Digital Graphic Organizers
I tried out several graphic organizer websites, including Popplet and StoryboardThat, before settling on those for my sample GOs. I think my third grade students would find Popplet and StoryboardThat easy to use. I liked the simplicity of Popplet and how once I started with one box, it was easy to create another. I also liked that there weren't any distracting features on the website. StoryboardThat is a good choice if there is enough time for students to explore the options. I think some of my third graders would be overwhelmed by how many customization options there are. If I used this website in my classroom I would make sure they have a specific directive to help them narrow down the features.
Some activities that I could implement using digital graphic organizers are brainstorming, note-taking, and group work. Before writing time, I can encourage students to use a graphic organizer to help them organize their thoughts and ideas by brainstorming. This is something I typically have students do with paper and pencil. I think that some students would continue to prefer doing it with paper and pencil while other students may be more inclined to use a digital option. After a lesson, I could include time for students to create a GO based on the topic we learned. This could help with their comprehension of the lesson while letting them visually categorize the new information. When I implement digital graphic organizers I will start with individual work and build up to group work. I think that digital graphic organizers can help facilitate collaborative activities, with all students working on the same GO together. A lot of websites are making it possible for students to edit the same document at the same time, like Google Draw.
Two concerns I have about using digital graphic organizers are the learning curve and distractions. Like I stated before, some students may still prefer using paper and pencil to make their GOs. They may feel like they have more control. It is still important to teach them to use the digital option, but it may take them longer to feel comfortable using the new websites. The other concern I had is with distractions. Any tools that you use to make digital graphic organizers need to be looked at for distracting features. Distracting features may make the creation of the graphic organizer take much longer than necessary.
I had not thought about distractions when I was working on this assignment and blog. I know that there are students out there that will find anything to distract them to avoid work and this would make that task easier. I also think some students would not like using a digital version. For some, the paper and pencil version is easier for them to use. I like how many of the online GOs can be done collaboratively, allowing multiple students to access a document at one time.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point when talking about students being distracted by some of the features. I can imagine that it would be extremely easy to get caught up in that and not actually complete the work. While some may prefer pencil and paper, I do agree that it is a good thing to introduce students to a digital option at that age. They could start very simple using the digital GO which may allow them to gain confidence and be eager to play around with it more.
ReplyDeleteHi Katelyn, there is so much to love about digital GOs, but you hit on the problem with distractions. Those distractions can come from other tabs or within the tool itself. I could see students spending forever changing the color of boxes, adding pictures that are tangential or irrelevant, etc. I think it is hard to find that balance between utilizing digital tools to advance literacy skills without students being pulled from the literacy task at hand.
ReplyDeleteHi Katelyn! I like your idea about using the digital graphic organizers for collaborative group work. I think it would take a lot of modeling for my students to be able to figure out how to work on a document together, but I think it would be really interesting to see what they could create on something like Google Draw or Popplet.
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