Module 7: Remote Teaching Mini Unit

For Module 7 this week, Lily Silva and I created a remote teaching mini unit together using many of the ideas and tools we used for our twelfth-grade Government lessons. This unit is designed to be taught completely virtually. We explored the following standards for our unit:

GOVT.16 The student will apply social science skills to understand that in a democratic republic, thoughtful and effective participation in civic life is characterized by:

• • d) participating in the political process and voting in local, state, and national election

  • e) performing public service

  • f) keeping informed about current issues

Digital Integration Standards:

• Empowered Learner (EL) C: Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.

• Empowered Learner (EL) D: Students understand the various fundamental concepts of technology operations, demonstrate the ability to choose, use, and troubleshoot technologies and transfer knowledge to explore emerging technologies.

• Digital Citizen (DC) B: Students engage in positive, safe, legal, and ethical behavior when using technology, including social interactions online or when using networked devices.

For this mini unit, I was able to incorporate many facets of my personal technology integration. This unit includes multiple ways for students to display their learning using an array of digital tools. The final project, a podcast, is a format that will challenge students in multiple ways. Students will have to push themselves digitally to create an appealing and cohesive podcast while also research a current event and honing their interviewing and listening skills. Students get the chance to participate in a diverse range of discussion as well, from a JamBoard activity, to breakout rooms, to a Zoom panel, to a discussion board.

Creating this mini unit made me realize how much more work goes into structuring online classes. There is so much more instruction that teachers have to be extremely deliberate about since they will not always be able to monitor their students while they work. Since this is a unit for twelfth-graders, I think it might work better as 17 and 18-year-olds are better able to self-regulate and stay on task when not in the classroom. However, I think this type of unit would be extremely challenging for elementary and middle school lessons. I would honestly be a bit nervous to create this type of unit for middle school students who may not be used to as much independent and self-driven work. One thing that was difficult about creating this mini unit was not actually having a class to teach it to. I always have a more difficult time creating theoretical lessons and units that I never get to see come to life.