EdTech Lounge

Google Classroom Masterclass

The need for Google Classroom is shown in the constant rise in the rankings of both mobile app stores. One of the reasons at the moment is due to a lot of school closures around the world.

There is also the sheer speed at which you can get the links and resources out to your students, plus the responses to quizzes, assignments and the chat, which, is public by default ( the private messaging only happens between teacher and student). The other aspect, which is often over looked, is the mixing of the mobile app and the browser. The media, that can be shared when the learning taking place is a mixture of digital and analogue, means that the teacher can photograph the paper-based creations and share instantly to the screen in the classroom and the students. This can not only be in one classroom, but also to the many classes that you may teach. Yes, this may happen in other digital classrooms such as OneNote, however the speed of which is superbly quick in Google Classroom that OneNote simply cannot keep up with (currently). And, yes, MS Teams may be able to mitigate this kind of transfer too, but this is another style of application that really only needs to be in particular sections of the school in my opinion - namely, secondary levels.

Twitter PD

Twitter, in my (and many other’s) opinion, is an under utilised resource in the classroom. There are so many options for teachers to see great ideas, see video of classrooms in action and the inventive ways that teachers are using the resources they make, and, the resources they re-work from Twitter itself. The one tip I always give those who are new to Twitter is to lurk for a long time while you get used to how it all works. Going in gung-ho is usually reserved for those teachers who are after brand creation or those who know a lot of users already.

Lurk, interact slowly, re-tweet and then push original content while building a crew of followers and followed.

FOBIT 2015/ 2017

FOBIT stands for Fobisia IT and is part of the ongoing Professional Development (PD) that the regional group organise between all the associated schools across South East Asia. It follows a simple format called job-a-like workshops where host schools provide the opportunity for teachers to showcase working solutions and innovation.

This year was the second time we had hosted FOBIT the first being in 2015 to a smaller audience. This time we had around 100 participants that included student leaders, TTS staff, local hardware suppliers and, of course, the delegates themselves.

The difference this time was that we decided to widen the cohort and include local schools outside of the FOBISIA fold. Why? Well, these schools are doing great things in educational technology on all fronts: software, hardware and philosphy of learning alongside technology.

To see the success of this professional development you just need to see the tweets under the #FOBIT hashtag as well as the great resources being shared under the same tag.

The star events and talks came from Tara Linney, Adam Torrens and an inspiring session from Sean McHugh about what talk actually looks like in the 21st Century classroom. The best take aways from PD such as this as ever are the new connections we make with like-minded practitioners. It's also very reassuring too, that we're all on the right track with the experiences we offer our students at our respective schools.

Below is a quote from John-Paul at BIS Manila who encapsulates the feeling I think all attendees had.