Worried about how much information I'm about to throw at you with a title like that? Well take a breath, we'll get through it, and who knows, maybe it'll be less than you think! We had Chris Fredrickson and Shannon Magee, who are Web-Based Course Consultants for the Manitoba Government, and boy oh boy did they come prepared for an awesome presentation for the class!
Did you make it this far? Are you holding on for what's to come? Bracing yourself to get through this? Well, I have great news if you have made it this far, although they discussed a bunch of useful information, such as gamification, use of blended learning (online and in-class), and different collaborative tools (such as blogs) we have already touched on these topics briefly in prior blog posts so I am not going to much cover these, and I'm going to focus on a tool that they have provided, called Brightspace.
Brightspace is a learning management system l, similar to those that you might be familiar with, such as Moodle or Schoology, that you can use as an educator in your classroom as a benefit to your students. You may ask yourself, what benefit does it have to me to sign up for Brightspace and my first response would be...
That there are over 20 full-on courses that you can request access to and see different resources for each class!
Need More after that? Seriously? Alright, well, there is also a Mobile App that your students can download where they would be able to set up notifications for assignments and tests, along with seeing the content for the information. Within the website, there is a navigational bar, a customizable banner, an activity feed where you are able to have discussions with the class, as well as a Bitmoji Classroom library! There is, so much information and resources available for the teachers, as well as a slick and easy way to set up and organize your classrooms. As you can see, my students in my class have had it pretty easy so far, with a total of 0 grades, objectives, assignments, or tests. However, I got access to this just a few days ago and I currently am not teaching any classes so that may have something to do with it!
Brightspace is an incredible resource that is being provided to us and I encourage all my teacher friends and followers to take a look at it!
See, that wasn't so bad, was it? You were able to keep up pretty easily, weren't you? Are you started to question my title? Well, what if I told you it was more aimed at the fact that you have to try your best as an educator to keep up with the new technology and resources that are becoming available to us! I just want you to take a second and think about your time in school, was there really an online portal where you were able to upload assignments? Where you were able to be in contact with the whole class at any time? I know, personally, for me, there was not, and I am feeling like I am playing catch up a little bit and I am doing my best to keep up! With resources like Brightspace, my classroom is going to look a whole lot different than the one I graduated from _??_ years ago!
Lucas, I really appreciate your writing style. I have been at work most of the day and am feeling a little tired but as I read your blog, I had a smile on my face so well done! As a future early years teachers, the web based courses aren't appropriate for my learners. I would like to see how this platform can be broadened to include early years and middle years students as well. When I look back at my school journey, technology was not a major part of my learning. I am very appreciative that I had a typing course or else I wouldn't be able to type as fast as I currently am. All of my assignments were either handwritten or typed onto a computer and printed out. Back then, I don't think I even considered what role an online platform could play in my education. I am so grateful to know how technology can assist me in my role as a classroom teacher and look forward to integrating it into my own classroom!
ReplyDeleteI love the title for this post. Try to keep up indeed. I like the idea that with resources from Brightspace, our classrooms will be different from what we graduated from. Honestly this was a great post. God Job Lucas!! Thank You for sharing your thoughts
ReplyDeleteLucas, you always crack me up with your posts. As for the questions at the end of your post, I also did not have the ability to stay in contact with classmates at all times nor could I upload assignments to an online portal. Classrooms have come a long way from when we were in school and we have to keep up and adapt to the continuous rapid changes to technology.
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