I have started using Seesaw in all my classes.  Seesaw is an online tool that allows students to “easily” upload video and audio content to a platform that the whole class can see.  You can read about Seesaw here.  I learned about Seesaw from a speaker our department brought in last year, and I know Eva is also using it this year.   I want students to have a platform where they can track their own speaking abilities and progress, reflect on them and celebrate.   It also seems like a good tool for the shy, introverted  student to be able to speak  without being stressful for them.

There were  hurdles, and I encountered them, mainly because my classes exist with multiple devices- iPads, Mac laptops and PC laptops.

• My first hurdle
  Our first  in class activity: all the students with iPads were able to upload their videos in a few seconds while all the laptop students had trouble uploading their videos.  They did the work. I watched them making the videos, but they could not upload.   I thought to myself, “Seesaw is unpredictable and I am doomed.”   I was in the hall with students who were experiencing this technological problem, because I thought maybe the wifi was down in my room, and might be better in the hall.  Joan passed by, and I let her know my concerns.  I was frustrated, because she  had been praising the showcase of Seesaw and she did not have an immediate answer.   I don’t like to have my students do work and not being  able to show it to the teacher and others. I considered not using Seesaw.
• My second hurdle
  Joan got in touch with Seesaw and was told that there is a bug in the Seesaw video uploading on laptops and it sometimes doesn’t work. So I decided to use Seesaw with iPad and iPhones. Some laptop students did not have iPhones.  It is rare, but it still happens.  I knew that the android has a Seesaw app, so I sent them  to the library to get the app installed.
• My third hurdle
  Students who still uploaded on a different assignment in Schoology, out of prior habits.  If they did not do it in class, some students just forgot about Seesaw.