It is not news that we are in a virtual world. Metaphorically, one could say that after an episodic peek through the window at various apps, occasionally borrowing them, we suddenly found ourselves in that world.
I will share what I have found, tried and tested, and what I consider to be the most appropriate “purchases”. By the way, some of them were actually purchased with the approval of my colleagues at the Lyceum where I work, and paid for by MK funds for digital content. So feel free to use my recommendations when the next euro comes along to buy just such goods.
Now I can’t even imagine teaching a lesson without using these programmes. I therefore invite you to look together at the recommended measures, which I have classified into different parts:
- engaging students in learning individually, in pairs, in teams;
- evaluation and assessment;
- Presenting the content of the lesson;
- Developing higher-order thinking skills.
Visualisation. Geography lessons with virtual maps. The digital versions of the geography atlases MANO GAUBLYS for grades 6-8 and GAUBLYS for grades 9-12 are the perfect tool for geography lessons. The large-format digital maps on the screen encourage students to focus, and I can zoom in on a selected object or other relevant map cut-out, quickly switch to show another map that complements the topic at hand. The maps have interactive layers that can be switched on and off as needed.
Evaluation and assessment. I use the Student Testing System to check and review the necessary knowledge and skills acquired in the previous lesson eTest .lt, Socrative or a fun and engaging app that is a favourite of pupils in all grades “Kahoot”. With these apps I create up to 10 questions and students get points, which are then converted into cumulative points. I mainly use the gradebook to test students’ knowledge eTest.lt platform, because it allows the use of different survey test forms, it has excellent tools to prevent scribbling, and we can see a list of all the pupils with a detailed test report: which questions were answered correctly and which were wrong.
I used the following to evaluate the map nomenclature Seterra online and purposegamesplatforms. After a few surveys, I realised that it was better for me and my students purposegames platform. This choice was influenced by two criteria: time and the ease and convenience of the development process. During checkout, I create several separate meet.google.com links, students log in at the appointed time and share their screen to complete the tasks.
After several months of distance learning, I realised that many traditional learning methods can be transferred to the virtual world, but you don’t have to be afraid to experiment. Collaborative distance learning can be done in synchronous groups or asynchronous groups. Sociality – at the beginning of distance education, it seemed to me a difficult goal to achieve. The Lyceum has chosen Google’s tools – Clasroom, the Meet platform for video lessons – but unfortunately I can’t simply put the students in separate rooms, so I create separate links for each workgroup, where the students connect and complete their tasks. Depending on the task, I let the students decide which tools are most suitable for their group or team work. This is how I promote self-directed learning.
I still hope to become a teacher practising modern education. So it is not enough to provide knowledge and to teach memorisation or repetition. Students should be encouraged to analyse the information presented, make reasoned judgements, and have the courage to express their opinions based on facts. Evidence-based learning through hands-on experience motivates students to be more interested and creative.
I use the mind-mapping method in geography lessons to master a new topic, develop critical thinking and decision-making. I can safely say that this is one of the most effective learning activities. I use this method in all my classroom concentrations, both individually and in groups. Once distance learning has started, students use the MindMeister concept and mind mapping platform (Figure 1), which is well suited for contextualising information using colour, text and pictures.
Figure 1
By now, the Kahoot platform is well known to everyone and to me, and I make the most of it when I want to check how well my pupils have absorbed the material of a new lesson, after I have acquired a licence for the Lyceum. I also use it to boost motivation and the joy of learning – five questions, cleverly designed, often with humour, are enough. It’s easy and fun to use, as each answer is followed by a personal score and ranking, while bright colours and fun music create a special mood. I also create slides on the platform, show them to the students and provide quiz questions.
At the beginning of the lesson, I use Mentimeter or Slido to stimulate student activity, reflection and evaluation. Slido is handy because we can download it and install it into PowerPoint. This integration of live polling makes the presentation of the lesson more dynamic, makes learning more exciting, and we all share, make mistakes, correct them together and work again.
Another discovery in distance education is the project method. It makes lessons livelier, more interesting and more engaging. Working as a team, pupils learn to be organised and responsible, with each pupil having a personalised task. I believe that individual responsibility and a common goal enable a student to feel like a happy member of the team when he or she performs well on a task that is appropriate to his or her ability. This increases students’ self-confidence and self-fulfilment. Which apps did my students like to use to develop different project activities? Canva – A free, simple and empowering graphic design software. Students can choose from a wide range of professionally designed templates, edit the designs and upload their own photos. With this software, students create posters, photo collages, postcards, infographics and videos (Figure 2). I also create presentations for geography lessons with this software. Another simple tool that my students love Book Creator . Students use it to create amazing digital books (Figure 3).
Figure 2
Figure 3
So I not only dropped in, looked around, but stayed in this digital tool shop. I like it here, I’ve found a lot of like-minded people. It’s especially nice to share experiences with colleagues at the Lyceum. We have one day of the week set aside for this. The modern classroom is unimaginable without the use of digital content. It’s great to see that the variety of teaching and learning platforms is endless and that we can all choose what we find attractive, interesting and simple. Using digital content makes lessons more visual, diverse and interesting. Colleagues, catch the list, which I am happy to share:
- https://kahoot.com
- https://www.purposegames.com
- https://online.seterra.com
- https://www.mindmeister.com
- https://www.mentimeter.com
- https://www.sli.do
- https://bookcreator.com
- https://www.canva.com
- http://www.etest.lt
- https://www.socrative.com
Neringa Sartanavičienė
Geography teacher at Kaunas University of Technology Engineering Lyceum
