This was a tough class for me. As I have never had an online class I really did not know what to expect. I enjoyed being able to be in class from the comforts of my bed, with my kitty snuggling beside me. However, I found it difficult to engage with the class material, especially when we went off on our own to explore some online activities. I’ve said many times that I am not a super techy person. I really struggle when I need to figure out tech things for myself, so having no one with me who knew what they were doing was very challenging. I tried a couple activities with no success before deciding watch the virtual stories.
First I tried canva, specifically making a virtual classroom. This activity looked like so much fun and right up my alley. I love interior design and really like the practicality of this activity. This virtual classroom could come in handy in the future when we are teachers (you never know when classes could be forced online again). Lexi pointed out in her blog that the virtual classroom could be a good place to put up homework assignments. I really love this idea, it could be so fun to change up the room weekly for the students. This could make retrieving your homework fun and engaging! I wish I had made a classroom, but I could not figure out how to download the bitmoji to my google. I followed the youtube tutorial, but for some reason bitmoji was just not working for me. I’m thinking now that it could be because I originally downloaded bitmoji from snapchat and perhaps I should have tried to sign on without snapchat. I became frustrated and worried that I wouldn’t finish an activity so moved on, but I do plan on going back and trying again!
Next, I decided to do one of the 6 word stories. This seemed relatively easy and fun. I had planned on making a slightly spooky story but again was thwarted by technology. This time my google account did not have google drawing as an option. I tried to figure out how to download it but was unsuccessful. Once again I moved on.
Lastly, I checked out the virtual storytelling. No problem with the tech here (haha). Digital storytelling is a powerful way to share one’s story. These were beautiful stories from Indigenous people. Stories of resistance, survival and love. Some were quite sad, but all of them were powerful. They were basically a slideshow of pictures with a voice over of someone telling their/a story. They seem relatively easy to make, and are very engaging for the audience. I can see this as a very beneficial way for students to learn about other people, cultures, historical events etc.
I think if I had more time to explore the options I would have been able to figure them out, but I was very aware that there was only 1 hour or so and I needed to at least get one activity done. I look forward to exploring more of these options, later on, when I have more time.
