Reviewing & Revisions of Module 1

Feedback:

Answers to questions from my reviewers:

• The video that I provided in my course module is from the teacher’s view of the classroom Notebook. For students, it looks the exact same except they only see their own name on the left-hand side of the page.
• The collaboration space is similar to a Google Doc where any changes or edits can be made by anyone within the class. This area requires a lot of pre-teaching for students to understand and respect that you are in a shared space. Accidents can happen where text or pictures gets deleted, so this space I usually wait to use this later on once they are more experienced. Students can only see their name on the left-hand side of the OneNote notebook and view their own work with the exception of the collaboration space.
• When working within the OneNote page students can zoom in just like they would on a word document or a web browser page to make the text larger and easier for them to read.
• I learned early on that creating text boxes for my students within OneNote helps alleviate organization issues when completing different assignments within the page. I also try to remember to tell them that if they delete them by accident it’s very simple to add them back in as well.
• The first module will be assessed using just the Flip Grid video recording. I will be assessing the first outcome of Flight 6.1 – History of flight aviation and also an ELA outcome for speaking and representing in both grades. I have a rubric for the Flipgrid response that I will save as a PDF and distribute to all students on a separate page. Then I can go through each student and fill out the rubric with my stylis accordingly. Students can view their marks on the rubric digitally within OneNote underneath each page. I would then enter those individual marks into Edsby. Physical copies of the rubric can be provided as well.

Challenges:

• Wifi & Connection Issues – Regardless of what platform you choose to use with your students, none of them work properly without a good wifi connection. Depending on the day sometimes all computers work perfectly, others there are students who are left frustrated and defeated because they can’t complete their assignments due to their pages not loading properly. Additionally, student devices need to be updated regularly or else they don’t function the way they are supposed to. This can sometimes take up the entire work period depending on what needs to be done.
• New Platforms – Introducing a new platform is always challenging for the teacher. Even if you have visual step-by-step directions on the board that you very clearly explain to them verbally and demonstrate step by step with your device, there are still constant questions. You feel like you spend the entire work period running around from student to student helping with various questions and issues that by the end of the period you are exhausted.

Changes:

• Some changes that I will make for Module 2 in the future is definitely allowing for more time during class to complete the assignment. I have found that in general, my students end up needing more time than classes I have had previously across all subject areas due to a more diverse set of learners. Especially considering this is a new platform for them, they need time to get comfortable navigating it.

• If I continue to use OneNote throughout the rest of this unit I would want to make sure that each lesson is different to keep the kids engaged. Utilizing different digital instructional strategies keeps the lessons from being too repetitive or predictable.

• I will be going in and making sure that my assessment for Module 2 is more clear and I will be able to give an example of what a completed assessment looks like from my first module as well.

• For my second module, I will try to find the best way to either hide or blur out my student names on the left-hand side for privacy reasons. I can slide the column over to the left to shrink the size of the column a bit but all of the last names are still visible.

Questions I still have:

Something that I am currently struggling with across all subject areas is accommodating for my EAL learner in my classroom. They speak very little English and are also quite shy as well. I end up leaning a lot on another student in my classroom that speaks the same language as them for translation and other technology tools. Over the past few months, she has learnt to translate assignment directions and work towards simple responses to show some understanding of the topic. I have been working towards using more photos, visuals and videos so that they can picture what is happening based on what they can see. I plan on reaching out to my EAL teacher at my school and showing her my module and asking her for some feedback and what she would do to make the lesson more accessible to English language learners.

Accessbility & Equity

Within this course, I have currently made some instructional and academic adaptations for students in my class that I already know have different abilities and require modifications for them to be successful. This includes both my EAL student and students who are on a transitional learning plan and record of adaptation.

For students to have the most success using this platform and devices in general I have always encouraged them to use a computer mouse instead of the trackpad. This year we put computer mice on the grades 5-8 school supplies list and it has been extremely helpful. Students struggle to learn the concept of what a left and right click is without a mouse, and it can be difficult to copy and paste with a trackpad when fine motor skills are still being developed. Students who did not have their own mouse are provided one of the school-purchased mice that we have had in storage for years from old desktop computers. See below a video discussing the pros and cons of mouse vs. trackpad. Keep in mind that my students are using Windows computers and not Macs.

In addition, students require their own headphones for viewing videos independently. This is treated the same way as the mice where they are on the school supplies list, but we also have extras in the classroom for students to use.

Navigating OneNote at home can be challenging if the student does not have a computer or tablet. Using OneNote in the app version on a cellphone can be difficult because it is so small.

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