What is the purpose of GAFE in the classroom?

Image Courtesy of Shena Macdonald

Our use of ICT in the classroom facilitates are more interactive style of learning.  This is called blended learning and flipped classroom theory.  These theories govern how one applies ICT to a classroom setting.  However choosing an online learning management system saves you time and focus your experimentation.  As mentioned previously it also helps if your choice of ICT fits in with your school's’ online learning plan.  

We have decided to work with Google Apps For Education (GAFE) so my review will focus on how this learning management system benefits me.  I will write a separate review on how our application of blended learning and flipped classroom theory has improved our results.

Some reasons why we choose GAFE are:

• GAFE is FREE! This is super important! It means learners can access it from home without incurring extra costs.
• GAFE is USER FRIENDLY. It builds on skills learners and teachers are familiar with such as Word, Powerpoint and email.
• GAFE is UNIVERSAL! Google works in most countries and it works well! This means learners are equipped with skills that they can apply to other contexts as well as future work environments. GAFE is compatible most devices, which is important in a BYOD setting. [BYOD stands for Bring Your Own Device]

There are 3 main aspects to incorporating GAFE into the classroom.  

1. GAFE facilitates sharing educational content with learners.

2. GAFE allows learners and teachers to generate content.

3. GAFE streamlines administration and record-keeping.

There are numerous benefits to each of these functions so here is a Link to an explanation of the 3 main aspects of GAFE

The Joy of Online Mindmaps & breaking the Parrot tradition

Photo of Indian Door by Shena Macdonald

Once again, producing content online seemed like a door that should be opened and so we began experimenting with prezi to create digital mindmaps.  We had already been experimenting with getting the learners to produce mindmaps of their theory syllabus instead of writing practise essays. Many of our learners are kinesthetic and visual learners, so the process of creating the mindmap and presenting their theory in a visual manner helped them learn better and the mark improvement was radical. Another reason for the learners improvement was the fact that producing their own content improved their understanding of the content. They were no longer able to parrot learn facts from the teachers handouts and were forced to process information. One of my matric learners almost failed theory in her June exams because she was copying and pasting her mindmap information off the internet. We had an intervention meeting and she began creating infographics that transformed the information into her own words. The result was incredible- her theory mark went up by 50% in the Trials exam.

So engaged learners produces improved understanding!

Part of why I enjoy online forums is the fact that learners are able to collaborate with you on a project. By creating online prezi's the learners were able to share links and editing rights with us.  Our girls spend hours on presentation and they loved the professional aesthetics of using prezi. Thus their theory projects improved their presentation skills (these skills are vital for preparing them for the world of work), creating learning content improved their understanding and they were able to share their knowledge with other people. They also loved doing homework and studying for exams! (this is a huge plus for a teacher).

I was also able to help them with their homework from home if we (the learner and I) were online simultaneously. We (the visual arts department) have since started using Google docs to collaborate with learners so I shall write more about that soon.

Below are is the post that introduced the Grade 9s to Prezi.
Link to Grade 9 Post on using Prezi

Here is an example of what one of the Grade 9s produced: 

Janae Lorenzo's prezi on illusions of Space

Here is an example of a Prezi I created for my university project:
Link to Prezi about my MTECH proposal