We have introduced students to a new (for them) tool called VoiceThread. It is a collaborative slideshow tool that allows for audio and video comments, as well as drawings on the slides.
The end goal will be an interactive slideshow that will highlight all of the schools within a small group by topic. So, one slideshow will be on Transportation, one on Food, one on Language, etc. Each school within that group will add to it and leave comments. It will be a fun way to compare similarities and difference -- and to actually create multimedia collaboratively with students we've never met. That is cool.
Introducing a new tool is tricky. Students need to watch and listen, which is often difficult. They will make some mistakes and many will get frustrated and confused. Others will like a particular tool and catch on quickly and want to do more. This week we have had all ends of the spectrum.
Grade 3 really struggled and became frustrated. We didn't make a lot of progress initially but we will. Grades 4 and 5 did much better and were able to select a few photos to add to VoiceThread and make comments.
The end goal will be an interactive slideshow that will highlight all of the schools within a small group by topic. So, one slideshow will be on Transportation, one on Food, one on Language, etc. Each school within that group will add to it and leave comments. It will be a fun way to compare similarities and difference -- and to actually create multimedia collaboratively with students we've never met. That is cool.
We've got some work left before we're where we want to be, however.
We're also trying to figure out how to celebrate at the end and reflect on what we've learned.