 | As a teacher, I was a big believer in having students keep what I was calling at time interactive notebooks. And the classic marble style notebook was one of the few class requirements that made it onto the school supply list for my students. I was not a stranger the notebooks myself, it was a practice that I believe in, keeping one along with the students to create a paper record of our class experiences. As computers became more prevalent in our school, I realized that by tapping into technology, I could teach students steps to share their notebook work with a larger audience outside of our classroom. This helps to bridge the students' learning to a larger audience, it helps to show your students that what you are doing in school is not just for school, but it's part of learning and learning can happen anywhere. |
| The first step to take is to figure out how can we share what's already been created in the notebook. By tapping into the webcam on the computer, you can use a feature in Google Docs to capture notebook work and bring it to an online platform. First, open up a Google Document, and go to Insert -> Image Then choose, Take a Snapshot and choose the Allow setting for Google Docs to access your webcam. |  |
Hold up the notebook to align it with the webcam and snap a picture. Since the notebook work is now in a Google Document, just change the document permissions to open up their paper work to the world. Students could reflect and share this document with other students or have other students contribute their own notebook work to the document which creates a collaborative space. The students could be from your own class, or another class in your school, state, or even somewhere else in the world to create a flat classroom experience for your students.
Another way to share work could be to have students create a digital learning portfolio. You could also have your students select items in their notebook to be featured in a learning portfolio that they could grow with them throughout their school career. I stumbled up a awesome Google Site Template created by Nick Mitchell that is designed to reflect the traditional school notebook.
If you search in Google Site templates for Digital Notebook Template, you should find this template.
Another way to share work could be to have students create a digital learning portfolio. You could also have your students select items in their notebook to be featured in a learning portfolio that they could grow with them throughout their school career. I stumbled up a awesome Google Site Template created by Nick Mitchell that is designed to reflect the traditional school notebook.
If you search in Google Site templates for Digital Notebook Template, you should find this template.
The Google Site template has lots of great features, including sticky notes that appear to holding the place of page. The images could be updated to reflect topics studied in your classroom.
Allowing students the opportunity to share the work they are doing in school helps to create a more authentic experience for students. They know the work they are doing is not just happening inside of brick school walls, but it is being connected to the real world.
~Amber Bridge, Technology Consultant @abridgesmith
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~Amber Bridge, Technology Consultant @abridgesmith
For more posts like this, please subscribe to our blog! You can also connect with us on social media if you Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter or add us to your circles on Google+. We even have our own podcast you can listen to.
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