Friday 16 August 2013

My paperless class part 2

The second week of being paperless is over and it has brought along some challenges and opportunities for learning. The students have embraced Evernote, some more than others, and they are actively doing their work on there. The activity of each student in their notebooks shows up in  my Evernote account and allows me to see where they are up to. 




We have looked at 9/11 for a number of lessons and through Evernote I was able to share timelines, images and questions with them. As we covered the section on background and reasons behind 9/11 we looked at the middle east, Israel, Ottoman Empire and explored this part of the world to show the link to 9/11. 

At the end of the lesson students completed and 'Exit Card' on what they had learnt and what they were having trouble with. Instead of writing it on a piece of paper, they created a note in their shared Evernote notebook. I went through the "exit card' notes that afternoon and could clearly see where I need to focus on and look at again. Next lesson I covered this section a bit differently and they all understood the sections that was a bit unclear. This showed to me how invaluable the 'exit card' can be, and with it being recorded digitally the students are able to reflect on it and refer back to it.

Last lesson of the week we started looking at their assessment piece. I shared a note with the different documents that they will be referring to.




We will be doing the development of the assignment next week, and they will be saving it as they progress. The research notes will be using the Evernote webclipper to record their research pages and I can track their progress. Will see how this goes over the next few weeks.

Two burning questions that I have is whether to allow students the option to write down notes in class with pen & paper, or just record notes on their laptops? And when it comes to assessments; at the end should they have to print it out, should I or can it remain digitally. This becomes even more complex in year 11/12 in Queensland where their work gets sent of to a review panel to be evaluated. This means that they will have to have their work printed off. 

If you have any questions, please leave a comment or email me, or send me a message via twitter @jdtriver.

No comments:

Post a Comment