Play based learning and Digital Tech
(Storybird example lesson plan – IMHO can be adapted to most any application, tool or technology from K to post-sec)
Rationale:
Learning through an experiential and socially constructed play-based approach, students are provided with agency and the opportunity to communicate and co-create their understandings. By NOT providing step by step instructions, the teacher is allowing students to start where they are at, co-construct their understandings and share their expertise (thus not leaving many behind or delaying progress for some)
Objectives:
- Students will communicate with classmates to learn the affordances of a given technology.
- Students will share their understandings and work together to create a simple story or poem.
- TCs will understand how this form of ‘teaching’ might have a place in their own classrooms.
Teaching Outline/Sequence:
2 min. Hook: Show Example Storybird
Let’s take some time to explore!
15 – 20min: The ‘Tech learning task’:
- Let’s ‘play’ to learn a technology – approach to ‘teaching a technology’ vs. direct instruction.
- T provides objective and access to the tool/technology
- Ss spend the first X min in pairs, small groups trying it out to see what it does and how it works (affordances/limitations)
- T will only answer questions re: tech glitches… login, access for the first 5 to 15 min (T will ‘read the room’)
- Students support each other as they explore and eventually ‘satellite’ their learning
- Once ‘played out’ for a time, the ‘real task’ of working with the particular technology for a real purpose can occur.
5 min: Closure/debrief:
Provide links/resources to some other options students might consider (let them know about workshops coming up re: evaluating and selecting digital technologies for multimodal presentation)
Invite students to share options/technologies they’re familiar with or that they find (on http://scarfedigitalsandbox.teach.educ.ubc.ca/ ‘add a resource’)
Invite students to Ask a Question.
Download word docs here:
Lesson Plan_Storybird_playbased learning