I started with a brief session explaining what OneNote is, why I have moved to this format and the sort of things they could expect over the next 2 months.
Prior to this lesson, there was a lot of groaning from this small group - they love paper, pens, pencils and calculators. They seem to thrive when they're buried in paper. By the end of the delivery session, they were already seeing some of the benefits of adopting a digital approach to this unit.
What did I do differently?
Firstly, I should say that this is very much an experiment and will be refined over the coming months For now, I started simply - retabining a PowerPoint (embedded into the Lesson pages on OneNote), along with pages for theory notes. I worked through the PowerPoint, sometimes revealing the answers to tasks within this and sometimes by manually inking (digitally) into the OneNote notebook theory notes. This helped the learners see the flexibility of this approach and allowed me to record my voice whilst i was inking so they can replay whenever they want.
Once the delivery was finished, I pointed out that I had also converted most of the slides to a SWAY and two learners in the group said they found this a little more visually appealing and engaging that the traditional PowerPoint.
Learners were then set tasks to complete at their own pace:
- Complete an online quiz using an embedded Microsoft Forms quiz
- Complete three progressively more difficult worksheets using Word documents which had already been seeded into the lesson folder. I will be marking these word documents myself using digital inking - thus saving me having to carry bundles of paper around.
I must try to work out why this OneNote notebook didn't sync properly - probably due to me not closing it on one of the College desktops when I've been working on it in my prep time.
I took some things for granted:
- Learners would be happy with a sudden switch to digital format
- Learners would be technically competent enough to copy files to their own notebooks and work with embedded resources online.
- The wifi will be able to cope with 7 learners using their own devices. (I hope it can cope when my group of 17 start using this in 2 weeks' time!)
- I also forgot that the College computers have a different version of OneNote to my personal subscription - things like insert an online video have only just become available in work, whilst I've had that functionality for quite a while.
I need to think of adding more replayable resources and, to that end, I've already decided to put together a bundle of mini screencasts where I work through a complex example of a question. The screencast video can be embedded into the relevant OneNote page to give learners access to me explaining key concepts, calculations and methods. I could just record my inking during lessons but, sometimes, I think that a brand new exercise will be better. I have found a suitable program (OBS Studio) and will, of course, report back and share my experiences of using it and the learners' comments about the end result.
Moving forward
I have another lesson in 10 days - delivering the same content - and it will be interesting to see how this group copes with the transition to digital.
Monday sees the second part of lesson 1 for the first group and I am hoping the learners start getting used to working online rather than on paper.
Oh yes:
Yesterday, I applied for Microsoft's Innovative Educator Expert Programme - today I received notification that I have been accepted onto the programme. I am so proud to be joining a global network of 7,500 passionate educators and am looking forward to developing my skills, knowledge and professional learning network over the coming months.
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