Leveraging Digital is one of the four key elements of Deep Learning design. It is so important when we leverage digital that we keep in mind Fullan's exhortation that digital should be the accelerator, not the driver. Technology in the hands of a teacher who understands this can become such a powerful tool to imagine teaching and learning. In my role as Teacher Librarian, I have explored and learned many new technologies and software- block-based coding, Makey Makeys, spheros, ozobots, micro:bits, 3D printing, Lumio, Cricut machines, and many others! A key to all this though has been ensuring that I, along with my students and staff, had a thorough understanding of our Google Workspace for EDU apps.
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In January 2020, during the "Snowmageddon," blizzard that rocked St. John's, I used the extra time with school closures to prepare for and completed my Google Certified Educator Level 1. Then, to continue my Google Workspace journey, I completed my Google Certified Educator Level 2 certification and Google Certified Trainer Skills Assessment on Dec 22, 2021! Learning more about Google has helped me leverage tools like Google Classroom, Google Slides, Google Docs, Forms, etc in the classroom to create digital portfolios, allow for real-time feedback, and teach students creativity, collaboration, and more.
As part of my learning journey in leveraging Google Workspace effectively in our school, I have offered Professional Learning opportunities to our staff, particularly when they transitioned to remote learning , on how to use Google Classroom and Meet effectively. I also did a Google Workspace workshop with every class in our school to emphasize good Digital Hygiene and Citizenship skills using Google Workspace. For students, this included tips and tricks for cleaning up their email accounts, managing their Google Classrooms to stay organized and keep on top of assigned work, creating folders in Google Drive, taking care of their Chromebook, etc.
Click the picture above to visit the Digital Readiness website!
Pedagogy Video_ Math Data Management (Hopkins & Roome) - Stacey Hopkins.mp4More videos of the Google Workspace tools in pedagogical practice can be found at the NLESD PL site (Scenario 3).
Another part of my Google Workspace learning journey has been working district-wide to promote the platform and coach teachers on how to use it effectively. This has included delivering Professional Learning with John Goldsworthy (Tech Ed Program Specialist) in the early days of Covid closure on how to use Google Meet. As well, as an executive member of the NLTA Technology Education Special Interest Council (TESIC), I co-facilitated around 10 sessions during COVID lockdowns that went over Google Meet & Classroom.
I also worked for a period of around nine weeks as a digital itinerant for Google Workspace at NLESD. This included delivering professional learning daily to colleagues as they prepared for the possibility of pivoting online, using the tools Google Meet and Google Classroom. It also included creating a web site with my fellow digital itinerants that featured a self-paced tutorial for Google Meet and Classroom for Teachers, as well as helpful resources for parents and students! This Digital Readiness web site includes many small videos featuring Screencastify to provide teachers with a lasting resource. Of course, it is important to know not only how to use the tool, but more importantly how to leverage the tool to transform teaching and learning. To that end, we created several videos for the NLESD professional learning web site showing practical applications of the Google Workspace apps in pedagogical practice. Most recently, in November 2021, I spent a few days helping to update this web site to ensure it represented all the recent Google Updates.
Want to see practical applications of how Google tools can be used to infuse choice, for digital portfolios, as self-assessments, for co-constructing success criteria and more ? Check out the Student Agency web site I co-created with Vanessa Carey at: https://sites.google.com/nlesd.ca/studentagencyulearn2021/home
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