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Digital Learning Day

Digital Learning Day? How About Digital Teaching Day

March 1, 2018

February 22, 2018, marked the seventh annual Digital Learning Day. Digital Learning Day celebrates the use of technology and innovative practices in student learning. Many teachers, myself included, incorporate digital learning strategies on a regular basis. My students have school-issued iPads they bring to class each week. To clarify – I teach elementary band and orchestra. The focus in my class is definitely on making music, but we use technology to enhance and personalize student learning. I knew I wanted to do something for Digital Learning Day, but since digital learning takes place daily in my class, it needed to be something different. So instead I decided to have my students move from being the digital learners to being the digital teachers!

Students were instructed to think of something musical that they could teach other students via video. There were no restrictions put on what they could teach, only that it had to relate to their instruments. What happened next was great! The students immediately started brainstorming what they could teach; some working with partners, others individually, to come up with their plans. Students recorded their tutorial videos on Flipgrid. Flipgrid is a tool we often use in my class, so I knew students would not have to worry about learning a new app and could focus on what they were teaching. I also wanted a platform where the videos could be easily viewed by students in multiple classes. Flipgrid worked out well for these purposes.

The student videos were great! Some chose very basic topics, such as how to assemble their instruments, while others discussed more complex skills like how to play specific notes or perform various techniques. Giving students a choice in what to teach allowed them the opportunity to pick something they were comfortable with, but through the act of explaining it to others, higher level thinking skills came into play. Several times students had to re-record their videos after discovering missing information or moments that were not clear. Seeing this self-evaluation was encouraging. Yes, there were a few instances where I had to question students for clarity, but in almost all cases they were able to fix the issues. Some students chose to continue the project at home, and created more videos that evening and into the weekend. I will never complain about students extending learning (and teaching) into their own time!

While this was a project for Digital Learning Day, it is one that I will definitely repeat before next February. Students can learn a lot by teaching their peers, and giving them the opportunity to do it digitally increases the impact they can make. In fact, next month I plan to collaborate with a teacher in another state on a similar project. My students will create tutorial videos for her (younger) students as they prepare to learn their first instruments. Students learning from students is powerful for everyone involved and it’s my hope that this will be the first of many similar collaborations to come!

 

Theresa Ducassoux
Instrumental Music Teacher
Arlington Public Schools
Arlington, Virginia
@TDucassoux
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Digital Learning Day 2018 – Challenge Accepted!

February 26, 2018

Digital Learning Day 2018

On Thursday, February 22nd, tens of thousands of educators and students across the country demonstrated how technology can improve student learning as part of the seventh annual national Digital Learning Day! Initiated in 2012, Digital Learning Day was designed to encourage educators to be intentional about providing high-quality instruction where technology enhances and strengthens the learning experience for students.

For those of us who are committed to equity and the powerfulness of using technology to improve instruction, it validates what we’ve been saying all along – it’s not about the tech.  The technology is just a tool that can allow teachers to transcend the traditional learning experience in ways never before imagined.

Challenge Issued

In my district, we place a huge emphasis on the 4Cs (Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, and Creativity), but with the demands of standardized testing, it’s so hard for teachers who are new to using technology in the classroom to see the benefit. If classroom integration is new, it is often difficult to see why allowing students to be creators instead of just consumers is so important. Being in a 1:1 iPad classroom for 2 years before I began my current role allowed me to see how allowing students to engage in 4C’s activities increase their ability to problem solve and grow as thinkers.

Because of this, we use the opportunity of Digital Learning Day to showcase the work that is going on. For the past three years, we’ve launched a two-week challenge that encourages teachers to share the work they (and their students) are doing to extend and enhance learning. Using a Google Site (isn’t it the easiest way to build something that looks so polished?), we created a space where we could put the challenges, look at suggestions, and submit their entries. If you’re interested in checking out the site, click here.

Challenge Accepted

As an incentive to participate, those that submit an entry are in the running for some very cool prizes! We also awarded double entry points to those who submitted on the actual day (February 22nd)! After Thursday, I was so excited to see over 50 entries of amazing things that students and teachers did!

We have one more week left and I’m excited about what we will continue to see. If you’ve never participated in Digital Learning Day, I encourage you to do so next year. If you did participate this year, I’d love for you to tell me about your experience!

 

 

Carla Jefferson
ITC at Darlington County School District
Apple Distinguished Educator
Google Certified Trainer/Innovator
South Carolina, USA

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