Learning to work Independently in a hybrid model

Working with students to work independently can be a challenge. There are times when directions must be presented verbally, in writing and visible to students.  Not everyone learns at the same pace, so it also means repeating many of those steps.  Not to mention if someone is pulled from class, out sick or just not paying attention, there can be redundancy communicating the steps.  For short instruction, I provide quick screen recordings, but obviously I am not able to record all our instructions and look for other resources.

I found myself teaching this year and showing students a variety of technology tools and skills in a digital literacy class. I had also started using Google's Applied Digital Skills curriculum to introduce or support a lesson. I came across this article on Edutopia How to Help Middle School Students Learn to Work Independently and it confirmed what I am already experiencing. 

We started out this year with rolling out Chromebooks and getting students to organize their google drive.  After some basic instructions  I linked to Google Applied Digital Skills, created an account and added my Google Classroom students to the dashboard and assigned a module.  The first assignment was  "Organize Files in Drive" and I required the 45 minute tutorial as a review.  What I liked about using the dashboard, it showed student progress by activity.  As I introduced other topics around Internet Safety we reviewed part of the Build Healthy Digital Habits. Students already had Portfolio sites created but the links we not the same and many had the url with a former grade level, so we unpublished, republished with a protocol link.  I then collected the links in a google form to share with grade level teachers. To my surprise students were using Interactive Notebooks in ELA and Science so we simply shared the link and added to our portfolio page!  We did edit the site, made pages, etc and I provided an optional module on "Build a Portfolio with Google Sites" telling students it was optional.

The ELA teacher provided a "Technology Checklist" by tool and skills that would be helpful for students to know.  We reviewed updates in docs and slides together and added content to the portfolios.  I know most students do not know show to used spreadsheets so, I introduced the program and the students loved calculating the data and creating charts.  Some were overwhelmed and I know they need more practices, so I will add "Manage your Time with Google Sheets" which will server as a refreshed for the material covered in class.  This module 45-90 minutes will be required.

When getting started with Self-Paced / asynchronous lessons, the article recommends the following:
- Introduce Self-Pacing Gradually 
- Self Pacing is a set of Skills have  them engage with instructional videos. Often, they forget to write things down or take notes. They also don’t always take advantage of the benefits of video instruction—pausing, re-watching, or googling something they don’t understand.
- Completing isn't the same as Learning - just because a student does something quickly doesn’t mean they did it well. 
- Some student aren't ready for self-pacing, it takes time to prepare students.  I agree with the artilcel that when Covid-19 happened, we had started Applied Skills and a hyperdoc for self-paced skills and students seemed to transition more easily and need less support. 

So I am experimenting with self-pacing learning and so far, if done thoughtfully can provide students with some independent learning. I have enjoyed providing students with "challenges" while teaching and eventually plan to shift into some project based learning. using Google Tools to Support Project Based Learning and the BIE website now/ PBLworks in the past and plan to cycle back to Essential Project Design Elements Checklist .

Stay tuned for more!