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SO MANY OPTIONS: Communicating Learning in the Digital World

  • Christina Nyentap
  • Oct 9, 2020
  • 3 min read

There are so many options when it comes to integrating technology in the classroom. The tough part is figuring out which applications, websites, or resources will actually enhance student learning, create new learning opportunities that would otherwise not be possible without it, and will make tasks easier as a teacher and not overly complicate things. Technology integration also has to be purposeful so that it enhances the learning experience (rather than distracts the learning from the true intensions of the lesson). If I had to narrow it down to two tools in the classroom from the Gonzalez (2020) and Eady & Lockyer (2013) readings, here's what I'd chose. 

Gonzalez (2020): Interactive Posters 

I cannot express how excited I was to see an application for this! I've always wanted an application that could generate interactive posters so that I could make visual board games and/or representations of student learning journey's in my classroom. I was hoping students could travel through a platform that would show they progression over the course of the semester and this might just do the trick! An interactive poster is an online image that contains clickable links so that viewers can interact with sections of the poster to reveal sources, texts, or embedded items. This is a tool for teachers to communicate lesson ideas or for students to communicate their learning in multimedia presentations. 

Gonzalez (2020) suggests that teachers can communicate specific curriculum content using interactive posters, create interactive photos of classroom spaces (i.e., science labs where it is essential to know rules and procedures around the room), and share photos of classroom activities online. Students can make use of interactive posters by using them as personal learning portfolios (attaching artifacts of their work within the poster), a timeline of historical events in history class, to document the stages of an independent project or passion project, as an instructional poster for online peer-teaching, or as a content-based game. 


I will use interactive posters in my classroom by...

  • Having students create a digital portfolio that showcases their work through-out the course of the semester. This way all of students learning is not lost in a binder but stored safely in one space. I will create an interactive poster to demonstrate the virtual learning journey students are to take, but have them create their own personalized version with the content they create as they choose different paths, mediums of submission, etc. This will also allow for differentiated instruction. 

  • This tool will be especially useful for assessment and evaluation. Although I may not be able to compile marks directly into a grade book, I can use this to see students progress in a course, demonstrate to parents the students individual path of learning, and to keep track of all assignments in one place. 

Examples of interactive poster tools include: Buncee, Glogster, and ThingLink. 


Eady & Lockyer (2013): Blogging

Blogging puts a modern day spin on journal-writing and reflection. It allows students to practise digital citizenship, share their opinions, respond to others opinions, and voice important topics and issues to the world. Blogging allows students to communicate what they have learned in a deeper sense - they do not regurgitate information, but synthesize it and connect it to meanings that are personally relevant.  Students can add images, videos, and links to other websites. It offers a space for students to discuss issues in an academic way. 

I will use blogs in my classroom... 

  • Students can use blogs to reflect on what they have learned in my English classes. They can use this space to practice their writing skills, metacognition skills, and creative/critical thinking skills. Writing a blog will help them reflect on what they have learned and how they are learning, bettering their understanding on how they learn best. 

  • Blogs will offer a place to have discussions. I will use blogs to have students respond to others ideas. Their blogs can be expanded into something greater such as a website. I may combine blogs to fulfill metacognition objectives from the Ontario English Language Arts Curriculum and have them link these blogs to their interactive poster portfolios. 

For more information see:

 
 
 

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