With some of our students well on their way to becoming proficient in using Chatterpix, we thought there may be a great learning opportunity in allowing these expert students to teach their peers how to use the app. We thought that peer-peer teaching might both motivate the 'learner' students to try Chatterpix (it was recommended by a friend, after all) and provide a way for the 'expert' students to continue to develop their oral communication and problem-solving skills, as well as their confidence! We did this in a variety of ways. Two classes made anchor charts to assist the students in learning and teaching Chatterpix, while another, provided verbal support while students taught their peers. One teacher developed her anchor chart with the expert students. While these students were beginning to teach their peers, one by one, how to use Chatterpix, they would sometimes seek out the anchor chart if they forgot a specific step. Specifically, we found that in Chatterpix, it is more difficult to find a photo to use that was taken earlier with the ipad camera, than to take a photo within the app. The students found the anchor chart useful for remembering how to import a photo taken earlier.
As with the other apps we have tried, when students in our classes saw the expert students independently using these tools, they were excited to learn how to use them too! The experts were made pretty busy! We were able to sit back and observe how the experts taught their peers, and noticed individual differences in the experts' ability to explain what their peers should do, versus just pressing the buttons for them. This provided us with teachable moments and great documentation! After broadening the number of students in our classes who used the app, we made some discoveries while watching various students try it out. We found that one type of student might find the fact that their recording is limited to one minute and counts down throughout the recording, stressful. This kind of student might rush through what he/she wanted to say, trying to make sure he/she gets to fit it all in. Another student may find that the timed recording motivates them to be more succinct in their explanations, as compared to a tool such as Explain Everything, that has a longer recording time and doesn't count down while you are recording. As our experts continue to teach their peers, we are excited to see how their explanations grow in detail, and to watch more learning take place!
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As we were diving deeper into the school year, we noticed that our students were engaging in more in-depth projects that developed over time, or they were eager to share a process that was continually evolving. We also were noticing that some students who engaged in research projects where they created a ‘ChatterPix’, seemed to be looking for something more. When reflecting about what content-creation app might be best suited for these needs, we thought of Pic Collage. Pic Collage is an app that we were all very familiar with ourselves, as we have used it for our own documentation. However, passing the app over to the students was something we hadn’t done much of. We knew that at this point in the school year, many of our students were becoming increasingly able to record their thoughts and observations in writing with phonetic spelling, and thought the text feature in Pic Collage may be a motivating way for them to ‘write’. We also knew that the photo collage capabilities would be able to capture multiple moments of a process and the evolution of a project. In using Pic Collage with our students, we found it very easy for them to use and navigate independently with minimal introductory instruction. The icons to add text and photos are easy to find, and don’t require reading skills. Moving, manipulating, and enlarging text is done with simple finger motions, and there is an undo button in the top corner to fix any mistakes that might occur. We used this app in a variety of different ways with our students, including:
When students were finished with Pic Collage projects, they had the option to ‘app smash’ it into Explain Everything or Draw and Tell as a way for them to further explain their thinking. The novelty of introducing another app seemed to help motivate our students. We also noticed that our students who were reluctant to put their ideas on paper, seemed more comfortable using this app as a writing tool. Check out some of our student's work samples below. After an exploration at the paint table, a few girls got together to share their learning. They each chose a picture and helped each other sound out the words for the caption. "The paint table is fun. We put paint on the paint table. The shaving cream is sticky. The shaving cream is soft." A student who is interested in sports has enjoyed sharing his knowledge of his favourite sports teams in pic collage. For this project, he worked with a teacher to find safe to use images. Then he worked independently to type titles and captions for each of the images he chose. "Blue Jays. The blue jays symbol is a blue jay. The jersey is a blue jay. The mascot is jay and junior. They play (at the) in the rogers centre. Donaldson won the first few games."
By now, our students felt very comfortable using Explain Everything and Draw and Tell. They could take a photograph of their work, and use one of the apps to show their learning. In fact, some of our students were so familiar with the apps, they almost appeared bored with them. That was how we knew they were ready for a new app. Our hope was that a new app would enhance their motivation to share their thinking, and build on their developing communication skills.
We first had a chance to explore ChatterPix-Kids at an ETFO Summer Academy course led by Kristen Wideen, who used the app to showcase another way for students to share their learning. Not only did it seem easy to use but, most importantly, it seemed fun! With Chatterpix-Kids, students take any photograph and make it talk. After giving our students time to explore the app, we had talking garbage bins, shoes and pictures of themselves. Who could resist that? It should be noted that whenever we introduce a new app like ChatterPix-Kids to our students, we give them time to explore the app on their own. We show them the basics, and then let them loose! This strategy, of letting them play, may at first seem counterproductive. Haven't we been saying all along that we want our students to see the iPads as tools and not toys? When we let them play at the beginning, they get it all "out." All the giggles, and silliness are gone by the time we show our students what they can really do with the app. After our students had played with the app, we made a natural link between this app, and the animal research our students had been conducting using the web based program Pebblego. Our students were very motivated to use the app. However, in order for them to see the app as a learning tool, we made them a deal: first do the research (by using a graphic organizer to describe what the animal looks like, eats and where it lives), and then use the app to make their research come to life. Our students were hooked and their motivation to share their learning increased tremendously!
As our students became even more comfortable using ChatterPix-Kids, they started to see the value in using the app to make their block towers, Lego robots and artwork, come to life as well.
Not only was this app fun to use, but it motivated our students to share their learning. While we initially introduced it as a way for our students to share their animal research, it didn't take long before students were asking to use this app to explain how they built something, whether with different building materials or at the art table. Overall, this app proved to be a valuable tool to motivate our students to think critically and communicate with their teachers and peers. |
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May 2017
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