Looking back and reflecting

Time for a 3x1 review !

After finishing this course, it is time to reflect about it, and in so doing, I am going to give a 3x1 review.


What is a 3x1 review?

A 3x1 review consists in mentioning 3 things that I absolutely loved about this Master's Degree Module, and 1 thing that I consider should be improve.

In order to indicate these things, I created a poster with Canva to illustrate them in an original way, so I hope you like it.

ictcourse de Lucía Carrasco 

On the one hand,  let's talk about the best 3 things:

• The partner search, since I learnt a lot about collaborative movements and how to elaborate an elevator pitch.
• Prototyping an OEP, as I learnt to apply what I knew about it on my own project, how to structure it, and think globally.
• Creating learning missions, since I collaborated with colleagues and we put ourselves into our students' shoes. Moreover, preparing the activities was extremely significant.

On the other hand, 1 thing that could be improved. In this case, it does not have anything to with with the subject, but with its schedule in the Master's Degree, in the second term. On account of this, we had a considerable workload that we would have managed with more time, if it had been placed in the first term of the academic course.

All in all, to be honest, this course has been extremely significant, meaningful and interesting, although I have to say that it required too much time, work, and effort. Despite these things, this course has been absolutely worth it. I would never forget it.

And finally, to end this course with a bit of humor, let's take a look at this meme I generated with a tool called Image Chef. 

Hope you enjoy !

                                                          Generador de Memes Creado por: Lucía 


See you later, collaborator !

My first online conference. MM10.

I am on cloud nine writing a post about the fourth of May, when I took part in my first online conference, thanks to the invitation of my ICT teacher María Jesús García @mjgsm, who allowed us to participate in MM10.

First and foremost, let's clarify some concepts.

What is Moodle?

Moodle is a free and online learning management system for educators and institutions. It was designed to allow teachers to create their online classes and extend their knowledge.

What is MM10?

As regards MM10, it is a course for teachers, from Moodle, in which educators get together, so as to instruct, learn, integrate technology in daily teaching,  collaborate, exchange cultural aspects, be facilitators, etc.

What was the conference about?

The conference was called Open Educational Digital Projects for CLIL Primary Education, it was aimed at talking the audience through the experience that each one of us had concerning the ICT course from the Master's Degree in Bilingual Education, at Rey Juan Carlos University (Vicálvaro-Madrid), including the learning diaries we created.

Who was the person in charge of the conference?

Nelly Deutsch @nelliemuller was the organizer of the conference. In fact, she organizes MOOCs (Moodle and Second Life) and free online conferences among other things. 

Who were the attendees?

The audience was composed by all my colleagues from the Master's Degree and educators around the world.

The run-up to the conference

Two weeks before the conference took place, we had to prepare the conference. First of all, what we had to do was complete a presentation from Google Drive designed by my teacher, so that we prepared our slides to support our speech, which was uploaded to Slideshare. In so doing, we had to mention our learning diaries, and our Open Educational Projects. Apart from that, I included some of the challenges I overcame, which had to do with the elaboration of the Open Educational Project, and I also mentioned my twitter handle.

Here you can take a glimpse of our slides for the conference.

Open educational digital projects for clil primary education from Jefe de Área de Formación en Red y Redes Sociales. INTEF

Once I had the slide prepared, it was time to prepare the speech itself, which had to last around five minutes. In order to do so, what I did was go back to all the learning diary entries, and try to compile the information provided in each post, in several sentences; therefore, I focussed on explaining the aim of each challenge, alongside its development and what I learnt from it.

By the time I had a clear idea of what to talk about, I started drafting it, by opening an online document in Google Drive. I structured the speech in seven parts: an introduction, the CLIL Private Detective, Prototyping an Open Educational Project, Next mission: partner search, In charge of creating learning missions, Elaborating a Rubric for Assessment, and a conclusion.

Once I finished my speech, I uploaded it at Issuu

Then, I was ready for the online rehearsal  with my teacher and colleagues, which took place on the 27th of April. In order to practice it, we met at WizIQ, which is an online delivery learning platform intended for instructors, to deliver their interactive teaching lessons. As a result, we practiced our speeches, as well as the management of audio and micro settings.

After the rehearsal, what I did was just practising the speech, taking into account looking at the lens of the camera and the intonation.

The big day 

The 4th of May arrived and we participated in the online conference, which started at 4 p.m. It took place in WizIQ, as the rehearsal. 

Firstly, Nelly Deutsch introduced the conference and our teacher, who gave an introduction and was in charge of allowing us permission to appear on the spot and talk. So, off we went. Due to the fact that the platform included a chat, while we were talking, we were encouraged to provide the URLs of the learning diaries of our colleagues through it. Likewise, the chat was used to pose questions and comments about our explanations. Besides that, we were spreading the world on Twitter #moodlemooc10.

Here you have my screenshot from the conference !

                                        Screenshot from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtSBDWzqPWw

And... here you have the video of the conference, hope you enjoy it !

Feedback on the experience

To tell you the truth, although I was as nervous as a cat, while waiting for the conference to start, I must admit that I was elated. Actually, as soon as the conference started, I felt really comfortable. It was the first time I participated in such event, and I highly recommend it. By doing this kind of activity, you notice the power of technology, since it brings together people from all over the world, by a click. Furthermore, it was extremely motivating, as we were able to present our Open Educational Projects to the world, and receive feedback from it. Moreover, I learnt from my colleagues, since I took some notes on catching activities from their projects, which I will be able to adapt and apply in my future classroom.

I am of the opinion that this kind of activity was idyllic to practice our summarizing skills, since having to explain briefly the learning journey throughout this ICT course implied stepping back and thinking about the challenges that were significant as for the elaboration of our Open Educational Project, explaining it in few words and also reflecting about our experience with ICT and this course in particular.

Taking part in this online conference made me be looking forward to learning about how to use this platform called WizIQ, in order to deliver online classes in the near future, and be able to join other courses and participate in more online conferences.

On account of all this, I thoroughly recommend it. Moreover, to my eye, students will like it, too, since for them it will be a motivating challenge, and they will like to watch their peers on the screen, and then be able to look at the recorded video and analyse aspects concerning ideas, language, intonation, organization, etc. In fact, they could carry out a self-assessment. Furthermore, by participating in this kind of activity, students are going to work on the skills that the 21st century demands, the likes of: capacity to present yourself to the world, to be precise and brief, to try to convince the audience, to make them be interested, etc; therefore, this will be a starting point to develop such skills.


Conclusions on my learning throughout the course

The amazing knowledge compiled in this learning diary started on the 2nd of Februay, when this subject began. I remember that day, since I spent the whole presentation of the subject just trying to access the computer, since I did not know why it did not work properly, so it was not a good start; however, a wonderful experience and learning were waiting for me.

I remember the first thing that I had to do, which was filling in a questionnaire concerning what we knew about certain aspects of ICT. Even though I knew I was not good at it, this questionnaire made me reflect on what I learnt throughout my school years and the fact that there are far more interesting and useful tools to work with, and apply them to our primary classrooms, which is the most important thing.

Something that I learnt in this course is the fact that digital identity is utterly important. Consequently, we have to pay attention to it and take care of it, since it is like a cover letter from us to the world, and I did not use to pay attention to it, until I started this course.

Then, it was time to create a twitter handle, although I had one, I decided to create a different one for educational purposes. Alongside the twitter handle, I designed my blog, actually, it is my first one and I have to say that I am on cloud nine with it, since it served me as a self-reflection space about my learning progress.

Well, with the learning diary I was equipped to embark in the voyage of the ICT learning process, so off I went, and the first thing I had to do was a flipped introduction. I had not heard about it before, and it was quite enjoyable. With this challenge I learnt to use Powtoon.

Then, it was time to learn about Open Educational Projects, by analysing one and paying attention to what makes a Project-Based Learning worth it. This time, I learnt to use Genially.

Once I had a better understanding on OEPs, I designed mine. In this challenge I learnt to use Youtube Editor and discovered Issuu.

After I had explained my OEP, I was asked to create a visual metaphor to illustrate it, so I decided to create one focussed on the path I will follow from where I will start, to where I will go. During this task, I learnt to use Canva - of which I am actually a big fan.

Moving on to the following challenge, I had to look for a collaborative partner, and it made me realise the huge variety of movements to join and have the opportunity to connect with teachers all over the world, learn from them and join efforts to try to make learning more enjoyable, while students develop essential skills. In order to look for a partner, I had to record an elevator pitch, something that I had not heard before, and I have to admit that I really like preparing and recording it. I had a blast recording with Ana Márquez @ana94mqz and Álvaro Antón @PEPO65 , so thanks for it.

Then, I was in charge of turning flat activities into super learning missions, this challenge was extremely significant, since I collaborated with two colleagues. This definitely made me think about the importance of collaboration among teachers, particularly among teachers from the same course, in order to share ideas and think about ways of creating catching missions for students, missions in which not only do they work on content in a cross-curricular way, but also essential skills that they will use in their adult life. This time I learnt to use StoryboardThat and IMovie. I had a whale of a time recording the video, I remember having to stop and record again, since we had a memory like a sieve, or not pronouncing a word properly. Besides that, we were excited wearing our foulards. So, I will like to thank Ana Márquez and Carmen Olmedo @CarmenOlPas for collaborating with me.

Once I had the learning mission, I had to create a rubric and I have to say that this was extremely important, since assessment needs time and reflection, so as to choose the one that we think is better for our students, and also create a rubric for students to practice self-assessment. I learnt to use Quick Rubric and Pixton.

Finally, the 4th of May arrived and we had to face our last challenge - an online conference. This was a wonderful experience that I will never forget.

At this point of my conclusion, I consider necessary to thank my teacher María Jesús García, since if it had not been for her, this could not have been possible. Thanks María Jesús for your dedication, for being 24/7, for giving us advice, for encouraging us to not despair, for motivating us, and for providing us with scores of tips and tools. I will never forget the strategy you used to choose the partners for the flipped introduction, which consisted on matching different shoe sizes, I will use it in my classroon, for sure. I also remember the time we had to write a letter to be Genially Ambassadors and we were decorating the blackboard to take a photo.

Likewise, I would like to thank all my colleagues, since they have been giving feedback on my posts and also helping me with any doubt I had.

This is not a farewell, since I will continue working on my digital skills as a 21st century teacher, and I will definitely apply what I learnt in my future classrooms.

See you later, collaborator !

Elaborating a rubric for assessment.

Hi there !

This time I am going to show you a rubric I created, so as to gauge students in my Open Educational Project: The Weather Forecasters.

What am I assessing ?

First an foremost, let me tell you that I decided to create a rubric concerning the final outcome of my project, which is a Special Weather Forecast, which you can take a look at, here.

I decided to focus on the assessment of the final outcome, since it is going to reflect all the contents and skills students are bound to acquire throughout the whole Open Educational Project,

How did I come up with a rubric ?

Once I had a clear idea about the focus of the assessment, I decided to create a scheme, so as to organize the elements to be taken into consideration when deciding the criteria, and have a crystal clear idea of the rubric, as a whole.

As a result, I elaborated the following scheme, by using an online tool called Digi-Key Scheme it, which is aimed at designing schemes. Once I registered myself, I was able to start introducing schematic symbols and the text.

Sample of the scheme for the rubric

Why did I chose this structure for the scheme?

I decided to include the creation of the comic, since it is going to be the learning mission immediately before the Special Weather Forecast. Consequently, the elaboration of the comic is going to set the basis for the creation of the video. Moreover, the items that are embedded in it are going to be taken into account when making decisions about the ratings of the rubric.

I decided to include the elaboration of the video - since it is the artefact students have to design - alongside the 21st Century Skills, due to the fact that they are essential, particularly when it comes to Project-Based Learning, and they are included in my project.

Before designing the rubric, it was time to bear in mind what it is about.

What elements should a rubric include?

Here you have an infographic I planned, to illustrate them. In so doing, I used a tool called Picktochart.

At that  moment, it was time to be hands on creating the rubric.

How did I create the rubric?

I used Quick Rubric in order to create it. I registered myself and I started elaborating it, by adding columms and rows, and editing the criteria, the ratings and the descriptors. Then, I uploaded it at Issuu.

Sample of the rubric

Rubric for the students

Students will be provided with a rubric, too, since the beginning of their learning missions, so that they will have a better understanding of what the have to do, once they read the instructions of the learning missions. I created it with Microsoft Word, and uploaded it at Issuuhttps://issuu.com/lucia2042/docs/finalrubric.

Self-reflection

Before starting with the rubric, I browsed several pages concerning tips and examples of what a rubric is about, which are the following ones:

• http://www.bie.org/object/document/project_assessment_map
• https://www.edutopia.org/blog/effective-assessment-project-based-learning-andrew-miller
• http://www.bie.org/object/document/rubric_for_rubric

After being investigating, I decided to take a look at the project I looked at in detail to analyse an Open Educational Project, which you can take a look here. Due to the fact that it helped me a lot to design my OEP, as well as, the learning missions, I decided to look at the rubrics it provides, as it contains rubrics for both students and teachers. This rubrics either deals with each mission, or with the overall project.

After taking a look at them, I started designing mine. To tell you the truth, I tought it would be easier, since I had a general idea of what my rubric would contain. Nevertheless, it was a demanding process, after knowing all the essential elements it should contain, as well as its features. I was thinking long and hard, and after creating the scheme showed before, I started introducing the criteria, and the descriptors. Concerning the descriptors, I had to make some changes, since I wanted them to be gradual and really illustrate improvement.

Furthermore, I created a rubric for students to assess themselves, too, since I am of the opinion that it is something students have to be accustomed to, so as to be more critical, reflect about their learning, and notice the learning, too. Consequently, they will also train their higher-order thinking skills.

All in all, I have to say that I am of the opinion that planning a rubric needs time, and we have to pay attention to the assessment. It is something that cannot be done in the blink of an eye. Besides, it needs practise, so from my point of view, you actually need to put the rubric intro practise and monitor it, so as to see if it is really manageable and accurate, in oder to enhance it. I will definitely take into account the essential elements of a rubric, since a great deal of times, we tend to add  lots of  items, and we do not focus on the main criteria. So, if we add fewer elements and explain them clearly, we will not have any problem when assessing our students.

In addition, nowadays, there are scores of online tools to design our rubrics, and for example, the one I used was easy to manage.

See you later, collaborator !

In charge of creating learning missions. Part 2.

This time I am going to show you another example of how to turn a flat activity into a flabbergasting learning mission. I selected one of the tasks I developed for my Open Educational Project "The Weather Forecasters" that you can take a look by clicking here.

This learning mission is built on the previous one - In charge of creating learning missions. Part 1. 

How to turn a flat activity into a super learning mission ?

• Choose a humdrum, boring activity from the textbook or from your own material.
• Select the goals you want your students to accomplish.
• Select the competences you like them to practise.
• Think of an ICT tool you want to incorporate.
• Choose the final artefact to be created.
• Give your activity an appealing title.
• Present it as a mission, with all the instructions to follow.

Which flat activity did I choose ?

Activity 2.

Open your books on page 32. Look at the weather symbols of the map. Indicate where India is located. Open your notebook and write a sentence concerning the weather India has today, and another sentence about the weather you think India will have tomorrow.

Collaboration time

Before explaining the learning mission, let me tell you that - as it occurred with the previous activity- I joined two of my colleagues to work collaboratively: Ana Márquez and Carmen Olmedo.

I collaborated with Ana Márquez @ana94mqz, because of the fact that our learning mission concerns India, among other countries, as her project does.  You can take a look at her project here.

Moreover, I collaborated with Carmen Olmedo @CarmenOlPas, as she is working with  “The 30 goals challenge”, particularly with “Revamping a lesson” goal. Due to the fact that this goal includes aspects like: creating learning missions, making the lesson more hands-on, including technology, and adding humour; I decided to apply this characteristics to the mission. You can take a look at her project here.

Retrieved from: http://teacherrebootcamp.com/2016/08/07/goallessonupdate/

How is the learning mission aligned with my collaborative project-to-be?

This learning mission is aligned with the collaborative movement I am looking forward to participating, which is called “Design a Badge Goal”, from “The 30 Goals Challenge”, since I have created digital badges for the role each pupil is going to play, so as to reward them.

Retrieved from: http://teacherrebootcamp.com/2016/07/21/goaldesignabadge/

How did I create those badges?

I went to “Design a Badge Goal" page and I browsed a slideshow provided by Shelly Terrell @ShellTerrell. I decided to use again one of the recommended tools called Open Badges Me, I registered myself in a couple of seconds and we started working on the graphics. Firstly, you  have to give the graphic a title and a description. Then, you design it by choosing and editing: shapes, inner shapes, banners, texts, and adding icons. Finally you complete it and keep it.

Since this the learning mission is also based on cooperative learning, these are other badges I created for each role students will play.

                                                               


















 By  Lucía Carrasco

By Lucía Carrasco
                                

 By Lucía Carrasco                                                                                                                                                           

                                                                 

 By Lucía Carrasco

Learning mission: The Special Weather Forecast.

Here you can take a look at the Canva I designed, in order to indicate the goals, competences, grouping and time.

mission2 de Lucía Carrasco

Getting a deeply understanding of the learning mission

I decided to create a draft of the activity in Google Drive , and then a presentation that I uploaded to Slide Share to explain the development of the mission. Since this course I worked on the analysis of an Open Educational Project - you can see the post clicking here - I was utterly inspired by the one I analysed. As a result, we created the following presentation akin to it with the steps to follow, so as to overcome the mission. Consequently, you are going to visualise the mission in the same way students will visualise it.

Learningmission2 de Carrasco510

How did we create the artefact?

We created a video, which is the final outcome of the mission. As we were in charge of India, our special weather forecast focusses on it.

First and foremost, we distributed the roles: Ana was the tourist expert, Carmen was the flora detective,  and I was the climate advocate. Secondly, we drafted the script for the special weather forecast in Google Drive. Thirdly, we decided where to shoot the video, the green chroma we were going to use, and the materials we had to bring to record the video. We decided to a add a tad of humour, that is why we decided to wear complements related to the Indian culture; therefore, we brought loud coloured scarfs, a colourful bandanna, and a bracelet. We also painted a bindi (dot) in our forehead. Finally, we rehearsed and recorded the video by scenes.

The next step was making the video, in so doing, we followed the coming steps:

• We chose the images we were going to use.
• We created the images concerning the weather predictions, by overlapping images. We used Gimp.  Nevertheless, you can find similar photo editors to work online, like Pixrl.
• We used IMovie to edit the video, but other tools can be used, the likes of: Sony Vegas and Touch Cast.
• We uploaded it to Youtube.

Sample of the final artefact

Self-reflection

I am on cloud nine with this second learning mission, as I am of the opinion that we came up with a mission that shows a further step, as far as the previous one is concerned - creating a comic about the weather - as they were designed to show a gradual evolution and development; therefore, the information students gathered when creating the comic was utilized to prepare the script for the video. Moreover, the elaboration of the comic allowed students to have a better understanding, as for the video creation, due to the fact that they had the scenes organized according to the cells of the comic. To my eye, although the editing of the video may be a tad demanding for them, with the help of the teacher, they will succeed without any problem. They will definitely have a whale of a time while recording the video, as we had.

The carry out of this learning mission was enjoying although we spent time mulling it over, so as to design the mission and create the sample of the artefact. The edition of the video was a bit demanding, since after recording, we had to insert the background images, where the chroma was.

As far as the badges are concerned, it was the first time I created digital badges and I have to say that I really enjoyed it, since you have a wide range of elements to choose from, and you can customize them. Moreover, I was very implicated with it; therefore, I am of the opinion that students will be absolutely eager to get them. Consequently, I will definitely incorporate them in my future classes.

As teachers, by promoting collaboration with this kind of activity, we are going to urge students to self-reflect more about their roles and responsabilities, since the rest of the members  will assess their work in some way, indicating ideas to improve, supporting their ideas, highlighting them, etc.

I will absolutely use cooperative learning in my future classes, as I have experienced it, and I have to say that it is really motivating and rewarding. Students will be keen on it, as they are going to be assigned roles in a random and different way, and they will have responsibilities, supporting each other. Besides that, their roles will be attractive, which will also help. Moreover, their learning will be far more meaningful. To my way of thinking, this kind of learning will be great for students with difficulties or with special educational needs, since by working in groups they will help each other, and the environment will be more relaxed. Moreover, the missions will absolutely draw their attention and they will be fully involved.

Concerning turning flat activities into super learning missions, it is not as difficult as you may think, if you search some Open Educational Projects on the net, you will have a better understanding of it. Furthermore, by following the steps I have explained, you will have the recipe to start designing your super learning mission, in a easier way.

See you later, collaborator !

In charge of creating learning missions. Part 1.

Hi there !

This time I am going to show you how I turned a flat activity into a flabbergasting learning mission.

First and foremost, to get started with this new challenge, I selected one of the tasks I developed for my Open Educational Project "The Weather Forecasters" that you can take a look at, by clicking here. 

How to turn a flat activity into a super learning mission ?

• Choose a humdrum, boring activity from the textbook or from your own material.
• Select the goals you want your students to accomplish.
• Select the competences you like them to practise.
• Think of an ICT tool you want to incorporate.
• Choose the final artefact to be created.
• Give your activity an appealing title.
• Present it as a mission with all the instructions to follow.

Which flat activity did I choose ?

Before explaining the activity, I have to say that the day before doing this activity, students will be asked to bring a picture of the Earth’s globe to class, as homework.

Activity 1.

Open your books on page 30, and look at the Earth's globe with the different climate zones, which appear on it. You have to listen to the teacher, who is going to say one climate zone each time. Then, you have to point to each climate zone, and tell the teacher the name of one country that is included in it. After that, you are going to pick your picture of the Earth’s globe, and paste it on your notebook. Apart from glueing it, you are going to copy the characteristics of each climate zone under the picture.

Collaboration time

Let me tell you that I joined two of my colleagues to work collaboratively: Ana Márquez and Carmen Olmedo.

I collaborated with Ana Márquez @ana94mqz, since her project is about India and she is working with Infoedugrafías, and the artefact of this first learning mission is to create a storyboard, which is an infographic. Because of her project being focused on India, I have included this country in this mission. You can take a look at her project here.

 

Retrieved from: http://infoedugrafias.blogspot.com.es/

Moreover, I collaborated with Carmen Olmedo @CarmenOlPas, as she is also working with Infoedugrafías, and “The 30 goals challenge”, particularly with “Revamping a lesson goal”. Due to the fact that this goal includes aspects like: creating learning missions, making the lesson more hands-on, and including technology; I decided to apply this characteristics to my activities, and also her topic: plants. You can take a look at her project here.

Retrieved from: http://teacherrebootcamp.com/2016/08/07/goallessonupdate/

How is the learning mission aligned with my collaborative project-to-be?

This learning mission is aligned with the collaborative movement I am looking forward to participating, which is called “Design a Badge Goal”, from “The 30 Goals Challenge”, since I have created digital badges for the role each pupil is going to play, so as to reward them.

Retrieved from: http://teacherrebootcamp.com/2016/07/21/goaldesignabadge/

How did I create those badges?

I went to “Design a Badge Goal" page and I browsed a slideshow provided by Shelly Terrell @ShellTerrell. I decided to use one of the recommended tools called Open Badges Me, I registered myself in a couple of seconds and we started working on the graphics. Firstly, you have to give the graphic a title and a description. Then, you have to design it by choosing and editing: shapes, inner shapes, banners, texts, and adding icons. Finally you complete it and keep it.

Since this the learning mission is based on cooperative learning, these are the badges I created for each role students will play.

By Lucía Carrasco.

 

By Lucía Carrasco. 

 

By Lucía Carrasco.

By Lucía Carrasco.

Learning mission: Creating a comic about the weather.

Here you can take a look at the Canva I have prepared, so as to explain the objectives, competences, grouping and time.
.

mission1 de Lucía Carrasco

Getting a deeply understanding of the learning mission

We decided to create a draft  in Google Drive and then, a presentation for students that I shared in Slide Share, so that we explained the development of the mission. Since this course I  worked on the analysis of a Open Educational Project - you can see the post clicking here - I have been utterly inspired by the one I analysed. As a result, we elaborated this presentation with the instructions to follow in this learning mission. Below, you are going to visualise the mission in the same way students will visualise it.

Learningmission1 from Carrasco510

How did we create the artefact?

Carmen, Ana and I created a sample of the final outcome of this Learning Mission: creating a comic about the weather, we did it concerning India.

First and foemost, we put ourselves into our pupils’ shoes; therefore, we distributed the work as follows:

• Characteristics of India (Ana)
• Features of the climate of India (Lucía)
• Plants of India (Carmen)
• Weather forecast of India (Ana, Lucía, Carmen)

We created it with the same tool we recommended students in the instructions, which is StoryboardThat. What we had to do is open this tool and add more cells, since there are 3 cells that appear by default. Then, we chose the backgrounds for each cell. After that, we introduced some pictures in each cell. The next thing we did was adding the characters; we created one to represent each one of us. Finally, we jot down in the speech bubbles, according to the information we searched.

Sample of the artefact

Made with Storyboard That

Reflection time

I am over the moon with this challenge, since I have enjoyed it a lot, and I think I have learnt a lot, too.

First and foremost, when we were told we could collaborate with colleagues, so as to enrich our learning missions, I did not think it twice, since I am keen to collaborate with others and learn from others. However, it was a tad difficult, as for decision-making, since we had to mull the potential activities over. Firstly, Carmen explained me her project and the partners she was looking forward to collaborate with. Then, I did the same, and after being proposing options, we reached a common ground to start designing the activity in our minds. Immediately, we talked to Ana, and we decided to collaborate with her, too. Consequently, we started coming up with ideas to incorporate Ana's project. After being debating about them, we came up with the activity proposed.

Collaboration wise, I noticed the importance of collaborating, since by brainstorming, people come up with different ideas and you widen your perspectives, as you listen to others' suggestions and assess them, in some way. In addition, when we created the sample, we decided to do it in the same way pupils would do it, and we were utterly motivated, distributing the tasks and designing the comic. Due to the fact that for us, it was definitely meaningful, we believe that for students, it will be the same; therefore, I am of the opinion that by creating learning missions students are bound to be further motivated.

Comic wise, I utterly recommend this tool, since students are going to work on higher-order thinking skills, like creativity and application, as well as, lower-order thinking skills, the likes of: summarizing, selecting the information and understanding. Moreover, they are going to develop their writing skills, while having fun.

As a teacher, I thoroughly recommend the turning of flat activities into learning missions, since students are going to work on contents, in a cross-curricular way, and they are going to create catching artefacts, with which they are going to work on the language, too. Moreover, they are going to learn to use ICT tools that are likely to be useful for their adult life.

See you later, collaborator !