It is important to remember that when we, as educators, are designing our lessons, it is not about the latest application or digital platform. Before looking at any of the technology, we must ask ourselves some of the following questions:
What do we want our students to learn?
How can they construct their own meaning (and ultimately, learning)?
What is the best way for them to demonstrate what they learned?
Recently, I was approached by one the social studies teachers at the high school. She was looking for a new and engaging strategy to implement with something she does routinely throughout the week: document based analysis (i.e. DBQs). Although she was getting some good results by putting kids in groups and having them dissect and analyze the documents, she felt it was time to mix it up and challenge them in a different way. I suggested she take a look at Movenote, a web-based application where the students can quickly and easily create a video, where they explain their document analysis on camera (see example below). Here's a few reasons why it was effective:
-It gave the kids an opportunity to work on their presentation skills
-Their analysis was sharper and more insightful. Once they knew they were on the hook to perform in front of the "cameras" their curiosity and effort improved dramatically
-Because I told them they could not read from their notes, and that their presentation had to be natural, they were forced to really have command over the material.
By using Movenote, I truly believe the students learned the content in a deeper and more meaningful way. It was also evident that the students were taking ownership of their own learning, thus allowing them to delve into the material on a higher level than what was being accomplished in simple groups. Plus, they improved their verbal communication skills and picked up a few tech lessons along the way. In the end, as the team at EdTechTeacher likes to say, "technology should be in the service of learning." In this case, it is pretty clear that learning was being served.
Movenote Example
Movenote can be accessed by going to www.movenote.com or gong to the movenote app now found on all school iPad carts. The students then can log in using their school Google accounts. Once on the Movenote platform, they can import a document or PDF from their google drive which will appear in the video as a sort of reference point for the student and their audience.