra is the platform founded by the IIT Bombay to train the engineers to solve the practical problems with practical solutions utilizing their engineering skillset.

It has divided its aim by inculcating various branches to look after the respective issues. Some of the initiatives are

  • e- yantra robotics competition
  • e- yantra ideas competition
  • e- yantra lab setup initiative
  • e-yantra symposium
  • e-yantra resource development canter

FOSSEE  (Free and Open Source Software for Education)  

This platform promotes the use of FLOSS(FireEye Labs Obfuscated String Solver)tools in academia and research.

Spoken tutorial

The aim of spoken tutorial is to popularize software learning. It provides wide range of subject learning for the utilization by school level to the university students especially addressing the Math and Science as areas of interest. The contents are available in multiple languages thus making it further accessible to our multilingual population.

Track your progress

VIDWAN

VIDWAN consists of database of profiles of research scholars, scientists and faculty members of leading academic institutions. It provides important information about their background, contact details, skills, accomplishments etc. This information is maintained by information and library network center and is very essential for the selection of various task force meant for different evaluation purposes in the country.

Shodh Shuddhi

Under this scheme, plagiarism detecting software, URKUND a Web Based Plagiarism Detection Software system, is provided to the thousand plus registered institutions across the country.

Advertisements

Advertisement

Prominence of education

Education is the act of discovering things around us. And so the prominence of the education in a person life. To discover the real meaning of life. We need to educate not ourselves but our environment also. Education helps us to easily recognize and deal with any difficulty and makes balance throughout the whole life in every aspect. Education is the first and foremost right of every human being. And therefore we have the right to education in our constitution. Without education we are incomplete and our lives are useless. Education helps us to set a goal and go ahead by working on that throughout life. It improves our knowledge, skill, confidence level, and personality. It empowers us intellectually to interact with others in our life. Education brings maturity and teaches us to live in a society with changing environment. For adaptability, education is a must. It is the way to social development, economic growth, and technological development. For being a proper social person we need to educate ourselves.

Education plays a great role in everyone’s life by building personality, improving knowledge and skill, and providing a feeling of well-being for a person. Education has been divided into three categories in our country as Primary education, Secondary education, and Higher Secondary education. It develops our analytical skills, character, and overall personality. Education plays a pivotal role in nourishing his present and future by ensuring aim of the life. 

Every child must to go school at his/her appropriate age as everyone has equal rights to education from birth. The growth and development of any country depend on the quality of the education system set for young ones in schools and colleges. However, the education system in every area of the country is not the same so the proper growth and development of the people and society vary according to the weak and strong education system of the particular region. The future of our country is the youth and the more our youth will learn more advanced our nation will become.

The complex paradigm of streams.

“Now what?”This question every student encounter in life after completing school. A career plan is the most significant and difficult question of life. Our whole life depends on this small question. Sometimes we choose our path and sometimes our society decides for us. 

The question  “What do I want to do in life?” is hard to answer.

It is tough for a school student to find their path at such a young age, because of the complicated model of ‘streams’. Studying science means you are limited to the medical and the engineering line. Studying commerce means being captured in chartered accountancy, banking, and finance and learning humanities imply that I must choose to become a lawyer or journalist.

The problem is the high competition within society The tragic fact is that we can never come back from this model of education, studies, and streams. we don’t have the right to choose subjects that are a combination of different streams. The reason streams are a challenge for us is that they directly affect our careers. Choosing a career is choosing life. As a career is related to financial independence. The question became more significant. every parent expects from there child to pursue a career that has the reputation, high earning prospect, and quite popular in society. Boys, in particular, are supposed to choose a career that can support their families financially one day. Today passion and happiness don’t matter when it comes to a career. The thing that matters for society is the reputation of the career. For society, boys should not go for teaching jobs, fashion designing and cooking are something that society doesn’t consider ideal jobs. some jobs are called ‘feminine jobs’ not meant for boys. Like cooking is related to females. Some jobs get undermined like fashion designing is compared to tailoring.

Students’ choices are also impacted badly by the stereotypes and repercussions. and they have to choose paths unwillingly as per society’s concern. Even though we are heading towards an impartial society, such differences prevail in our society. The ‘pay scale’ affects the choice of career. Women are still paid less and the gender pay gap continues to widen. 

Lack of awareness of new opportunities is a major challenge that school students face. We are not aware of the options beyond the ‘visible careers’. Visible careers are those careers that we see in everyday life, such as doctors, teachers, engineers, journalists, politicians, and businessmen. We lack knowledge about other options we have. There is a world beyond these visible careers: such as being a therapist, an urban planner, a singer, a beautician, a blogger.

so many jobs are available now because of the internet. such jobs can provide a great opportunity to the newcomer. Like social media marketing, a YouTuber, a blogger, a digital marketer. But the problem is students don’t have access to and knowledge of this career.

 Your career should be based on your strengths. The best choice of career comes from one’s passions and hobbies. Your career should inspire you and be the reason for your existence. It is you who can decide your career, not others. and being yourself and the following passion makes you happier.

Traditional education system how much effective?

Covid Pandemic left many Indians unemployed. While unemployment has always been a cause of attention for India. But mandatory experience and training made it more worse and challenging. the lack of practical skills holds us back. The recent unemployment numbers among educated youth show the drawback of India’s faulty education system and the lack of the right learning opportunities for young professionals.

 The government of India wanted to create a workforce of skilled professionals but the coronavirus pandemic made the situation drastic and critical. There was a time when a degree could help a person getting a desired job. But with more competition., a degree is not sufficient itself. The biggest issue is practical knowledge with theoretical knowledge. Classroom learning is more focused on theory. When students step into the professional world, they find themselves not capable enough to handle the work because of the drawbacks of our education system. Our country has educated unemployed people. Shows the inadequacies in our education system.

companies want educated fellows with practical skills. That our education system is unable to give. Because it is limited to academics. Youth lack new-age skills that companies need from their employees. With limited online and offline courses for industry-specific training such as engineering, IT, etc., Most young professionals lack confidence while dealing with problems at their workplace. Moreover, since schools, colleges and universities are following the traditional system of education. it acts as a hurdle when professionals come to face real-life circumstances.

Students need to develop new skills. So that student can learn something above education and makes students ready to be professionals. India has the potential to be a preferred destination for global sourcing. Skill development can bring this to reality by instilling more confidence in young professionals. As their skill increases their employability will increase, and ultimately lead to the nation’s financial growth.

The government needs to assist India’s workforce informally trained. With immediate competition, we need to adopt better strategies too. we need to improve standards of education and adopt newer methods. The higher the standards of training and skill development, the better our workforce can be. The country National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) can also contribute to solving the problem by creating more awareness and come up with suitable programs that can help professionals.

Transformation can only come with the government. The education system, industries, and students collectively understand and recognized the significance of skill improvement.

importance of internship and training.

In today’s digital era, competitiveness rise seriously. To be effective as an employee we need practical assistance and training. The practical experience and training not only help us to be productive but helps in magnifying our skills. Every time we learn a new skill it added to our personality development. Now companies are looking for a well-groomed personality. Internships are good means to enhance our knowledge, skills and to learn something effectively and practically. For the right utilization of the spare time, Internships are good means. Also, it is added to our resume and curriculum vitae. which increases the possibilities of selection during the placement. Internship and training are of different varieties. Some are in the workplace and some are work from home. Both means are useful in their way. Through the workplace internship, you can get practical experience and more chances of interaction with new people. Possibly you will find a great mentor in that way for your career guidance. And through work from home, you can save your time and devote it to learning something else. Every year, Government invests a big chunk in the training of the students. Because training increases the productivity of human capital. That will help in the long run students. For professional courses such as business and management. It is advisable to have prior experience. So that you became proficient enough to answer the practical solution of the problems. When you involve in training and internship you learn how to manage the work at the basic level. That will enhance your problem-solving and analytical skills.

Even our finance minister Nirmala Sitaram begin her work being a salesgirl. Ambani the leading and renounced groups come into existence after continuous years of hard work. Most intellectuals and psychologists recommend students to go for the internship because it will increase their knowledge, confidence to face the problem during work. Just as the college experience helps in dealing with the office environment. Similarly, internships help the student to identify the problems that they can deal with during work, with the identification of problem. students can look for the possible solution at the bottom level. Such experience helps students in the long run. So students should look for the internship. A career such as marketing, business, management is something that can be handled only when you exercise them on daily basis. So internship helps you in getting practical knowledge. In addition to it, things like content writing can be learned only by practice. For the practice, you can opt the internship. That will invest your time properly that you can waste here and there in other activities. Especially during summer vacations, you can utilize your time through involving in any internship.

Research shows that those students who indulge in internships are more productive and good at problem-solving than those who are much in academics. Academic knowledge is vital to understand the problem But if you want solutions, you should go for the practical experience that only training and internship can give you. In fact placement cells in the colleges also look for students who have practical experience. During the internship, you will learn some vital skills as well like confidence and body language. Internships and training also make your financial security. Some internship provides stipend also for the work. Also, expertise in work during the internship can lead you to get a permanent job. As some agencies provide regular or permanent jobs to their best employers during the work. Many students receive jobs while doing the internship. Especially look at the intens for hire. Therefore internship and training have a significant place in a student’s life. Even Doctors and Engineers have to go through technical training before beginning their work.

Students misery

The covid pandemic not only impacted adults but students also. At one place the children lost their childhood and on the other hand, students are concerned about their career, future that seem bleak to them due to covid devastating impact on the economy.

 one of the most significant reasons is finance and the need for funds. Students are concerned because the global pandemic has created havoc in the employment sector. This resulted in many job losses in the informal sector. As the country is closed so those earning money daily and business have to suffer. The question of school, college, and tuition fees is another issue. This, in turn, has been magnified in the lives of the students and the youth of the country. The financial crisis within the family has bothered almost the majority of the population, especially the students.

The very first concern is the digital divide. Accessibility of digital gadgets especially among the lower economic classes. Eventually, which means withdrawing from school to some students. Being already distorted by financial emergencies, the necessity of digital devices acts as a hindrance in the way of student learning. leading to many students dropping out from formal courses and institutes. increasingly pitted against the highly competitive labor market with most being trapped in the vicious cycle of underpaid labor or disguised unemployment.

The government too is not in a position to solve this problem of digital devices because of treatment and aid expenses.

this economic crisis has an unfortunate effect on the mind of the students. The financial dependence on the family, often severe, mostly reduces them as isolated victims. It also hinders the access to academic opportunities of the student. . Many family members getting affected and the huge expense occurs on treatment, amidst the acute scarcity of oxygen cylinders and other medical pieces of equipment.

The students are facing the problem of academic costs at the same time when a lump sum amount is required for admission failing which the seat might get canceled.

Further, the debt trap will lead to a greater burden in the future for repayment with interest, leading to more psychological suffering. The hostility between maintaining academic costs as well as fending for health expenditure has had severe effects on the young minds, putting their future and aspirations at stake. In this situation, a and well-planned approach is needed to address the issue of financial crisis which can be aided by the government. 

“Online Education and Digital Divide”

 

Recently our Union minister Prakash Javadekar said in the Lok Sabha, “No child was deprived of online education during the pandemic as the government had taken several steps in that direction.” Such a statement is nothing but a mere lie when we encounter reality.

A majority of Indian school students do not have the means or privilege for online education. Some face network and technical glitches. Some face electricity problem. The non-availability of gadgets is another problem. Accessible and compulsory education has always been a challenge in India. Right to education is something that is written merely on paper not exist in the real world. The pandemic broadened the pre-existing gap making online education a commodity of sheer privilege. During the lockdown, thousands of students have suffered due to the digital divide. Taking the example of the Indian state with the highest literacy rate, Kerala witnessed numerous cases where students took away their lives due to a lack of accessibility to digital tools. sometimes Internet accessibility act as a hindrance.

 the obvious failure of the system and concerned authorities witnessed from the devastating act of suicide by the students. Not just that; for powering devices, access to electricity is crucial for digital education. Some states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have a severe problem with electricity.

In the rural area, the houses received electricity for less than 12 hours a day. most of India’s population lives in villages where only 15% of rural households have access to internet services. Whereas in urban areas, it’s 42%. Moreover, India witnessed a spike in unemployment during the lockdown affecting the livelihood of millions.

Especially compulsion of electronic gadgets for online education became a severe problem as in rural areas subsistence is very difficult. Not every rural person could afford expensive gadgets. In most households with a meager income, eating three meals a day was not guaranteed, purchasing costly internet plans or devices cost them a fortune. From mortgaging assets to cutting off on essential household expenses, families have done it all to make online education a possibility when the government schemes failed to reach the neediest. 

Although several NGOs, social groups, and individuals rose to link this digital gap by sponsoring smartphones and laptops, the negligence by the authorities can’t be overlooked. An ordinary Indian citizen expects its government is to at least acknowledge the problem. After all, how will one solve the problem if one does not acknowledge it!

World Before 2050

World Before 2050

Electricity is the future fuel of all existing and upcoming vehicles, machines, and other things. Before 2030, We humans will be part of an extraordinary historic moment: The first human to step on Mars. This can be from any country; this will set up a millstone for the space journey of humans. NASA is also planning to send humans again on the moon by 2024 by their Artemis Program. This the human will explore the blind part of the moon, which is untouched.

In the future, there will be wireless charging lanes that charge up the EV’s and will help the cars to maintain a high range. This concept is a bit expensive to implement, but its benefits are of its own. Also, it will power the electric Trucks( both Pickup trucks and heavily loaded trucks), it will benefit both conventional and other transport sectors. This wireless charging is the setup formed by loading copper coils to create a magnetic field and then transfer it to the opposite, which is present on the vehicle.

Overpopulation will be the leading cause because a significant part will not have access to clean water. By this, we may face problems regarding e-waste, plastic waste, medical waste, and other such wastes. The scientists will discover bacteria that can convert plastic into an organic form; due to overproduction, some regular living organisms will become extinct. People will face problems due to rising sea levels, increasing temperature, and climate change. Like the hurricanes will be more powerful and may occur frequently. Blackouts may be the common thing in many places, etc.

Other developments will be done in the medical sector. Scientists will discover antiaging drugs by which the human skin will remain fresh and healthy, cure many diseases, and implement A. I will increase the survival chances of an infected person. Artificial intelligence will play an essential in developing and making our life easier. Self-driving cars, trucks, airplanes will become a common thing. Quantum Computers will be the next generation of computers, which will help scientists solve significant problems as soon as possible.

Technology quotes that inspire you in 2021

The present innovation is a flourishing business sector loaded with energizing and imaginative items and new learning openings. With innovation as a significant buyer within recent memory and furthermore an energizing involvement with our present reality, would you say you are propelled to produce something new? 

How would you think of an incredible groundbreaking thought? Look at these motivating innovation cites that may very well move you to additionally foster your affection for innovation. 

Presumably one may cite history to help any reason, as Satan cites sacred writing. 

— Learned Hand 

“It has become horrifyingly clear that our innovation has surpassed our humankind.” 

— Albert Einstein 

“A great deal of organizations have decided to scale down, and possibly that was the best thing for them. We picked an alternate way. Our conviction was that on the off chance that we continued placing extraordinary items before clients, they would keep on opening their wallets.” 

— Steve Jobs, Apple 

“I don’t fear PCs. I dread absence of them.” 

— Isaac Asimov 

“Creative mind is a higher priority than information. For information is restricted, while creative mind accepts the whole world, animating advancement, bringing forth development.” 

— Albert Einstein 

“We need to quit advancing for software engineers and begin upgrading for clients.” 

— Jeff Atwood 

Fun truth: Atwood is a product designer, book writer, podcaster and an essayist for Coding Horror, a mainstream blog. 

“Never trust a PC you can’t toss out a window.” 

— Steve Wozniak 

“Everything is planned. Hardly any things are planned well.” 

— Brian Reed 

Fun truth: Reed is both an American comic book author and computer game essayist. Cool positions! Become familiar with Rasmussen University’s degree programs in Technology 

“The world will not think often about your confidence. The world will anticipate that you should achieve something BEFORE you have a positive outlook on yourself.” 

— Bill Gates 

“Effortlessness is tied in with taking away the self-evident and adding the significant.” 

— John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life 

Fun actuality: Maeda has his Ph.D. in plan and was named one of the 21 most notable individuals in the 21st century by Esquire magazine. 

“Here’s to the insane ones. The loners. The revolutionaries. The miscreants. The round stakes in the square openings. The ones who see things in an unexpected way. They’re not attached to rules. What’s more, they have no regard for the state of affairs. You can cite them, can’t help contradicting them, extol or denounce them. About the solitary thing you can’t do is disregard them. Since they change things. They push humankind forward. And keeping in mind that some may consider them to be the insane ones, we see virtuoso. Since individuals who are sufficiently insane to figure they can change the world, are the ones who do.” 

— Apple Inc. 

Increasing Student Participation During Zoom Synchronous Teaching Meetings

Due to Coronavirus, many schools are moving online, and teaching through Zoom meetings. If it is only being used to present content to students, then why not just record videos and have students watch them on their own? The value of Zoom meetings is that the educator can create synchronous interactive conversations and activities. My goal is to have all my students actively engaged throughout the meeting. Below are some the activities I have used during my. teacher education Zoom meetings although they can be adapted for any age group and age level (3rd grade and up), and in training professionals. Along with the tools that come with Zoom, I also use online web tools and applications to increase interactivity and engagement. All tools I describe below are free and work on any device, any browser.

Whole Group Discussions

Whole group discussions should be just that – discussions. I believe that the teacher can use this forum for short lectures but, again, they should be short as the power of synchronous Zoom meetings is that it permits interactivity and active learning. Questions about class content can be posed with student responses elicited through verbal responses and/or through the Zoom group chat.

A favorite whole group activity I do is to have a group video viewing party. For this activity, I begin with a short overview of the video and a question of what they should look for during the video. Student responses are put in the chat during and/or after the video.

Whole group activities and discussions can also be used for Breakout Groups follow-up to share what they discussed and did. In this case, I inform the Breakout Groups to decide on a spokesperson or two to report to the whole group.

Breakout Groups

One of the best tools in Zoom is the ability to put students into smaller, self-contained breakout groups. Some ways to use the Breakout Rooms include:

  • To discuss a prompt or questions provided by the teacher or another student.
  • To do online research about a given topic.
  • To discuss a real life scenario or case study. This can be done in a jigsaw strategy whereby different groups are given different case studies. When they are brought back into the whole group, each Breakout Group shares their thoughts and conclusions.
  • To create projects using some of the web tools such as Google Slides, webbing tools, or comics that I discuss later. Time is then given to each group to share what they produced with the rest of the class in a whole group setting.

Quizzes

My students of all ages, kids and adults, absolutely love the competitive, real time quizzes – Kahoot and Quizziz. Both of these online tools – applications have huge archives of teacher created quizzes. They also let teachers create their own and remix the quizzes other teachers have created.

Kahoot

Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform, used as educational technology in schools and other educational institutions. Its learning games, “Kahoots”, are multiple-choice quizzes that allow user responses.

Mentioned Kahoot and any student who has played it just lights up. I like using it at the beginning of a session prime students about what they will be exploring during the session or in the middle to re-energize them.

Quizziz

Quizziz offers self-paced quizzes to students. During my Zoom sessions, I do live Quizziz quizzes where the students answer quiz questions on their own yet compete with one another. It is similar to Kahoot but Kahoot is teacher directed, it displays the questions and answers on the teacher’s device; whereas Quizizz is student directed, it displays all the information on the student’s device.

Polling

Polling web tools can get real time information about students’ opinions, thoughts, and ideas which can be shared with them immediately.

Google Form

Google Forms can be used for student surveys and polling. More information about how to do this can be found at How to Make a Survey With Google Docs Forms. What I really love about using Google Forms for surveys and polls is that immediate feedback can be presented to the students through the response tab.

I like using Google Forms to check in with students and to inquire about what topics they would like to discuss.

Poll Everywhere

Poll Everywhere is a live student-response tool that offers whole-class participation and assessment through teacher-designed surveys, polls, and discussion boards. Tutorial guides can be found at https://www.polleverywhere.com/guides and video tutorials at https://www.polleverywhere.com/videos.

An example I did recently was polling the student teachers with who I work about special education services at their respective schools (see screenshots below).

Web Tools

There are lots of free, relatively easy-to-use web tools that students can use in Breakout Groups to create products about a class topic. The benefits of doing so include:

  • Students get to be creative during the synchronous meeting.
  • Creating products with visual elements helps deepen the learning.
  • Students have fun during the synchronous meeting.
  • Community is built as students work together on such tasks.

Before I give them their task and send them into their Breakout Groups, I give a screen share tutorial on how to use the tool. There are also lots of online video tutorials that can be shared with students.

As mentioned above, the smaller Breakout Groups share what they did with the whole group. To insure that the others pay attention, I ask them to share in the chat the favorite thing or what they learned from the smaller group presentations.

Shared Google Slides and Docs

Having students help create a shared Google slide show is one of my favorite activities. Individual or small groups are asked to take a slide of a shared Google Slide presentation to report on a given topic. I give some broad guidelines including finding and adding both content and images. The following video explains this process.

Below is an example that focuses on classroom management. In Breakout Groups, they were give a topic. Breakout groups 1 and 2 were given the topic. , groups 3 and 4 Classroom Environment, and 5 and 6 Instructional Strategies. They were given several online articles as references and also encouraged to use their own experiences.

Padlet – A Collaborative Sticky Note Board

Padlet is a website and app that allows kids to curate information onto virtual bulletin boards using a simple drag-and-drop system. Students, alone or in groups, can start with a template or a blank page and add videos, text, links, documents, images — basically anything — to the wall and organize it, like a page full of Post-it notes (https://www.commonsense.org/education/website/padlet).

I typically use Padlet as a whole group activity. What I like about it is that the students can easily see the responses, images, links that their classmates have posted.

For example, I love starting my first Zoom meeting with the Padlet: Time to Take a Selfie Icebreaker developed by Catlin Tucker. Below is one I did with a group of teachers with whom I worked.

Made with Padlet

I have also created and used Padlets for partner interviews, where they posted the results of their partner interviews, SEL strategies, technology in the classroom, classroom management, and collaborating with the community.

Collaborative Webbing – Mind Mapping

“A mind map is a diagram for representing tasks, words, concepts, or items linked to and arranged around a central concept or subject using a non-linear graphical layout that allows the user to build an intuitive framework around a central concept (https://www.mindmapping.com/mind-map.php).

I like to use Coggle in Zoom Breakout Groups. Coggle is an online tool for creating and sharing mind maps and flow charts. It works online in your browser. It is easy to use and permits real time collaborative.

To collaborate, one of the group members starts a Coggle and then invites others by clicking on the + sign in the upper right hand corner and sends email invites.

Below is an example the student teachers did in a breakout about SEL strategies for the classroom.

Comic Creator

Students can be asked to create a comic strip in their Breakout Groups to depict a given topic. My favorite is comic creator is Storyboard That but it has a bit of a learning curve for those who are less technology savvy. Although Make Belief Comix lacks some of the tools and options that Storyboard That has, it is much easier for students to use, so I have moved to using Make Belief Comix in my Zoom meetings. For more technology savvy groups, though, I recommend Storyboard That.

Once back in the whole group. students do a screen share of their product and explain it’s content to the rest of the group. For example, a here is a comic about differentiating instruction using Storyboard That.

As mentioned earlier, Breakout Groups then do a show and tell of their mind maps, comics. The following video shows how to do a screen share. The teacher needs to make sure they have “All Participants” enabled under the sharing settings.