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This is second of a three-part blog post series on the use of Padlet during distance learning. Today's post is short, but discusses something I have found to be VERY useful when facilitating distance learning "labs" with my chemistry students: Time-lapse videos!
I have been struggling with capturing student work from a distance when it involves simple labs I have students do at home. To increase student accountability, and to create a powerful visual of their observations, I am having students record time-lapse videos of their experiments so that we can all quickly review and discuss their observations via a common Padlet board without having to deal with sharing Zoom screens, digging through an ugly form output sheet, or opening up myriad of various websites or folders wheres students catalog their work. Click here for an example of a Padlet board where students uploaded time-lapse videos of an experiment where students were challenged to determine the general effect of adding sodium chloride to water. As you can see, not only is the board a very aesthetic and clear place to view one another's work, the commenting feature allows for collaboration without having to awkwardly talk in Zoom constantly. Moreover, and perhaps most powerful, because a time-lapse video is a condenses video created from image snapshots in time, the video file is small, and thus can easily be uploaded to the common Padlet board were I, and all students, can see the ENTIRE lab process unfold for complete analysis and observation. Simple and powerful. At least in my eyes :) This is first of a three-part blog post series on the use of Padlet during distance learning. I have written about Padlet extensively in the past and these posts continue on from my past success in leveraging the tool for online instruction. Keeping this in mind, Padlet has proved to be an invaluable resource in my formative assessment toolbox.
While Zoom provides a central place for relaying task instructions, providing individualized assistance, and general live communication, a class period rarely goes by where I do not push out a link to a Padlet board in the chat and ask students to submit images of their work, videos they have created or found, links to documents they have created, and and a myriad of other artifacts they create during class that help me better understand their progress. Moreover, by sharing a Padlet board during a live class Zoom, all student work is easily visible in a clean, accessible way, and students can speak about their work without having to share their individual screen, while I, and other students comment and provide feedback live on the Padlet board. Click here for board where students uploaded examples of static electricity during chemistry class. Click here for a board where students uploaded examples of molecular geometry created using household products. Click here for a board where students uploaded drawn images of protein chains. These aboeve examples are just a few of the many ways Padlet allows me, and more importantly, all of the class, the opportunity to quickly view work as it is being created from a distance in a fashion that is easy to view, and powerful in its ability to provided immediate feedback. Click here for screencast of a Padlet board as submission of molecular models are arriving in real time. I can immediately provide feedback, address common errors, and quickly visualize all students work before moving on to the next class activity. As my first complete semester of 100% distance leaning comes to a close (last spring was triage at best), I wanted to share all of my resources for fellow STEM teachers. I am by no means proud or this work as my curriculum was cut significantly short as I negotiated the myriad of distance learning roadblocks I'm sure we all faced. Regardless, there are nuggets that I am proud of, and some you might (specifically, chem, bio, and robotics teachers) find useful if you dig around enough. I simply feel an obligation to share. Reach out here with ANY questions.
Chemistry Resources Biology ResourcesRobotics. Resources I am excited to announce that I have just completed a new book about my experiences, experiments, failures, and reflections during pandemic distance learning. While publishing is still a few months out, I will be sharing snippets of the book here. Below is the first of many: From "Rule #2: Streamline Your Tech"
"Perhaps a quote by the poet Rainer Maria Rilke that was read at my wedding captures this concept best: 'Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue, a wonderful living side by side can grow, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole against the sky.' While Rilke’s words relate to love between two individuals, the teacher in me also interprets this quote to embody a larger, more transcendent context where Rilke is referring to a relationship between any two living or non living things. In the context of Rule #2, I hear Rilke calling us, as educators, to embrace our dependence on technology during distance learning, by placing it at a distance, simplifying its use, and once we do that, we can see its purpose clearly. That clarity can then surface beautiful spaces where we can challenge our students in purposeful ways. Specifically, while many of my colleagues were creating new websites, attending Zoom workshops, and consuming themselves with learning a new way of teaching' in preparation for distance learning, I asked myself the following question: 'If I had to teach online tomorrow, what tools in my mission statement am I the most comfortable with and are the most device agnostic?' By asking myself this question, I knew I would create a system that, although on the surface would look basic, would be something that I would feel very comfortable implementing during a stressful time, would leave room for the pedagogical musings needed to maximize learning." I was honored to give a presentation yesterday to colleagues in Utah on strategies to promote engagement in the sciences when teaching in a 100% distance learning setting.
Rather than share an exhaustive list og best practices (which are constantly evolving), I decided to give participants a snap shot of my current thinking on distance learning science pedagogy which is heavily informed by constant reflective practice. Click here for a link to a PDF of the presentation which features my top four current strategies. I am sure these will change...but sharing reflection and iteration, I feel, is very powerful. At least for me. And it's my blog. :) |
Ramsey Musallam is a full-time science teacher in Santa Rosa California.
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