Instructional Videos – Zoom and Edmodo

Within a very short space of time we have all been thrown into a way of teaching that is very different from the routine we have been used to. We have little to no training and have had to adapt very quickly to new ways (for most of us) of delivering our lessons. The videos that I have put together are ones that I have been using to help me prepare.

Zoom:  Video and audio conferencing software.

Edmodo: Communication and collaboration software specifically designed for students and teachers.

Screen Cast O Matic: Screen capture allowing creation of short videos of your computer screen. Including your explanations and instructions.

I have created playlists on YouTube for Edmodo and Zoom, all of which have been produced by an experienced online educator, Russell Standard. There is a single video below explaining Screen Cast O Matic.

If you would like to see all the videos in the playlist for Edmodo (6 videos) and Zoom (5 videos) click on the word YouTube in the bottom right corner of the videos below to view the playlist on YouTube.

Zoom

Edmodo

Screen Cast O Matic

Don’t beat yourself up

I am not an expert in online or remote learning. I have a You Tube channel and I use Edmodo. Both support my classroom practice, it is not online learning. I’ve never trained or done PD for online teaching, I’ve never had to teach online. I’ve always been in front of a class.

Next week we get four days to prepare learning to be done remotely on a large scale, something most of us have never done. Teachers are conscientious people and will want to do their best in what is very unique circumstance but we should not beat ourselves up if it does not go to plan. We should not expect what we provide parents to replace (anywhere near) what we do on a daily basis face to face. We should also go out of our way not to overwhelm parents.

I really like this quote from an article called The difference between emergency remote teaching and online learning by Rachael Bath. Rachael is not a world famous guru she lives in Victoria and has an interest in education technologies.

"Well planned online learning experiences are meaningfully different from learning offered online in response to a crisis or disaster." Rachael Bath

We will do our best but what we are not doing is implementing a practice we have had years to develop and have a deep understanding of. We are preparing online and remote learning in response to a crisis which none of us has ever experienced before. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t quite nail it.

Yulunga – Traditional Indigenous Games

The HPE Australian Curriculum requires students to participate in, examine and investigate games and activities from their own and other cultures (see content descriptors below). A great resource to support the teaching of these is the Yulunga – Traditional Indigenous Games PDF. The document is 262 pages and provides a wide variety of Indigenous games. Use the link above to take you to the SPORTAUS/AIS website which allows you to download the whole document or search by bands of learning for example K-3.

Each game description provides information about the traditional version of the game and suggestions for using modern sporting equipment in place of traditional equipment. Game variations, safety and teaching points are also provided.

This document is also useful to support teaching and learning related to the Cross Curriculum Priority Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures.

HPE Content Descriptors – games, physical activity and cultures

Reception – Participate in games with and without equipment (ACPMP009)

Year 1/2 – Create and participate in games with and without equipment (ACPMP027

Year 3/4 – Participate in physical activities from their own and other cultures (ACPMP108)

Year 5/6 – Participate in physical activities from their own and others’ cultures, and examine how involvement creates community connections and intercultural understanding (ACPMP066)

Year 7/8 – Participate in and investigate cultural and historical significance of a range of physical activities (ACPMP085)

Year 9/10 – Examine the role physical activity, outdoor recreation and sport play in the lives of Australians and investigate how this has changed over time (ACPMP104)

Programming with drones

In 2018 Paul spent considerable time developing his knowledge and understanding of how block coding worked and used this with his 5/6 class to program Sphero robots. In 2019 he has continued to extend and develop his knowledge of programming, using the Parrot Mambo drones with his class.

This Digital Technologies unit involved students extending their knowledge of block coding, learning about drone safety, how to manually fly the drones, understanding and using the Tynker app, and programming the drones through an obstacle course. Students also had to use a variety of interpersonal skills to successfully work with a partner during the program.

As with most technologies being used for the first time the drones required a significant amount of persistence and problem solving. In preparation Paul did taught himself how to use the drones ensuring he knew some of the issues students would face when working with the drones. The students demonstrated considerable problem solving skills and a good understanding of block coding to achieve the end goal of moving their drones through a series of obstacles.

Comments made by the students included:

  • “We had to make sure we put in the correct information to make the drones work, things like height, distance and time”.
  • “I really liked making the drones flip and do 360 degree turns, being able to program the drone was fun”.
  • “It was fun working with a partner to program the drones. I enjoyed interacting with the drone rather than just sitting at a computer”.
  • “We had some problems connecting to the drones sometimes but most of the time they worked well”.
  • “It was fun flying the drones but it was a challenge to program them correctly”.

Links to the 5/6 Digital Technologies Australian Curriculum

Achievement Standard: Students plan, design, test, modify and create digital solutions that meet intended purposes including user interfaces and a visual program.

Content Descriptor: Implement digital solutions as simple visual programs involving branching, iteration (repetition), and user input (ACTDIP020).

Elaboration: Programming a robot to operate independently through an obstacle course.

Students program drones to move through an obstacle course

What does the data say about our iPad usage at PBAS?

Our school set of 30 iPads are used on a daily basis (almost), certainly every week across R-10 with the majority of regular use being the R-4 students.

In the first 4 weeks of term 2 our class set of iPads has been booked for 40 out of a possible 120 lessons across R-9. On top of this 11 of those lessons have seen multiple classes accessing the iPads at the same time.

As well as how often are they used it is interesting to look at what they are being used for. With the help of the screen time function in the iPads settings I have been able to look at usage over a three day period in week 3 this term.

The screen time function categorises usage into areas like Education, Creativity etc while also tracking individual application usage.

It is great to see that in the categories section Education, Creativity, Productivity and Reading and Reference came out as the top 4 categories while Other, Games and Entertainment were lower down. Even better is that creativity appears in the top two, indicating that the iPads are not just being used for “traditional” schooling activities.

The top 4 categories mentioned combined for just over 11 hours per day across 23 iPads or an average of 28 minutes per iPad per day.

It is important to remember that this data is taken over a very short time period. Use of apps like iMove, Garageband, Scratch, Geoboard and many others not mentioned are specialty apps which get used when the need arises. For example an English task requiring students to video and edit an oral presentation would involve significant use for a short period of the Camera and iMovie apps. Apps like Safari and Literacy Planet which are research and practice based apps are naturally used on a more regular basis.

While this data is very narrow I believe it is a consistant representation of how we have used the iPads since including them as part of our ICT resources in 2013.

Primary PE – Games and The Australian Curriculum

Games are a great way for teachers to address aspects of the HPE Australian Curriculum Achievement Standards. Students love playing games and they can be useful when assessing student learning in HPE.

Considerations when using games to assess aspects of the HPE Achievement Standards:

  • Is there a purpose for playing the game? What aspect of the Achievement Standard is being assessed?
  • Do the students know what is being assessed? How is the learning intention communicated to the students?
  • Is there an assessment tool to record student learning? Video evidence, observational notes, a tick box rubric etc.
  • Is there an opportunity for questioning students about the game? How can we be more effective at the game? What strategies do you use? Can we modify rules/equipment to make it more enjoyable, increase participation, make it safer?
  • Is there an opportunity for feedback about the learning? Is time provided to apply feedback?

Aspects of the R-6 Achievement Standards relevant to playing games

Games can be used with R – 6 students to demonstrate:

  • fundamental movement skills (catching, throwing, jumping, hopping, dodging, skipping etc)
  • safe play
  • knowledge of body reactions to movement like increased breathing and heart rate, sweating, and tiredness
  • positive interactions with others (personal and social skills)
  • the ability to adapt and change to solve movement challenges.

Foundation (Reception)

Year 1/2

Year 3/4

Year 5/6

Resources (click on the images below)