Recently I was in a teacher’s classroom and she was showing off these awesome geometry town projects her students had created. She gleefully told me how much fun the students had being creative in designing their town. Some students took the assignment well beyond the minimum requirements and even started to devise how the town government would work.
After demonstrating Google Drawing she pondered that the students could do this same project in Google Draw.
Yes…. you could… BUT….
Is That The Right Tool?
Technology was not going to improve this project. In fact, I would guess the students would have less fun and be less creative if they were not allowed to use scissors, glue, markers and construction paper.
Be Non Digital
Sometimes the right technology is no technology. Google Classroom supports students making awesome projects with glue and scissors. Using the Google Classroom mobile app students can take pictures of their non-digital work and submit straight to Google Classroom. What makes this better is that the teacher can leave comments in Google Classroom for the students. She was not able to post comments directly on the students work before. Submitting via Google Classroom also allows for systematic submission, organization of student work, and the ability to share exemplars with future classes or with parents.
If a teacher does not have mobile devices to allow students to submit pictures of their non-digital work, students can still attach pictures through the Google Classroom site. In a Google Document students can insert a picture by snapshot. Using the webcam, students can take pictures directly into a Google text document. A $69 iPevo document camera is great for taking pictures of student work. The iPevo document camera plugs in via USB and gives students the flexiblity to take pictures of their work flat on the desk or at any angle.