Fancy or Accessible... To be or not to be?

In the madness of distance learning, the Bitmoji Digital Classroom craze took over. Educators across the world are creating digital classroom and incorporating Bitmoji Avatars to make it more fun & engaging. I decided to learn as much as I can and use it as a test during ESY. I worked with Preschool students 3-5 years old and they absolutely loved it (even the parents loved it). The continuous feedback from parents was that their child hadn't been as engaged from March to June. This got me thinking... I should do a webinar to help other teachers learn how to do this! So I started researching and preparing to make this an informational and useful presentation. 
    In the process of researching, I stumbled upon a webinar that presented 3 main tips when creating a website:

1. Make it accessible.
2. Make it fancy.
3. Don't let the fancy take away the accessible! 

Tip # 3 resonated and lingered in my head over & over. As we transition into the virtual world of education or e-learning as we call it, technology is playing an important piece to educate our students. We are creating online sites to post assignments and share lessons. We are creating digital and virtual classrooms for our students to navigate. We are learning to create virtual tools for students to access educational content. I don't know about you... but I love things to look fashionable, pretty, cute and FANCY! However, you can't loose sight of the most important piece of all... none of the content and "cute things" things will matter if it is not accessible to the student!

    I want to be clear with my followers, despite my love with how cute a Bitmoji may look in a "Virtual Classroom"... it is NOT about the Bitmoji. Everything will really be about creating accessible and engaging content for my students. I have done around 6 webinars for creating a "Bitmoji Classroom" nationwide and my message will always be the same. The reason why I am encouraging creating virtual classrooms is to create a tool or avenue that students will want to come to. It is extremely difficult to compete with the rectangle screen in front of us. Distance Virtual E-Learning is extremely difficult! It takes so much planning! It is so time consuming! It is a lot of front load work! 

So here are some tips that I will recommend as you create any digital content whether it is a class website, virtual classroom or just a presentation to share with your students:

1. Start with a basic template. 
2. Accessorize and decorate but don't go crazy (Keep decorations simple)
3. Try it yourself and ask yourself: is the content easy to understand and access? How can you make this simple not just for your families (who will be the adult support)?  Could a student navigate with minimal adult support?
4. Before you tell your students to just use those online tools you created... make sure to ALWAYS teach how to navigate and your expectations. (Tutorial videos might come handy...just saying!)
5. Don't change your set up weekly... you wouldn't be moving things around in your classroom weekly if you were in brick and mortar. Establish a virtual classroom or website and keep things consistent. This way student become successful and independent. JUST CHANGE THE CONTENT.

    I hope this helps guide you a little better. I know that the digital world can be a vortex and you want to go crazy. You may feel like what you did was not enough and keep adding things. Sometimes simple is good enough. 


    For those of you who technology is just not your thing or if technology is your enemy... that's OK too! Teaching is teaching whether you have a digital classroom or not. Just connect with your students and find ways to engage them through video conferencing. It is really hard to transition into e-learning and it will take a combination of things as you teach students to keep them engaged. Take advantage of the trainings your district may be offering. Find a mentor or collaborate with colleagues. You can also find a a multiple of how-to videos in YouTube. 
    However, if you wish to learn a little more and like a more personalized training/webinar on different digital tools and concepts, you can always be on the look out for any future webinars we provide! 

I hope this helps you simplify your approach in creating online content.

Be safe and see you on the next blog!
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