Week 3: Working hard

Week three of Assistive Technology was a very different one: we got right to it on our Google Read&Write assignment. My group, comprised of Wendy, Amanda, Katie and myself, decided to make a good plan and template before dividing up our workload. We spent much of the day discussing, planning, and problem solving. Here are my top three takeaways from Week 3:

1) Taking on a new technology can seem daunting, but it's often simpler than you think!

Our group began with the idea of creating a Google Slides presentation which we could share with colleagues to go through the features and tools of Google Read&Write, but after some encouragement (thanks, Barb!), we decided to go the route of the Google Site.

I was initially hesitant, having never used Google Sites before. Whenever I'm faced with learning a new program, I am intimidated. What if the website is difficult to manipulate and create? What if the website itself becomes more arduous than the content of the project itself? These worries make me want to play it safe with technology and stick with something I'm all ready comfortable with, like Google Slides.

I quickly found that using Google Sites was highly intuitive and my concerns were allayed. We were able to easily form a framework for our Site and I learned about a wonderful new tool I can use in my practice (for and with students).

I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels the struggle to get started on new technology; I think teachers often feel ill-equipped to use technology and fear that it will be more complex than they are able to manage. I'm hopeful that resources like our Google Site and the resources created by other students in our class will help to make trying Google Read&Write a friendlier and less intimidating transition for teachers.

2) Project-based learning provides excellent opportunities for personal growth.

During my B.Ed, my social studies methods course was mainly focused on the project-based learning method. It was a more or less new concept to me at that time, as in my own elementary education, projects were mostly add-ons to in-class learning and frequently involved significant parental participation (props to Mom and Dad). Through project-based learning, students learn to work toward a goal and develop their own questions and objectives. This requires independence and intellectual curiosity and the ability to cope with challenges. In my classroom, I've seen how much students can thrive in that environment.

It was energizing to be on the other side of the project-based learning. Getting out of the classroom and working through our questions and ideas together made the time really fly. My group-mates and I had to develop our own objectives and figure out how to approach it. I think we all enjoyed the chance to really dig in to Google Read&Write and get really comfortable with its features. It was another little reminder for me that education doesn't always look like the teacher at the front of the room and the students seated at desks taking down the passed-down knowledge. Although our time was unstructured by the professor, we (the students) take responsibility for structuring it and using it well ourselves. Particularly where technology is concerned, hands-on is a great way to learn.

Project-based is also how many people in the tech field actually work! I always enjoy when the classroom can reflect forms of learning, work, and assessment that are seen in the workplace.

3) I love the flexibility of Google Read&Write

One thing I discovered in our project work today was the ability to toggle on and off different tools in Read&Write. This is such an important capability because there are a whole awful lot of features and if today's student is anything like I am, they can be easily overwhelmed by the great number of tools when they see them all at once. One way of teaching students to use Read&Write could be scaffolding in the different tools one at a time. If one tool becomes distracting or ineffective, you can toggle it on or off. It means the tools are flexible to meet the students' needs.

Click on the three dots on the right-hand side of the toolbar, then click options. Under 'Features', you'll find this list of tools to turn on or off, depending on your student's needs.

Can't wait to see how our Site will come together to be a usable resource I can share!