Studio Teaching | Technology on the Go

1/4/2016

Setlife is nothing is not highly variable. As a studio teacher, it takes creativity and flexibility to support students learning on the go. Technology, in many ways, makes it easier than ever to make a seamless transition from the home classroom to the classroom on set. Here are some ways my students and I have used technology in our "classroom" on set and even on location:

E-Collaboration: On the same shoot a high school student was able to email and text classmates throughout the day to get up to date assignments and images of class notes on the board from the day's lessons.

E-Textbooks: One student and I managed to rig a wifi hotspot on location near Mount Shasta so he could keep up with his math lessons and utilize reteaching and support modules too.

Supplemental Learning: Sometimes students are expected to learn new material and there just is not much support available from the text and regular teacher. (After all, he/she is teaching when we are in class too!) So when we come to challenging content, I frequently look for instructional videos on YouTube/TeacherTube or Khan Academy. It's amazing how much is out there! I have links for these and other educational apps on a Symbaloo page linked from this website under Studio Teaching.

Apps: I learned the hard way that many of the Symbaloo buttons will not open up on a tablet as they do on a PC so I also have a number of apps set up on my personal tablet for use as supplemental instruction. Some do not require wifi which is great for those remote locations. One of my favorite programs both on set and during reading tutoring sessions is One Minute Reader. It's based on the Read Naturally program and is much more engaging and easy for students to use independently than the old program with paper copies and tape recordings. The app has five reading levels and places students with a quick and easy assessment.

My portable classroom on a shoot in Truckee, CA with one suitcase for me and one suitcase for the students.

Fun and Entertainment: When the school day is over or the weekend has come, there is usually lots of time for students to hang out and have fun. I love learning new tips and getting fresh ideas from them. One student set up his camera to take a time lapse video of the mountain sky. It was his first trip to the mountains and he was really impressed with the majesty of it all. (The poor kid spends all his time in Southern CA at the beach, rough! Haha.) I loved how his video turned out and set up my own camera to take one too. It's a happy little memory and so pretty. You can see it on the right as well as on my Instagram page.