ETSA - 21 May 2022

Using Google Forms and Slides to Bring Data Science into Any Classroom

Gone are the days when data science was just the concern of a few computer scientists and big data experts. In 2022 and beyond, everyone needs to be able to work with data. The sooner we expose our learners to data, the more prepared they will be for the many evolving careers and jobs that depend on the skills required to survive and thrive in our increasingly data-driven world. This workshop will introduce educators to free and accessible tools that can expose learners in any grade to the fundamentals of data science. Using Google Forms to collect, analyse and review data, and using Google Slides to visualise and represent data, this workshop will give all teachers the opportunity to bring data science to your learners.

Presenter: Siobhan Thatcher

Socio-Emotional Learning Tools and Tips for Educators and Learners

In this workshop, we will be looking at socio-emotional learning (SEL) and how we can use apps and digital tools to integrate it into our classrooms, across learning areas. Recently, a lot of South Africa classrooms have been affected by devastating events which have impacted both the staff and the learners in many schools. Teachers have been forced into positions of dealing with the trauma many of the students have gone through and this session covers how we can use SEL strategies to support our learners while creating emotionally safe classroom environments. We will be looking at tools such as Harmony, SuperBetter and Calm to help teach some of the key principles behind SEL. We will also be looking at creative ways you can incorporate SEL into any classroom.

Presenter: Gugu Radebe

Google Forms for Feedback and Assessment

Put the pen down!

As we move into the future, the tools we use as educators need to match learners’ lives and habits.

This workshop will explore ways to use Google Forms to gather instant feedback from your learners, as well as deliver quizzes and tests that provide instant results for learners.

We’ll review the basics of creating Google Forms and assessments, and discuss the most relevant uses in your classroom.

Presenter: Chris Mizell

A Metacognition Approach to Teaching in the 21st Century

Come join me for a mind blowing experience. Thinking about thinking. That moment where you step back from whatever you are doing and assess: How  is my strategy working? What could I do to improve my progress? Metacognition is a skill that promotes advanced learning and thinking. As a teacher it is an important tool to use in the classroom. In this workshop we will look at the three phases of metacognition and how to implement them in the classroom. Together we will watch a short and engaging video on metacognition. We will also interact actively and see how metacognition can be applied in the different subjects.

Presenter: Maimoonah Gori

Loom and YouTube: Creating and Managing Educational Videos for our Students

Our students are bored of listening to lectures in the same old format and we’re tired of delivering the same instruction over and over again. As technology becomes increasingly accessible, it is becoming easier for anyone to start creating, distributing and managing videos and with it, teachers find themselves with a new opportunity. By creating educational videos, we can enhance our instruction and make it more accessible and engaging for our students.

Presenter: Wajahat Afzal

Using Microsoft Forms to Create Formative and Summative Assessments

Assessing is a part of our lives and technology can make things easier for us. With Microsoft Forms, you can create surveys, quizzes, and polls and invite others to respond to it using almost any web browser or mobile device. In this workshop we are going to learn about creating formative or summative assessments, sharing and collaborating with colleagues on an assessment, using artificial intelligence to produce correct answers and generate similar questions, and using the immersive reader to support learners with barriers to learning.

Presenter: Sibonelo Khanyile

Creating Digital Portfolios using Bulb

Could you better organize digitally? Are you looking for more creative ways to connect content and your students? Teachers can create their own Bulb collections and pages to share content for a unit or lesson, assemble a series of primary-source images or articles as pages in a collection, and encourage students to review the pages and respond to them in writing or discussion. Each student also might contribute a page to a teacher-created collection. Consider using Digital Portfolios as a way to have many students submit responses that other students can then review and comment on. Alternatively, ask students to create their own pages or collections. Students might use their Bulb collection as a place to show off their work over the course of the year or assemble a series of articles or images on a related topic. You will have a chance to experience Bulb and see how it might be useful in your own classroom.

Presenter: Vika Nikelo

Creating a Culture of Reading with Young Learners

Instilling a love of reading early gives a child a good start in growing their vocabulary and building independence and self-confidence. By integrating Shine Literacy’s Storytime resources into the reading you already do, you can bring the love of reading into your classroom, helping to put your youngest learners on a path to literacy. The data-free resources and strategies that we will discuss will step through how you can work with both students as well as provide options for parents to continue reading at home. Books in the home are the single biggest indicator of academic success – surpassing income, parents’ education, family composition and all other factors.  You will have a chance to experience Storytime and make plans to integrate Storytime’s early grade reading online books for group-guided reading sessions.

Presenter: Claudia Stanfield

Customizing Teaching Materials: Creating Your Own eBooks for Reading and Instruction

Creating content, customized for your learners and classroom has never been easier! We will explore a free app called Book Creator that allows us to make interactive storybooks, comic adventures, instructional materials, student work portfolios, research journals, poetry books, science reports, and more! Combine text, images, audio and video to engage your learners and make learning accessible to a wide range of learning styles by bringing multi-modality into your content and infusing creativity throughout your curriculum. In addition to creating instructional materials yourself by making ebooks, you can motivate learners by providing a platform for  reading, writing, researching and creating as they become published authors!

Presenter: Karen Kirsch Page (K2)