Tech Examples In Use: Zoom

The idea of webcasts was not new to me. I had worked in business prior to becoming teacher and used video conference calling frequently. Recently, I have seen small business owners (Lula Roe, Paparazzi Jewelry) do Facebook live shows to showcase their product and drive sales. When this assignment popped up, I immediately thought of using this technology during a snow day or for homework help. The idea for my webcast is simple. I wanted to pretend that it was a snow day and I was connecting with my students to review a math concept. I began my webcasting journey by trying YouTube live. I was able to create a webcast, but unfortunately the students were unable to join the class…it was restricted. I assumed it had something to do with our education Google accounts. So, I thought I would sign in on YouTube live with my personal email and I created a dummy email for a student. Unfortunately, that didn’t work either. Back to the drawing board I went. In the meantime, I had participated in webinar on tech tools. Teachers First is an amazing resource for web 2.0 tools. It was on their website that I discovered Zoom. It is a free webinar service. It does not require an email for participants to log in (bonus in a school). The only catch with this one, was that students needed the Zoom app. Luckily, I had three personal iPads, in which I was able to download the app for my students to use. It was time to go live. I borrowed three students from a third grade teacher. Set them in different areas of the library with headphone, an iPad and the Zoom app. We pretended it was a snow day. Reviewed multiplication via a slide show I was able to share. On my screen, I saw a chat feature, but the students did not see it on their iPad version. So, we relied on voice responses to the questions. We successfully held our mock snow day webinar. The excitement on the kids’ eyes when we were done was priceless. They had so much fun participating in this new technology experience. We share our recording with their teacher. She is pregnant and will be on maternity leave next year. We discussed using this as an option for her to check in on her students while on leave. We also thought it would be a good option for a teacher absence. The teacher could still relay the expectations for the day and make sure the kids were ready for their day. I had thought of its usefulness for weather related cancellations or as a homework help option. Additionally, it would be fun to use it to connect with other classrooms for a pen pal or with industry experts. I recall hearing that as part of our new science program, students will have the opportunity to use a webinar format to chat with a scientist. I truly believe the possibilities are endless and only limited by ones imagination.