We have used the Swivl a lot in my own district, but I have talked with many others who are using it in many of the same ways that we are. Our big goals as part of the TLC program is to help our teachers grow in their own learning throughout the district. The Swivl works well with this goal as it has many uses and has been implemented in a variety of ways. Each of our different TLC groups use the Swivl in similar ways but also have special ways that they use it as part of our professional learning. The Swivl is a versatile device and the updates keep providing us new opportunities for use.

One reason why the Swivl has been able to be used so extensively by our teachers is that it is very easy to use. I trained our Instructional Coaches on how to use the Swivl and the best practices, which allowed them then the ability to help teachers use it in their classrooms. One issue that was expected, is that there are a lot of teachers who are wary about recording themselves. The nice thing is that the Swivl blends so well into the background that many get over that unease quickly. We have to focus on the purpose of the recording and that purpose should outweigh any unease we have when viewing ourselves since video can be so powerful in our own growth.

Model Teachers

Our Model Teachers are chosen for the fact that they are people whose practices we want to model to other teachers, and because they have opted in to more professional learning than the rest of our teachers. Our Model Teachers are available to other Teacher Leaders, and other teachers overall in the district, to model what they are doing in the classroom. They are also expected to record classroom interactions in order for us to develop a video repository to be shared with other teachers in the district. Many of our Model Teachers have used the Swivl to record these classroom activities and interactions. We are still working on a best way to share those videos with all teachers in our district but we have looked at how the Swivl Cloud could help in this as we can easily share and use the commenting feature to drive discussions over best practices.

The Swivl allows us to follow the teacher around the room while they are teaching and the microphone picks up the audio we need to hear. The Swivl is noticed by the students when you first use it but it quickly blends into the background. It becomes less of a distraction than if you have multiple other teachers standing in the room to observe something. These teachers can easily share out the videos with others so they can see what is going on in other classrooms without having to pay for a substitute teacher.

Many of our Model Teachers have started to use the Swivl in their own classrooms for their own work with students. Some have used it to record lessons to share with students who are gone or will need it again later. Some have even used it to share work done by students with authors or others who are connected to the student’s work. We are working with some teachers as they start to use Swivl to better observe their own students and to increase the effectiveness of their feedback and planning.

Mentor Teachers

Our Mentor Teachers work with our teachers who are new to teaching, or new to the district. They are often in the same building as their mentees but this is not always the case. The Mentor can still observe what their mentee is doing without having to travel to their school, thanks to the Swivl. By having the chance to record the classroom observation, this lessens the stress on the Mentor to always be able to come over and leave their classroom with a sub. The Swivl can easily record something that both the Mentor and Mentee have discussed, all without the Mentor having to be there. They can easily use the commenting feature in the Swivl Cloud to collaborate over the shared video. This digital work can lead to more effective work when they are meeting in person.

Instructional Coaches

Each Instructional Coach in our district was given a Swivl at the start of the year. We wanted this tool in their hands for them to use as they work with teachers. The Swivl can easily be integrated into our coaching cycles as our teachers plan and reflect with our coaches. The Swivl can be used when a coach is observing a teacher as part of their coaching cycle, which can provide another data point for them to use or to allow them to have an “impartial observer” in the form of the video. A teacher could even record the class without the coach being there, and then they can come together later to use the video as part of their coaching conversation. The video allows teachers to see what is actually happening in the classroom, something that can’t happen in the moment when we are teaching.

We have even used the Swivl to record our large group learning between administration and our Instructional Coaches, as well as our PLC work that our coaches participate in as part of their own learning. We are starting to look at how we can use either the multiple camera setup or the multiple microphone Swivl, and the online Cloud commenting features, to create new learning opportunities for ourselves as we continue to reflect and grow. The bottom line is that video can tell us so much more than any other form of media and we are continually looking at ways that we can use it as part of our professional learning.

Overall the Swivl has found a place in a lot of the work that is done by our TLC groups. The video that you can get from using the Swivl, and the commenting in the Swivl Cloud, can play a large role in your work as you reflect, grow, and collaborate. We are excited to use the multiple-camera setup to look at individualized feedback and to give us more ways to observe/reflect on learning in the classroom. With our focus on continually growing and learning, the Swivl plays a big role in our work.

Patrick Donovan is a Technology Integration Specialist in Ames, IA, an authorized Google Education Trainer, a Swivl Pioneer, and much more. He has a Masters in Curriculum and Instructional Technology from Iowa State University. Check out his website and Swivl Pioneer page, and follow him on Twitter. 

The post Using Swivl for the TLC Grant in Iowa by Patrick Donovan appeared first on Swivl.

Document, Reflect…and Assess? (Excerpt)

by: Jeremy Shaw

Swivl has been a great coaching tool for me but the capabilities do not stop there. With Swivl Pro+, a new wave of student assessment has begun. Swivl Pro+ makes use of the Swivl device as well as up to four other devices. One example of how I have taken advantage of this feature is with Mrs. Lilian Corbitt’s STEM Spanish I class. In this class, Mrs. Corbitt wanted to integrate our new Little Bits Kits. Before introducing the challenge, we needed to be sure students received a proper introduction to these “electronic building blocks”. We also wanted students to show that they had an understanding of these devices by building their own circuits.

So, how did we accomplish this?

We separated the class into 4 small groups. Each group had their own iPad running the Swivl+ app. Students viewed a presentation on the iPad (yes, Swivl allows embedded presentations as well!) and performed the task on each slide. To make this even more awesome, Swivl+ was recording each group simultaneously. Once the presentation and recording were completed, the videos were uploaded to the Swivl Cloud and compiled into one video. In this video we had the ability to select the group we wanted to view and even isolate the audio for the particular group. This allowed the teacher to assess whether the group correctly demonstrated the task.

Swivl and Swivl+ have opened up so many possibilities for teacher documentation, teacher reflection and, now, even student assessment.

I can hardly wait to see how far we can go!

Read the full post on Jeremy’s blog.

Jeremy Shaw is an Instructional Technology Coach for grades 6-12 in Snow Hill, NC. He mentors teachers throughout the region as a member of the Digital Leaders Coaching Network. His goal is to help teachers integrate meaningful technology into their instruction, allowing them to work “smarter” while increasing student engagement and achievement. Check out Jeremy’s website and Swivl Pioneer page, and follow him on Twitter. 

The post Optimizing Formative Assessment Using Individualized Observations appeared first on Swivl.

The emergence of digital platforms, like Twitter, allowed teachers to overcome many of the obstacles they traditionally encountered with peer collaboration:

• Teachers are now able to ask for feedback at any time, from nearly any device, meaning collaboration is more frequent and requires less overhead.
• Online resources and tools can be easily shared and broadcasted to the broader educational community.

While online collaboration has vastly improved teacher collaboration over the old model, there are still some limitations:

• Teachers still rely primarily on their own power of observation to assess and communicate their students’ needs when requesting feedback.
• Communication via social media often lacks the depth of conversation that is needed to tackle some in-class challenges.

Individualized observations bring the best of in-person and online collaboration together, along with added benefits missing from both. An online, video observation where you can see and hear every student makes possible the one thing that is hugely valuable and yet so hard to achieve on a daily basis: to get a second pair of eyes on your students’ engagement in class. Just like other forms of online collaboration, you can gather collective insight through simple chat interfaces so that it can be more frequent and can take place at any time. Online resources can easily be shared, but with a window into the classroom, they can also be tied directly to actual students’ needs.

Bringing student voices and experiences into the conversation through individualized observation is what’s missing from teacher collaboration. We believe Swivl Pro+ is a necessary complement for in-person collaboration or other forms of online interaction.

Get a Pro+ Demo