Divisions 1 and 2 had our first Skype session with a parent in our community. Mrs. Gillon is a parent of one of my students and approached me last week to set up a Webinar with the class. Wow..what a fantastic and enriching experience. This is how our day went:
We started the Webinar in the morning by using seven wireless devices with 4 students at each station, a combination of laptops and iPads. At first the kids were exploring looking at their pictures and hearing their voices ….our classroom was buzzing with excitement and energy. Next, Mrs. Gillon encouraged everyone to brainstorm ideas about how this type of video conferencing would be applicable in the real world. The ideas started to flow….soon all groups were able to contribute via voice and on screen to create a PowerPoint slide as a collective group. Very rich learning experience for all of us in a span of 40 minutes…some students even stayed in at recess to continue with this activity. This puts things into perspective….grade sevens missing recess so that they could stay in to continue building their slides, impressive!
We started the Webinar in the morning by using seven wireless devices with 4 students at each station, a combination of laptops and iPads. At first the kids were exploring looking at their pictures and hearing their voices ….our classroom was buzzing with excitement and energy. Next, Mrs. Gillon encouraged everyone to brainstorm ideas about how this type of video conferencing would be applicable in the real world. The ideas started to flow….soon all groups were able to contribute via voice and on screen to create a PowerPoint slide as a collective group. Very rich learning experience for all of us in a span of 40 minutes…some students even stayed in at recess to continue with this activity. This puts things into perspective….grade sevens missing recess so that they could stay in to continue building their slides, impressive!
Since this activity went so smoothly, Mrs. Gillon asked me if we would like to have a Skype session with her in the near future. I responded by letting her know that we would be available after lunch. I’ve been exploring the idea of learning how to fit in a Skype opportunity for my class, and this was my chance. I mentioned the idea to the other grade 7 teacher, Doris Duncan, and also our LST teacher, Brooke McBurney. They were very excited to join us and brought their students to my class at 12:45 p.m.
The whole logging on to Skype procedure went very smoothly and what an amazing opportunity for our students to learn in such an interactive environment. The focus of our session was on Mrs. Gillon’s career and technology in the real world. Mrs. Gillon has a sales background with Sonpar; she trains employees via webinars, Skype, and video conferencing. The students were connected, focused, and intrinsically motivated to participate in the discussion. There were all types of questions ranging from: job description, salary, education, types of technology used at her work, careers in the future….well done Divisions 1 and 2.
The whole logging on to Skype procedure went very smoothly and what an amazing opportunity for our students to learn in such an interactive environment. The focus of our session was on Mrs. Gillon’s career and technology in the real world. Mrs. Gillon has a sales background with Sonpar; she trains employees via webinars, Skype, and video conferencing. The students were connected, focused, and intrinsically motivated to participate in the discussion. There were all types of questions ranging from: job description, salary, education, types of technology used at her work, careers in the future….well done Divisions 1 and 2.
Later in the afternoon, Mrs. Gillon, personally came and spoke with our students. It was interesting and exciting to communicate with our presenter using 3 modes – Webinar, Skype, and face to face… Students embraced all three activities and the high level of engagement was impressive. The learning mattered to the kids as they were engaged and motivated. We were all learners throughout this experience and the technology complemented our learning. What a wonderful learning opportunity for all of us!