Learn More About Part 3: Students Processing Instruction

Also Keep These Details in Mind...

The purpose of a process activity is to help students understand the instruction. These activities ask students to interact with the new information presented during Instruction in some way. 

It is crucial, especially in a Remote Learning context, that students get immediate feedback so that they know they are on the right track before continuing to the Practice segment.

This looks different depending on whether your Instruction occurs during live connections with students, if students will access Process activities online asynchronously, or if students complete Process activities offline.

Process Activities for Synchronous Instruction Online

Ideally, we would be able to connect with all of our students via Zoom, or some other video conference software, to kick off Remote Learning Plans. During these live connections, teachers could introduce the Plan, engage students with the self-assessment, facilitate Instruction, and engage students with Process activities before students then move on to independently accomplish the Practice and Product activities.

There are many EdTech Tools that can help facilitate Process Activities. The table above identifies multiple options. For example, students could engage with an interactive presentation using Nearpod or Peardeck to embed process activities throughout the Instruction. Alternatively, you might engage students with an Interactive Whiteboard like Jamboard, or a shared Google Slides Presentation to complete a graphic organizer. 

In these contexts, providing students with immediate feedback feels similar to your face to face classroom. You are able to see student responses and address any misunderstandings in real time.

The reality, however, is that it is unlikely all students will be able to attend a live connection. We turn now to online and offline ideas for process activities following asynchronous instruction.

Process Activities for Asynchronous Instruction Online

Providing students with immediate feedback is a bit more difficult in an asynchronous format.

EdTech Tools like Quizizz, an Interactive Review site, allow us to create a structured review of the Instruction. However, we are limited to close-ended questions. For example, in a Math classroom, students could be asked to complete five problems. Inside Quizizz, you can build in individualized feedback for incorrect answers. This allows you to explain why the correct answer is correct, or potentially address a common pitfall when applying the math concept.

Another Tool to check out is Edpuzzle or PlayPosit. These allow you to embed comprehension questions into Instructional videos.

We can still engage students with open-ended processing activities in an asynchronous context. The difficulty is getting students immediate feedback. For example, if asking students to complete a graphic organizer to help them record / represent the new information, we must also provide them with a teacher-created graphic organizer. Desirably this is accompanied by a written explanation of the answer key, or a recorded teacher video, to help those who struggled to complete the activity. 

Process Activities for Asynchronous Instruction Offline

In an offline setting, we are limited to providing students with a written answer key for Process activities (open-ended or close-ended). While this is the least desirable context, it is the only way for students to receive immediate feedback.