Category: Guides

Using the camera to evidence learning

As we all know, the classroom is always an extremely busy place and in that busy environment gathering evidence of learning and providing pupils with the opportunities to showcase their learning is crucial to the learning process.  Finding the time for the latter can be a difficult task. The good thing about gathering evidence of learning is that it can be collected in a variety of ways.

As an educator, it can be tricky to hand responsibility for evidencing learning over to the pupils in the classroom. However, the use of digital devices in our classrooms can be a powerful tool to let the children lead their own learning and feel in control of that learning. Having access to digital devices will give the pupils ownership in numerous learning experiences, which can include evidencing and showcasing their learning.

One way of doing this is to use the core features on their devices, for example: the camera. The camera is an in-built app on your device which goes beyond ‘snapping’ images and can be used as a powerful tool for evidencing, showcasing and reflection.

 

Using the camera across all stages and subject areas

The camera can be used to evidence and showcase learning from early level onwards, in varying degrees.

For younger pupils it is as simple as taking a photograph of their learning, creation or during play.  Not only can this photo be used to show evidence of a particular learning outcome, it can then be easily added to a learning journal or record which may be shared with parents/carers. In addition to this, the photograph can be used as a discussion point with pupils during reflection times, giving them a visual stimulus to engage in a more in-depth discussion around their learning. The pupil may even feel confident enough, using the photo, to share their learning with the class and enter into a peer or class discussion.

Pupils can build on this as they move up stages and in different subject areas by introducing ‘mark-up’.  ‘Mark-up’ can be found in photo albums by selecting on individual photos and tapping edit.  ‘Mark-up’ allows the pupil to annotate the photo, draw diagrams and add text. This can be ideal for adding their own personal learning reflections directly onto the photograph. They can also use ‘mark-up’ to showcase a part of their learning by labelling or adding an explanation to their photograph.

 

Sharing the evidence/reflections with the teacher
There are several ways that pupils can go on to share their photos with the teacher.

One way is using airdrop. By using Bluetooth, pupils can directly airdrop their photographs to the teacher’s device.

Another way would be for the pupil to add their photos in their class virtual learning environment. The platform used may vary but most offer a shared file space, or some type of class notebook where pupils can store their work.

In the middle of a bustling, busy classroom the camera is certainly a simple, yet powerful tool to allow pupils the ownership in monitoring their own progress, showcase and reflect on their own learning.

 

 

Using Audio in the Classroom

 

 

Music is a powerful and flexible tool in influencing our emotions – it can calm us down and lower stress levels or stimulate and inspire us to action. As well as this socio-emotional impact, music has long been linked to cognitive skills and recall. Have you ever sung along to a song you didn’t think you knew the words to? Music can be a powerful tool in the classroom and one way of harnessing its potential from your Connected Falkirk device is the GarageBand app.

 

GarageBand allows you to record voices using the built-in microphone on the iPad. Voice recording is something that’s already been happening for years in classrooms but the benefit of using GarageBand is that the recordings can easily be edited and shared. You could airdrop the file to another iPad or upload it directly to Teams, Google Classroom or any other virtual learning environment you might be using. Further benefits that open up new possibilities are the ability to play and record musical instruments. For the first time since I started teaching I can now realistically ask students to create their own piece of music as part of a classroom task. This opportunity to encourage creativity is something I find genuinely exciting as an educator.

 

If you are interested in trying some of the features of GarageBand, you may find these Connected Falkirk tutorial videos helpful in getting started.

 

 

Garage Band has obvious benefits for students and teachers of music but how can it be used in other curricular areas? 

Below are some examples of how Falkirk teachers are currently using audio in the classroom. We would love to add more examples of the amazing things Falkirk teachers are doing, so please contact us with details of how you are using audio in your classroom using the comments below or Tweet us @ConnectedFalk

 

Ideas For Using Audio in the Classroom

 

 

 

Benefits of Recording Presentations and Discussions

Discussion is a key part of learning and it happens organically in classrooms all the time. It’s not practical to always record pupil discussions but what benefit is there to recording some specific discussions? 

A voice recording is useful for assessment or just evidence of a pupil progress. The recording gives the teacher and pupil something tangible to refer to for feedback. Pupils can listen back to a recording to help them understand how to improve. Teachers have evidence of pupils’ learning and don’t have to assess as the discussion is happening. If pupils are taking voice recordings and adding music or visuals, they are developing creative skills alongside the curricular content of the recording. This puts their learning into a real-world context as they take on the role of producer or podcast creator.  

The recordings can also be used as a teaching resource. If appropriate, a voice recording might be played to others in the class to aid their learning on the topic covered in the recording.

 

Create Your Own Music

Using the Audio Recorder to record pupil voices is a great way to start with using audio in the classroom. The music-making features open up even more exciting possibilities. You may want a backing track to go underneath your voice recording or you might ask students to create a piece of music as part  of a different task. Here are some examples of how to incorporate this into lessons.

 

 

 

Audiobook Example

Here is an example of how to use the features of GarageBand as part of a poetry lesson on the National 5 and Higher Scottish Text “Visiting Hour” by Norman MacCaig.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saving to Your Device

We all know that storage on any digital device can be a sore point at times. There is nothing worse than having to delete precious photographs or documents to make space. This article covers some tips and tricks for saving to your Connected Falkirk device so that you don’t have to compromise when it comes to keeping your work safe.

 

Local Storage and iCloud

Your device has several ways to store your work. The most common and default for most of us will be to save to the actual device itself. While this is absolutely fine as a short term solution it is not foolproof. The main danger here is that if you accidentally enter your password wrong too many times the system will wipe your device completely as a safety precaution. Your device will regularly attempt to backup to the iCloud account associated with your managed Apple ID without any action from you, if your device is successfully backed up then files can be retrieved easily. If your device has not been backing up (switched off for long periods of time, iCloud storage full, other hardware or software issues) then you will lose everything. Not ideal. Another thing to consider about saving files locally to the device is that the total storage capacity is also used for applications and software updates so you may not have as much storage as you think. However, all is not lost! There are other ways to save files, documents and photographs which may be better suited to your needs – we’ll get on to those in a second.

If you are going to save to your device there are a few icons you’ll need to get familiar with.

 

Camera Roll is where all of your photographs, screenshots and marked up images will automatically save to.

Files is where all you can see all saved files, documents and images in one place. This includes Keynote decks, Pages files, PDFs, .docx files, Google doc files, etc.

Saved files for particular apps such as Keynote, Pages, iMovie, Garageband, etc will appear within the individual app itself. It should be noted that when saving to the device your iCloud will automatically offload any unused files to the cloud in order to save space, these files will appear with a small blue cloud icon on or beside it and will need to be downloaded again by tapping on the file. This requires an internet connection.

 

 

Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive

Google Drive and OneDrive are both file storage systems that are available to all Connected Falkirk teachers and pupils. They both work similarly and both are a great replacement for that pesky USB you’ve been carting around for years! Files of all kinds can be uploaded and organised.

 

What are the benefits of these services?

  • Both services have virtually unlimited storage (I am currently sitting at 32gb of resources on my Google Drive) so you don’t have to worry about running out of space.
  • Both services run a ‘synchronization service’ meaning if you log in to your account on another device all of your work is there, this makes moving between your Connected Falkirk device and a desktop or laptop computer super easy.
  • You can share files with others and collaborate on documents easily.
  • You can upload existing files in existing formats to both services, so all of your current resources are transferable.
  • Both services have the capacity to create folders or shared drives which can be used by selected teams or groups of colleagues or pupils.
  • There is the ability to make files available offline so that you can still access them without the need for an internet connection.

 

There is no hard and fast rule about how and where you should store files and each teacher and pupil has the right to make the decision for themselves about which method and services work best for them. Most people will use a mixture of both local and drive saving. One thing that will be universal though is the joy of not having to worry about a USB stick ever again!