Youtube

I created a youbube account for my pre 16 level 1 beauty therapy class.  Part of the course requirement for a pre 16 level 1 is to gather evidence of the learners completing two manicure treatments.  I explained to the learners that I can make the videos private, indicating that the general public would not be able to access the video unless this was via a link.  After my re-assurance to the learners they agreed, I found this so helpful to me as I could refer back to the learners work at anytime on any device. 

One issue I did have was that uploading the video to youtube on a college device this was very time consuming and very difficult.

I would this method to privately store my learners work but only if they were in completing work groups or completing assessments at different times as this would save time on the upload of the completed videos.

Screen Castify

Screen Castify was really good, I used screen castify on my pre16 level 1 beauty therapy where attendance is an issue in the classroom and outstanding assignments need completing.  I used screen castify where I narrated an assignment brief, breaking down the steps of the assignment and highlighting what was required from the learners to complete and pass the assignment.  I then posted it on the website for the learners to access from home. 

This prevented me repeating myself and wasting lesson time for the learners that always attend my class as this is a waste of time from their perspective.

The one issue I did have with Screen Castify was that it would not load on the computer at College.  This was a task that I had to complete on my personal device.  Sometimes I cannot always access the relevant  information on a personal device making the task more difficult. 

Google forms

Google Forms – Questionnaire

I created a questionnaire for my 18+ level three beauty therapy learners to complete regarding their favourite beauty treatment undertaken so far.   The questionnaire was very simple to make, this saved me a lot of time in printing, handing out and collecting questionnaires as learners could access the questionnaire on the website and submit their answers.

I also found that from the task above the learners wrote more when they could complete the questionnaire in their own time.  The learners were also more honest in their feed back.  I felt this was because the learners did not have to greet you face to face to respond to the questionnaire.

I would use google forms in the future to help me gather information from my learners. 

Zaption

I created a Zaption to use in my pre-sixteen level 1 beauty therapy class.  I signed into Zaption using my google log in and went straight to searching for the right video..  I found that this was time consuming as you need to watch  a few vidoes on you tube if you don’t have a video in mind that you would wish to use.

After finally choosing my video I was able to use a tool to crop the video, which I found helpful and thought this was a good idea.

I then created questions linking to the video to ensure that learners were engaged in the task.  This helped me to check and review how much attention the learners attributed to the task.

I first used this activity in the class room and asked the learners to log on with their mobile phones.  Zaption then froze when learners tried to access the system.  I played the Zaption video on the board and we answered the questions together.  This activity engaged the learners as they were aware that the questions were coming.  I found Zaption very helpful to ensure that learners are paying attention to the task. 

I will use Zaption in the future but I will contain this to a time when my learners are in a computer room.  This will overcome the technical difficulties I experiences whilst using Zaption. 

Padlet

Padlet is a great way of checking a learners answer to a question, however I used this resource with my 18_ level 3 beauty therapy  and I found it very difficult as some learners did not have the link to access the Padlet.  After I found a solution to access the Padlets I still felt that the Padlet did not suit all of my learners. 

Some of my learners are dyslexic and also some of the my learners do not have English as a first language.  My learners were paniking after writing the answers as it would show on the board and other learners would be able to access any spelling mistakes by the learner and if they go the question right or wrong.   This process caused embarrassment to the learners.  

I feel I would use Padlet again but only as a homework task, I felt that learners would  not feel as much pressure if this was given as a homework task giving the learners access to information in the comfort of their own environment.