I am fascinated by the idea of transitioning to a paperless classroom. If I was still a fifth grade teacher, I would definitely give it a try. Over the summer, media specialists in my district were introduced briefly to Google Classroom, which is free as a Google App for Education. This web-based tool offers a platform for schools to help create, distribute, collect, and even grade assignments without using paper. The following video does a great job of explaining further:
In order to sign in, students and teachers must have a Google Apps for Education account provided by the school. Once in the program, teachers can create, share and collect assignments as well as communicate with students. Your Classroom account is linked to your Google Drive, Docs, Slides, etc. making it easy to share class content. Students can access class content, collaborate with peers, communicate with the teacher and turn in assignments. All of this can be accomplished without paper...isn't that amazing?
After exploring some this summer, I found the app fairly easy to set up and to use. While I do feel that letting go of paper and pencil will be a bit scary, I think using Google Classroom will only enhance the experience of students and teachers as we work together, collaborate, and utilize new technology.
A recent class topic on accessibility has me wondering how I can make materials and information more accessible to my elementary students. One particular student is visually impaired and requires special screens for computer use. First and foremost, the library should provide the screen he needs to access our online catalog and various other resources used by the students. The monitor costs about $350, which I could purchase with my technology budget.
I also plan to introduce him to South Carolina Talking Book Services. This great resource offers over 70,000 downloadable recordings of books as well as Braille texts and large-print texts for free...children's titles included. Visually impaired students could use the audio recording to follow along with the text, or just listen for pleasure.
I also have one student who is hearing impaired, requiring that her teachers use amplifies in the classroom. In thinking about how I could improve access for her, I researched You Tube's closed captioning feature as well as Jing for creating screencasts. First of all, any videos I create will be uploaded to my YouTube channel so that closed captioning can be included. This video from Heather Moorefield-Lang explains the process beautifully. Although the process takes a few extra minutes, it is important to go that extra mile for my students.
Finally, for the many students who struggle with attention deficit disorder, I plan to use Jing to create short screen casts (five minutes or less) explaining various processes in the library from accessing Destiny Quest to DISCUS research and even sections of the library. These screen casts will help those who forget easily or don't sustain attention in class when these lessons are taught. Often students will not admit that they don't know how, so providing short videos will allow them the extra time and review on their own.
Accessibility is my responsibility. After this class session, I think differently about my lessons as I plan. Although there are so many ways to make information more accessible, I think the key is to get started...try to incorporate one new tool or feature until you are comfortable using it, and then add another and another until your users' needs are fully met.
