The LMS I chose

I thought teaching English to kids online using STEAM is impossible unless I bumped into this wonderful site.  I first heard about seesaw when my lecturer recommended it to me, I had no idea that I would be amazed. Eurica! That LMS was the one that I was looking for! Surprisingly, it had some science activity exercises which could be done safely and independently by pre-K students. I was so happy that remote learning can be such fun, and science-technology,  engineering, art, and math can be done in remote mode.

As I teach pre-K, the LMS that I was about to choose had to be colorful, and engaging. Among all LMSs, I chose the Seesaw because it met all the needed requirements. There are a lot of fun activities and it is a special learning management tool for kids. Some of my students who did the exercises were very interested in the activities created on the seesaw. 

 I decided to use seesaw as an additional learning tool for my students. However, I believe this online site can be used in full distant teaching because of the activities and opportunities it conveys. As I teach in person, I thought giving them additional online activities would be effective. I made 13 activities with the length of 20-30 minutes for each, which could be done at any convenient time of the day. Science experiments and engineering activities take much longer time 30-40 minutes depending on complexity. It is crucial to take into consideration the background of students when making online activities. As my learners are kids, I made activities as short as possible and made them free access during the day.

Further, let me introduce the tough and easy parts of creating my course activities. As I teach ESL to kids whose first language is not English, I provided video instructions that help them to understand me better. The reason for that is, as they are preschoolers not all of them can read, they cannot independently use computers, and some parents do not know English. Taking everything into consideration I recorded voice instructions, written and video, and tried to make instructions as simple as possible. Personally, as it was my very first experience in creating online activities, the process was very time-consuming. 

The type of activities I made online are based on STEAM. They cover various science experiments, engineering, arts (drawing, coloring), and math. The thing I liked about Seesaw was the possibility of recording a video for my science activities. I could first show a video, then ask them to record their video and try it. I made a bunch of science activities that are easy to do for preschoolers themselves. For instance, experiment with rainy weather, snowy weather, volcano eruptions, a rainbow with candies, making a new color blending two primary colors and etc. however, the challenging part with experiments and engineering is that they are not always safe for kids to do independently. For instance, to experiment with volcano eruptions kids use vinegar and baking soda which are not safe. Thus, I assume that still online platforms are not able to cover live lessons fully.

 The learning theory that lay behind my activities is Connectivism. First, let's take a closer look at what connectivism is. This is a learning theory for the digital era which was first discovered by George Siemens and Stephen Downes. As they claim, that people should move beyond the traditional understanding of education toward the one we create the education we need for ourselves. It explains how the internet helps people learn and access information and share (Thomas Jerome Baker, 2012).

 

Well in my activities online technology is a source to practice student's learning. It is a mix of behaviorism where students learn by imitating and repeating their teacher, constructivism where they start thinking critically, analyzing activities, and constructing their own knowledge, and of course connectivism through which they use technology to learn and share their knowledge. In my activities, the teacher is a knowledge constructor who supports children's critical thinking and discovering skills through online activities.

  If we talk about the generation gap between us and young learners, they are much more technology-friendly, and they easily adapt to technological tools.  According to Marcia Miller  Millennials are technically competent, and this generation tends to want to share their lives online in a way that would appeal to older people (Miller, 2020). There is an attitude that if it isn’t posted on social media, it just didn’t happen. The development of technology now has a huge impact on education. The effective use of digital learning tools in classrooms can increase student engagement, help teachers improve their lesson plans, and facilitate personalized learning. It also helps students build essential 21st-century skills.

 

References : 

1. Thomas Jerome Baker (2012). Connectivism & connected knowledge : a theory of learning for a digital age. Lexington, Ky.

2. Miller, M. (2020). How Does Technology Affect the Generation Gap? [online] Tech + Innovation. Available at: https://networkheresy.com/tech/how-does-technology-affect-the-generation-gap/.

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