What are some things you have learned and/or tasks you have accomplished this year? (Use videos, pictures, upload materials etc. as evidence of learning)
Throughout this year I grew a lot as a learner. From the start of the second semester I was excited to begin my new classes that were very different from classes that I had done in the past. Computer Information Systems was particularly a challenge as I had never taken a class related to the hardware and internal connectivity parts of a computer. I met each task and theory lesson head on and soon I was taking apart a computer. I worked tirelessly to memorize all the facts and figures that were given and really trained my perseverance to do work that I found difficult to the best of my ability.
What aspects of your group project/task were successful? Explain why.
As quarantine started it became harder to work on group projects, however, the Social Media Community Connection team kept the connections going with meetings on teams and collaborations. Our successful weekly engagements worked well to involve the Riverside community and we discussed and sought help from our fellow members at the meetings as well.
What aspects of your group project/task were challenging? Explain why.
It was difficult to often coordinate because many people had classes at different times and were often unavailable to discuss the weekly theme or what to do on each day. It was also extremely difficult to get teachers to respond to emails and reply with submissions for things like Takeover Tuesday because everyone became so busy.
What steps did you take to overcome these challenges / what adjustments did you need to make?
To overcome these different challenges I worked to try and do checkups every half of a week with the teacher and made sure to keep the check ins as friendly and not demanding as possible and urge them to get their submission in by the deadline. I also needed to make adjustments to the video requirements based on what was easiest and least time consuming for the teacher while also being engaging and the right length for viewership on Instagram.
As Riverside continues to immerse itself into innovation and technology, and distance remote learning continuing to be a possibility, what do you think Riverside can do to provide support and help for teachers and students? How can the Tech Team be more effective? (Provide specific examples)
It is very important that the Tech Team and all students at the school learn how to use the technological tools that the school has in place properly, effectively, and efficiently. Every year Tech Team at Riverside holds a much needed, educational Digital Bootcamps for grade 9 students coming into Riverside. This bootcamp teaches all the basic skills that a Riverside student needs to complete their work and use digital platforms for school work. This year we will be unable to host the bootcamp in the gym due to health concerns and for this I believe webinars will be a viable substitute option. Large webinars with many students could highlight exactly what the bootcamp will be about and then students will break of into smaller but still large groups that deal with individual sectors of the bootcamp (Edublog, O365, etc.) and then rotate at specified times. I think it is important that both Tech Team students and teachers are available to help any students that may be struggling and most importantly that the students are aware that they can immediately get help from the students and teachers. To further ensure that the students are acquiring the information we can create small groups under large umbrella teams for each sector if the student needs extra help. Having the virtual wave always open and staffed would also make it easy for one to one help that the students may need if they feel intimidated by the large calls. If possible using Microsoft Stream or another approved streaming platform the webinar could have check in questions or maybe a fun Kahoot at the end to truly get students involved with a prize at the end. Having a questions box would also help as the presenters could answer student questions live on the meeting.