Here at TeacherTec we love to share experiences from staff who are using Technology in their classrooms. This week we caught up with Kay Wightman to see how she has been using Showbie in her teaching, what issues she's encountered so far and what advice she would give to someone starting for the first time!
Many thanks to Kay for catching up with us this week!
Many thanks to Kay for catching up with us this week!
How has Showbie changed how you teach your subject?
I have used Showbie with my A-level classes for the past three years. I’ve found it to be very useful as it allow the students in these classes to practice exam questions in the app and then lets me immediately see the areas they are doing well in and also pick up on areas they could focus on. When my students left on study leave last year I set up a topic in Showbie in which they could send me pictures of their notes/questions they had trouble with when they were revising. I was then able to send my students useful images/websites/YouTube links related to topics they were studying. One student even sent me a 'voice note' in which he verbally asked me a question. I wasn’t brave enough to record myself replying back, but I typed my response to him instead :)
Within my subject we also use Showbie for some homework assessments for the Year 9’s. We’ve found that Showbie makes it easy to send out a variety of materials to the students which allows for a mixture of potential tasks. For example, at the end of one of our topics I sent them a link to a BBC Bitesize KS3 revision quiz along with a summary image. The students were then able to compete the quiz and send me back a screenshot of their score at the end, giving me an idea of their progress. This is just one example of how I have used Showbie this year!
Within my subject we also use Showbie for some homework assessments for the Year 9’s. We’ve found that Showbie makes it easy to send out a variety of materials to the students which allows for a mixture of potential tasks. For example, at the end of one of our topics I sent them a link to a BBC Bitesize KS3 revision quiz along with a summary image. The students were then able to compete the quiz and send me back a screenshot of their score at the end, giving me an idea of their progress. This is just one example of how I have used Showbie this year!
Have you encountered any issues whilst using Showbie?
I have found that if you are working with a Word document, it’s best to save it as a PDF file first before posting it on Showbie to make sure the layout looks the same on both the PC and the iPad. You can then either email it to yourself or copy it to your Google Drive so that you can access it on the iPad and then use this on Showbie.
(TeacherTec - Saving your Word Documents as PDF’s also means that both you and your students can write on it using Showbie’s Pen tool. Further, to save yourself the step of sending the PDF to your iPad you can log into showbie.com on your PC and add your file to your class from there!).
Some of my Year 9 students initially found it tricky to write on documents neatly using the Pen tool, but I overcame this by projecting my iPad on the whiteboard via AirPlay and showing them how to enlarge a document by ‘Pinching to Zoom’ in on it - the same way you enlarge a picture. I also advised them to simply take the time to write neatly! Some of the students previously used a stylus but by showing them how to zoom in they can now get neat writing without needing one.
I’ve found that so far it’s been a bit more time consuming marking homework’s on Showbie than it would be via hard copies, but the advantage is that the students get immediate feedback on their work. My A-level students use this immediate feedback to re-attempt a question in their own time, so rather than me just giving them the right answer in class they can improve their attempt and easily resubmit it to me.
(TeacherTec - Saving your Word Documents as PDF’s also means that both you and your students can write on it using Showbie’s Pen tool. Further, to save yourself the step of sending the PDF to your iPad you can log into showbie.com on your PC and add your file to your class from there!).
Some of my Year 9 students initially found it tricky to write on documents neatly using the Pen tool, but I overcame this by projecting my iPad on the whiteboard via AirPlay and showing them how to enlarge a document by ‘Pinching to Zoom’ in on it - the same way you enlarge a picture. I also advised them to simply take the time to write neatly! Some of the students previously used a stylus but by showing them how to zoom in they can now get neat writing without needing one.
I’ve found that so far it’s been a bit more time consuming marking homework’s on Showbie than it would be via hard copies, but the advantage is that the students get immediate feedback on their work. My A-level students use this immediate feedback to re-attempt a question in their own time, so rather than me just giving them the right answer in class they can improve their attempt and easily resubmit it to me.
What advice would you give to somebody who was trying Showbie for the first time?
My advice would be to start off simply, it is easy to set up the class and give the students the class code! Build up your confidence using Showbie slowly, try to eventually add images and links to websites. Ask fellow teachers who are using it what works best for them, or ask students what has been working in their other subjects. Most importantly, don't give up if some of the things you try don't work first time, keep going! :)
Here’s a handy tip on how to get started - Try making a document with a few simple questions that gives your students a gentle introduction to a topic which they can then complete in class and submit to you. This will give you a great introduction on how to quickly mark work and return it back to the students. This can all be done within Showbie without needing to use any other apps!
Here’s a handy tip on how to get started - Try making a document with a few simple questions that gives your students a gentle introduction to a topic which they can then complete in class and submit to you. This will give you a great introduction on how to quickly mark work and return it back to the students. This can all be done within Showbie without needing to use any other apps!
Kay Wightman
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