In December, we went to Rutherford House School in Balham to showcase our early Google Classroom e-resource efforts and use the feedback to improve them.

Our e-learning resource is a Reading Club with activities based on The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson. We have activities ranging from creating a new cover to filling in the blanks to drawing their own Gruffalo. We described the platform and our activities as best we could and were able to get some good feedback from the teachers of Rutherford House.

They highlighted that videos and audio of teaching / instructions were a very good idea since this is the usual way that students will access learning and activities. To that end, I feel that we should incorporate these throughout the resource. They also said that having embedded videos alleviates any need to browse the potentially age-inappropriate content of Youtube and similar. Potential future activities could include watching multiple videos and comparing. However, they did also mirror one of our concerns with the platform, creating new video resources for each activity takes time.

The teachers also noted that modelling and or WAGOLLs (What A Good One Looks Like) attached to each one will ensure that all children know exactly what they should be doing. There is the option for children to ask questions via Google Classroom, however, it may not be the quickest or most effective way of ensuring all children know what they need to do to accomplish the task. The best way would be to preclude any questions with significant initial guidance for completing the task, perhaps our own Q+As.

They were also able to confirm another of our fears with a platform as complicated as Google Classroom. Some pupils are so used to using iPads and tablets that they currently lack the necessary skills to effectively use word processors, online document creators, etc. We aim to somewhat aid this by making the activities themselves as interactive as possible, with lots to watch and click on in order to encourage curiosity and enable children the practice of using the platform.