Looking for an easy to use tool that makes collecting, curating and sharing student work from tablets simple? Then Seesaw is a solution worth exploring.
At the Tots and Technology Conference held in Galveston, Texas in June, TCEA member Brittany Adcock shared her experience using Seesaw, which bills itself as a student-driven digital portfolio solution. Seesaw works on Android and iOS devices (e.g. iPads), making it an incredible tool to simplify and streamline content sharing by students. In the past, students and teachers encountered limits to their sharing. The app works quite easily (check tutorials online) in this way:
- The teacher creates an account on the Seesaw website, setting up a class.
- The teacher prints out a flyer emailed to her by Seesaw containing a QR code, then hangs that flyer on the wall where students will be working.
- Students who are ready to submit their work open the app on their device, select the “I’m a student” button, and then scan the QR code on the flyer. They will then be given a choice to add a variety of content, including video, audio, text, web links, or images/video from the device’s Camera Roll (iOS).
- Once students have submitted their work, the teacher can decide to approve it for inclusion in the Class Learning Journal, which is viewable by all students in the class today.
Teachers can also create a Seesaw-based blog, and adding content to the website is as easy as clicking a globe beneath a student’s creation.
In her presentation, Brittany (listen to this interview with Brittany as she shares her insights at TCEA Tots) describes Seesaw in the following way:
A digital portfolio that collects students’ digital and physical work in one place. Everything is organized, making grading and conferences easier! A space that each student can “own” with built-in tools that make it easy for them to capture learning, reflect, and learn new skills. A parent communication tool that seamlessly shares what’s going on in your classroom and builds a strong school-home community.
We Are StoryMakers Seesaw based blog. Are you sharing your students’ work with a global audience?
After exploring Seesaw in the context of professional development sessions for adult learners, here are three ways that my session participants took advantage of the app:
- After creating paper slide videos, learners saved those video creations to their Camera Roll. These were shared via the Seesaw blog (view blog created with products from a Lubbock workshop on Tablets in the ELL Classroom, as well as the Becoming a Storymaker pre-conference session).
- Since learners were working in Star Trek-themed teams, they submitted their work to “Away Team: Janeway” (a reference to Captain Kathryn Janeway from Star Trek Voyager television series; other captains included Captains Archer, Kirk, Hernandez and Uhura). This organized student work by their group, rather than just an individual submission.
- Students created content with PicCollage, web links, and Notes and then submitted it.
A versatile solution for collecting work on tablets, TCEA member Karen Balbier (El Paso ISD) shared that she uses the app to collect work from participants in her professional learning sessions, and in turn, asks them to share their K-12 students’ best work for inclusion. An innovative use of a technology intended for students, adapted for adult learners, Seesaw is a sensational tool for facilitating collecting, curating, and sharing work created on tablets.
