Does the technology create opportunities for students to learn outside of their typical school day?

Yes. Students collaborate through an online forum part of the platform. As long as a student is registered in a project, they can participate from their device, in class or not. 

Does the technology create a bridge between school learning and everyday life experiences?

Yes. The forum platform allows real-time communication between students, similar to social media, but supervised by educators.  

Does the technology allow students to build skills, that they can use in their everyday lives?

Yes. Students learn about Netiquette and portraying a positive and professional self-image on the platform. They also learn how to use collaborative documents online. 

Enhance

Does the technology tool aid students in developing or demonstrating a more sophisticated understanding of the content?

Yes. We hope the collaboration between students from various backgrounds could help students develop a more sophisticated understanding of the subject the collaborative project is on. However, it is up to the educator to evaluate the outcome of student learning on the platform. 

Does the technology create scaffolds to make it easier to understand concepts and ideas?

Yes and No. The educator is in charge of helping scaffold the platform depending on their students’ needs. The platform is more of a forum open to all students registered in the chosen collaborative project.

Does the technology create paths for students to demonstrate their understanding of the learning goals in a way that they could not do with traditional tools?

Yes. Students are able to create and present their projects with students across the globe from diverse backgrounds, which might not be possible in small communities without the tool. 

Engage

Does the technology allow students to focus on the task of the assignment or activity with less distraction?

No. The students need to use their devices to be on the platform, which can hold multiple other media such as games, socials, and more. It is up to the teacher to keep students focused an on task. The conversations on the forum should also be supervised by the educators. 

Does the technology motivate students to start the learning process?

Yes. It is an incredible opportunity to share with students across the world. I think of the potential of my French Immersion students collaborating with native French speakers and how it could change their vision of learning a new language. 

Does the technology cause a shift in the behavior of the students, where they move from passive to active social learners (co-use or co-engagement)?

Yes. Students co-engage and co-use the platform in the making of their collaborative project. 

“The only way to make borders meaningless is to keep insisting on crossing them.” (Lina Mounzer)

Work Cited

Lence, K. C., & Kachel, D. E. (2018, March 26). WHY SCHOOL LIBRARIANS MATTER: WHAT YEARS OF RESEARCH TELL US. Wikipedia. Retrieved June 2, 2024, from https://kappanonline.org/lance-kachel-school-librarians-matter-years-research/

Work Cited

Lence, K. C., & Kachel, D. E. (2018, March 26). WHY SCHOOL LIBRARIANS MATTER: WHAT YEARS OF RESEARCH TELL US. Wikipedia. Retrieved June 2, 2024, from https://kappanonline.org/lance-kachel-school-librarians-matter-years-research/

Work Cited

Aronofsky, Manuela. “Meaningful Technology in a School Library Environment.” ALSC Blog, 14 August 2021, https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2021/08/meaningful-technology-in-a-school-library-environment/. Accessed 19 April 2024.