12 Days of Our Favorite Resources to Engage Learners
I always try to remember it’s not about the tech, it’s how you use it. This being said, sometimes learning about a new tool or resource will open the gate to bigger discussions about pedagogy and learning. Start with a tool and then explore how or why you might use it to enhance teaching and learning.
Day 2 - Google Applied Digital Skills (If/Then Lesson)
Yesterday, I shared Adobe Spark. Adobe Spark is a great resource that allows educators and students to create graphics, web pages, and video stories all in one place. Today guest blogger Melissa Wilson shares her experiences with Google Applied Digital Skills.
Google Applied Digital Skills is a wonderful resource for all teachers. Google’s impressive, free curriculum uses video-based lessons that cover a wide range of digital skills for students to develop and utilize. The best part...you can incorporate these impressive lessons into your own instructions and content, while also teaching real-world applicable digital skills. In my sophomore English classes, I decided to dive into the If/Then Adventure Stories Curriculum and used it to teach and assess narrative writing. This awesome curriculum teaches digital collaboration, presentation formatting, and slide hyperlinks utilizing Google Docs and Slides; it can also be used in other classes besides English, as students should be creative and writing in every class.
Students worked in partners and created a Choose Your Own Adventure-style story in Google Slides. We followed the curriculum set in place by Google, but I tweaked it as needed for my classes. We watched videos together, discussed them as a class, and then students were given time to collaborate and create. All of this was done in class, as I am not a fan of giving homework. In my 11 years of teaching, this activity was probably one of the most engaging, popular assignments completed by students. For almost two weeks, students were engaged the entire class period and complained when it was over. They were creating, communicating, collaborating, and critically thinking while crafting these stories. Most groups wrote more than was expected of them due to their excitement over their story ideas and development. I was apprehensive to try this, but I am so happy I did! My students requested to do something similar second semester, and if they are this excited to write, then I will make it happen. While Google Applied Digital Skills provided a shell for the unit, I was able to modify as needed based on what my students needed to learn the skills and complete the assignment. This unit provided evidence that giving students opportunities to create, collaborate, and take ownership of their learning develops the most memorable and meaningful learning experiences for our students!
- If/Then Narrative Adventure Story - Assignment Sheet and Rubric
- Student Examples
- #whatsup Wildcats - Classroom Edition - Choose Your Own Adventure (Blog Post)
Twitter: @mrswilsonnv
Website: #WhatsupEDU
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