EdTech

The projects on this page represent the various ways I use technology to reach students. Included are an example of using a video assignment to introduce new tech, the use of tech to apply and reinforce previously learned content and skills, and a tutorial video to teach students new procedures.

Distance Learning Success

This intentionally cheesy video was created as a first assignment for the new school year, which began in distance learning. I make a lot of videos but this was my first animated one. I found a template I liked on biteable.com, opened that, added my own text/deleted what I didn’t need, worked out the timing of each frame, then downloaded the file. After that, I imported it into the Camtasia application to record my voice over and finalize the project. Finally, I pushed it out to YouTube and shared it with the other teachers in my community so they could also use it, if wanted.

This video was delivered to my 7th and 8th grade students via a student-paced NearPod lesson with a collaborate board for assessment. The goal of the activity was to introduce students to some useful distance learning tips as well as get practice using the NearPod application, which was new tech for the fall 2020 semester.

5 Themes of Geography virtual field trip

This video is the instruction-giving component to the virtual field trip I designed for a 7th grade application and reinforcement lesson on the Five Themes of Geography. The map was created in Google Slides and published as a webpage so students could interact with it outside of the Slides interface. Student work was completed in a separate slides presentation, with each slide representing a unique stop on the field trip. I individually wrote and designed this activity. The instructional video was recorded using the Camtasia application.

This activity was run as part of a synchronous learning experience via Zoom in the fall of 2020. Students were put into breakout rooms with 2-3 other students and allowed to work collaboratively and talk through their responses, though each student had their own slides presentation to complete and received an individual grade for the assignment.

While students worked, I visited breakout rooms to offer support, guidance, and help with the assignment, similar to how I would circulate around the room to help groups during in-person learning.

This video is an example of how I use tech to flip my classroom and meet the needs of all learners during distance learning.

Using the to-do list and calendar features in google classroom

This video was created to help students understand how to effectively use both the to-do list and calendar features in Google Classroom to stay on top of their work. This video was shared with the other Upper Division mentors to show to their students and discuss so all were aware of new procedures for the 2020-2021 school year.