In my previous post, “OREO Online Learning Guidelines“, I put together a list of tools our teachers have used to facilitate learning. I intentionally did not introduce any new toolS to avoid adding cognitive load in our initial implementation of asynchronous remote learning. Entering the second implementation of remote learning, we are implementing synchronous learning (with a combination of asynchronous learning). Students will engage with various collaborative and interactive learning engagements in the synchronous remote learning model. They might also receive instant messages and emails. It’s not uncommon that we often see students (and adults) have many tabs and/or windows open in their web browser. I learned about the term ‘collaborative overload in the article entitled, Tips for Avoiding Collaborative Overload. Put simply, it refers to “the burnout that results from reliance on emails, meetings and other collaborative technology tools that have limited our ability to get stuff done.” I am sure this sounds familiar to many of us.
We want to leverage tech tools for content delivery, discussion, interaction, collaboration, differentiation, and personalized learning. However, we also need to be mindful of how different platforms and digital tools for collaboration can overwhelm and confuse learners. Intentional planning, having a clear process and routines can help students avoid ‘collaborative overload’. When learners do not want to open one more tab or window or launch one more app on their computer, they might feel overwhelmed with communication and collaboration. Here are some tools that our teachers have used with students previously. I organize these digital tools based on the purpose of learning. Of course, you can always move them between categories. It all depends on the intention!
I also included some ideas for virtual icebreakers. Learning is not transactional. Instead, it’s social and relational. We need to think about the purpose and maximize the time spent together virtually. Instead of jumping right into the content and instruction delivery, we welcome students and invite them to learn at the beginning of the lesson. However, asking students to share any experiences or ideas voluntarily is less effective and it does not include everyone. This is true whether being online or on campus. Relationship building requires thought, and we need to do some prep work. Thus, having some “online icebreakers” might be helpful to support teachers as their reference.
When delivering online instruction, an idea is also to “streamline” the learning process and materials. What I mean is to organize all learning material in sequential order and avoid opening different tabs or windows if possible. For example, Google Slide is a tool to streamline the content and instruction and then I can use Peardeck to engage students. This way, I don’t need to send students to other websites.
Another great tool that supports digital teaching is ClassroomScreen. It’s exactly as it described on its website, “All the classroom tools at your fingertips”. Students can follow the instruction in one space rather than jumping between web pages.
If you are a ManageBac school, I will encourage schools and teachers to explore the Stream & Resources function. It appears to me that many schools use ManageBac, but they are not really aware of the functions and only use ManageBac for recording unit plans. I have made this Stream Function tutorial for our teachers. Hopefully, this will be helpful and encourage teachers to use ManageBac more as a teaching and learning tool, not just a record-keeping tool. Isn’t it exhausting to use multiple platforms to teach and record lesson plans? Most importantly, it is crucial to keep all information, resources, and student assessment work in the database to support teachers who will teach the unit next year and further refine and develop the curriculum.
Click the image to download the poster in a PDF file if you want. ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️
Note: The screenshot of ClassroomScreen is used with permission.
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Thank you Alison, I was actually working on Managebac today and your explanation really helped me improve my organization! I also really like the idea of linking ZOOM to help keep all information in one place.
Kind greetings,
Wendy