Yesterday was an EXCITING day in the classroom, even if I was only there digitally! Maybe that was the best aspect... that although I had to be out of the classroom for a New Teacher Training Program, I could still be part of what was happening inside the classroom through the use of technology. For my Art Basics courses, I made a short YouTube video that directed them about my expectations and the daily objectives. I think that it was helpful for them to know that I was still aware of what should be going on in class even if I was not present. When I returned today, the reports were much more positive than they have been in the past; I'd like to think that it had a little bit to do with this use of technology.
The second, and perhaps more exciting bit, was the Padlet website that I put together for my Painting students. I've inserted a link to it here: http://padlet.com/wall/franzmarccolor. Again, I was much more aware of what was happening in my classroom even in my absence! I was at my meeting AND checking my students' work and participation at the same time. I immediately saw the comment, "What is this, Ms. Baumann? You're daa bomb," and Ithought, It's working!! They like it! Indeed, they did. When I saw the students that worked on the website yesterday, they quickly mentioned that they enjoyed it and wanted to know more about it. I recorded a quick video that could easily be inserted onto the webpage to explain some of the website basics. Then the students read a Scholastic Art Magazine and filled out a few simple questions to try out the webpage. One question asked them to Google search an artist's image and upload it onto the webpage. We had a few issues with this task because whenever they tried to drag the image onto the page, as I had done on my home computer, it would switch pages and temporarily lose the information boxes that they'd already typed. Later, they reappeared and were sent to me in an update email.
The questions that most benefited from this type of exercise were the ones that asked students more open-ended questions or those that asked them to respond to something someone else had said. It becomes a community conversation... which seems promising for a class critique online!! Maybe students could make short videos that introduce the ideas/Elements/Principles/struggles/triumphs of their artworks to the audience; they would also ask 2 questions that they want feedback on. This would be posted on Padlet and opened for conversation to start among a small group of peers. This would allow for more freedom with honesty and clear feedback from a variety of students. I think they'd feel more responsible for participation and more confident in their responses by being able to type it on a computer, rather than to speak about their work in front of a group. It'd be a starting point for critique.
Looking forward to feedback!
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