Never Heard of Seesaw? Here’s a quick overview:
According to the Seesaw
website:
Seesaw an app that acts as a learning journal to provide
real time and historical evidence of learning.
This scope can be in a single
class or year, but can also span over an entire career to show progression in
learning. Using Seesaw, students become
curators of their own learning journey and upload artifacts, which are shared
in real time with parents, teachers, administrators. It has built in features that allow for
connecting with the outside world, like Twitter and other social media, add to
the potential richness of learning and connecting. Seesaw has a free version, which I am trying
out, but also a $120 version that allows teachers to access analytics and formative
assessment features as well (www.seesaw.com).
The Rankings
All of the following rankings used Seesaw in the typical
manner for journaling student learning, encouraging student engagement and
parent awareness and involvement. Some
examples of creative usage of Seesaw stood out because they offered value-added
learning capabilities to the typical usage, offered real world tasks and
created strong connections beyond the classroom.
#1 Teachers Pay Teachers- @MrZachG
Mr. Zach’s class was the most connected in that he used the
Seesaw platform to connect to other blogs and to more fully integrate social
media into the platform. According to
the Education Rickshaw account of his use of Seesaw, Mr. Zach explained that it
is the “perfect opportunity to use social media in a safe online environment”,
learning the “power of hastags”(www.educationrickshaw.com). He explains that his spin on Seesaw use is
about acknowledging that social media is a part of our lives and that we can
use it to reach out to schools across the globe that as they explore projects
and ways to extend and personalize learning. (www.educationrickshaw.com).
I chose this example as ranking #1 because, in reaching out
to the world of social media, the use of Seesaw became bigger than just the
class or the school and allowed for a world audience and interaction with that
audience. I felt that he also modelled
skills needed for the future, given that social media is here to stay. I think his integration provided for a
richer, more authentic and more connected learning experience.
#2 Hilltop Road
Public School- New South Wales, Australia
This public school leveraged the See Saw platform to cross
language barriers with parents (presumably through the use of an integrated
translator app). “With Seesaw, our
teachers are more aware that parents really do want a window into the
classroom. The ability for parents to
comment and give their kids feedback in their own language and for the kids to
receive that feedback is a great opportunity” (www.seesaw.com).
I selected this as my #2 ranked example because of it
honours the culture and language of the students and recognizes the language
barrier as a significant deterrent toward parent engagement. By removing this barrier, the teachers show
respect and the authenticity of their desire for greater parent awareness and
connection to their child’s daily school experience.
#3 Assisi Catholic
College- Queensland, Australia
This prep-school replaced its previous paper-based portfolio
practice, and it’s paper-based parent communications by using Seesaw. The
result was a surprising reduction in paper and photocopying usage, which
provided significant cost savings for the school. This also supported a platform for
stewardship for the school. The idea of
stewardship and financial responsibility became themes that connected to the
real world for the staff and students.
I ranked this #3 because I it was less about the
authenticity of the use of Seesaw and the connection to student learning. However, I very much respected the teacher and
administration modelling learning about real-world ways to reduce budgets
(presumably to reinvest in technology for students) and that they thought about
earth stewardship at the same time as a result of their personal experiences
with this app.
Professional Practice
Implications
I am always trying to find ways to help my students to make
non-standard learning more tangible so that students can own, value and promote
their learning to hiring managers. I
think that it is a great way for employers to be able to see what the student has
to offer, beyond the resume, and to allow students to prepare for
interviews. I plan to trial this with
youth and then consider it for an older-worker student group, if the platform
tests well.
Resources:
Education Rickshaw [website]. (n.d). Using Seesaw to teach students social
media. Retrieved from: https://educationrickshaw.com/2016/10/01/using-seesaw-to-teach-students-social-media/
Learning and Teaching- Navitas [website]. (12, April, 2017). Appsolutely!
Using Seesaw for student portfolios and much more.
Retrieved from: http://learningandteaching-navitas.com/appsolutely-using-seesaw-student-portfolios-much/
Seesaw [website].
(n.d.). Seesaw for schools: Hilltop Road Public School
Seesaw [website].
(n.d.). Seesaw for schools: Assisi Catholic College
Thriving Schools [website].
(n.d.). Building student
portfolios with Seesaw.
Retrieved from: http://www.thrivingschools.net/blog/2017/5/22/building-student-portfolios-with-seesaw
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