A Damien Memorial School pro-life group Zoom meeting. The application will be used in new and creative ways, post-COVID.
CHURCH SOCIAL TIPS
I heard someone say, “If God brings you to it — he brings you through it.” So true for what has been a very difficult time living through the pandemic, especially in the field of education. Schools are reopening with students returning to in-person classroom experiences. While there was some friction about online learning and its impact on students and teachers, nevertheless some elements of technology will remain.
Whether we like it or not, education has been forever changed by the coronavirus pandemic. Modifying teaching styles has been challenging, but now so many teachers have new ways to engage students using both traditional and technological tools. Here are five technological innovations that helped bridge the gap for teachers, students and parents that will continue to be used:
Zoom.com
Instead of teaching through a screen via Zoom, teachers will return to lesson plans presented in-person in the classroom. That doesn’t mean Zoom will go away! After more than 16 months of classroom use, Zooming has become both a noun and a verb that most people are very familiar with. And it has created fresh opportunities, like inviting guests to speak virtually to a class. It is also now an option for parent and teacher conferences. It is a great way for those who are time-challenged to meet with teachers about their kids.
Jamboard.google.com
This awesome digital tool has been used by many teachers in place of a blackboard, with some of the things already created able to be shared again. The collaborative nature of this tool is super-engaging both in-person and online. It allows students to provide input, create, participate and share thoughts in real-time. Putting a twist on “What You Did Last Summer,” using a Jam would allow every student to write about their experiences at the same time, instead of each student talking about it individually during class time. One of my favorite things to do on Jamboard is to create digital posters.
Nearpod.com
Many teachers developed lessons they shared using this tool, and they will be able to use them again as part of the in-person experience. Engaging students using technology is still a great way to help them learn that checks the boxes whether they have visual, auditory or kinesthetic (using physical activity) learning styles. This tool allows teachers to design courses that use elements of virtual reality, simulations and gamification (turning lessons into a game). It also allowed teachers to integrate existing content created on PowerPoint, Google Slides, Flipgrid, YouTube and Screencastify into new lessons for students.
Screencastify.com
Students really liked being challenged to create videos for homework assignments and it was a cool tool for teachers to walk students and parents through a process as a “How To” video. This is definitely here to stay!
Duolingo.com
This tool helped teachers fill their schedules with a twist on the “word of the day” in a different language. For foreign language instructors teaching with this not only helped kids engage the content more, but also freed teachers from grading assignments. There are 21 languages taught on this platform and Hawaiian is one of them! What a great way to fold “talk story” into a daily lesson plan.
I would love to hear some stories from parents and teachers about the positive ways that technology has helped them get through the pandemic. Send them to shayes-peirce@rcchawaii.org.
