How Workspace Skills Helped Students Develop Digital Skills
Using Workspace Skills to help students develop their digital skills, critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills.
Background
The International School of the Turks and Caicos Islands is a small school located on Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Mrs Keira Prew joined the school as a maths teacher and quickly took over as the technology teacher. Keira is passionate about using technology in the classroom. She is a Google Certified Educator and Trainer, and she is always looking for new ways to use technology to help enhance her students' learning.
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On March 13, 2020, the Government made the decision to close schools across the country and move to online learning. Overnight, Keira became the go-to person for all things technology for students, teachers and parents. The switch to online learning for her students was smooth as they had been using Google tools and Keira was able to model virtual lessons with teachers and students and offer parental training sessions before the school fully closed.
Student Rollout
It was during lockdown that Keira looked into, and became, a Google Certified Trainer. Soon after becoming a Certified Trainer, Keira was introduced to Workspace Skills. The interactive tutorials are “amazing” and were everything Keira was looking to use to support her students to become proficient using Google tools. The school values immediate feedback so that students can make corrections and improve their work and Keira loves that the tutorials do just that along with assessing their learning.
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Keira assigns Workspace Skills in an integrated way and often in class so she can monitor student progress and frustration levels. If she notices her class becoming frustrated, she will pause the work time and do a group lesson to review the tool, skill and connection to the classroom environment. She has even designed her own certificates!
Impact
Technology at the school is not taught in isolation, “Google Apps often support cross-curricular links. We use technology to create cross-curricular links and reinforce students' learning. This allows us to use technology to the advantage of both teachers and students.”
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In addition to helping students develop their digital skills, Workspace Skills has also helped her students to develop their critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills.
Keira is thrilled with the results she has seen from using Workspace Skills in her classroom and across the school. She believes that Workspace Skills is a valuable tool for any teacher who wants to help their students develop their digital skills and assess their understanding of the applications they are using