Communication Tools

Welcome to another blog. This time I am looking at some communication tools for recording and sharing with students, families, and colleagues. I see this stage of our coursework as leading up to finding integration of multiple tools. I had previously worked with panopto and slack. Learning to feel comfortable with recording and online learning has been an interesting journey over the past few years. I played around with loom through this class, and it gave me similar opportunity to recording in Zoom or panopto, but I like the format for having a camera on me as I also screen share. Sharing videos is slightly easier than my experience with zoom recordings. 

This is the library page for Loom. Remarkably similar interface to Panopto.



Here is the home screen of Panopto showing my videos
Here is the home page for Panopto showing the videos I have created

I think there are similar uses for both of these to communicate a lesson to students. I must give credit to my classmates for some ideas on how to use these to communicate with students when there is a substitute teacher, sending class newsletters, and providing technical details to students. I like how this allows them to pause, work at their own pace, and gives the sense of a one-on-one lesson with students without taking as much time.

Using these tools in conjunction with a social networking site like blogger or slack
I think finding easy ways to encourage parent involvement, students sharing with each other, and a place that keeps track of all the teaching/learning resources such as videos and assignments is a great way to create a vibrant online classroom culture.

Like any tool, I was a bit slow and cumbersome with my first forays into using panopto. I nearly drove myself crazy trying to upload to the EWU canvas site. Other than getting over the initial hurdle of seeing how these tools interact with each other, I believe that these will save time and energy, especially if I am revisiting a subject multiple years. I can change and update each year without starting from scratch. All and all, I think there is a strong case for teaching how students can use these tools. I have no doubt that this will be expected for them more and more as time moves on.

Comments

  1. Rob McAlerneyJuly 12, 2023 at 12:25 PM

    The ability to pause and work at their own pace is a very nice feature. I try to look for tools that allow for that functionality. Thank you for sharing. Again, I always appreciate your input Mr. C! Hope you're having a fun productive summer.

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    Replies
    1. CalvinJuly 13, 2023 at 8:11 AM

      Thanks, Rob. I think this type of tool will be especially useful once we are in a solid place and teaching the same thing year after year. Teaching the same class three times a day for 6th grade, I got SOOO much better at my lesson by the third try. I imagine having a recording and then being able to add and adjust each year, but using the same video as a foundation. I look forward to the day I am not starting from scratch each day.

      Delete
  2. Alexandra CopelandJuly 12, 2023 at 3:49 PM

    Thank you for sharing these video tools! I love the idea of being able to create something effectively for communicating, but also could be a lesson if needed in the video.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CalvinJuly 13, 2023 at 8:15 AM

      I agree Alex. I think recording something like a weekly newsletter and sharing with students and parents will help build relationships and help make me seem more approachable. If there is an easy avenue for families to respond, I hope they will be more involved. Even if all they do is say thank you, or give a like, I want to make it easy to respond and stay engaged.

      Delete
  3. Billy TaylorJuly 13, 2023 at 6:45 PM

    These are all great tools. I have used all of these before for classes and I'm familiar with them. I especially like loom because its very user friendly and very easy to record your screen with a webcam that allows the students to see you. I feel like these tools could definitely be a great asset in aiding our teaching.

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    Replies
    1. CalvinJuly 18, 2023 at 12:39 PM

      Thank you, Billy. I feel like everyone who uses loom remarks about how straight forward it is. If I can just adopt one tool and use it well, I woulld feel successful. Loom seems especially helpful for letting students work at different paces, and choosing the order of their work because the video can be there whenever they need it

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  4. ajJuly 15, 2023 at 2:49 AM

    I think that is very smart how you immediately looked at the integration with other tools rather than focusing on just this one. I agree that as a blend this could be a really cool tool to use and I may have to steal it from you.

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    Replies
    1. CalvinJuly 18, 2023 at 12:40 PM

      AJ, you should definitely steal this idea! I would be flattered

      Delete

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