Seesaw

At the school at which I am employed, Seesaw has allowed for a smooth transition from a classroom-based, face-to-face delivery of material to a remote, home-based, online learning situation. It gives teachers the ability to take attendance, communicate with parents as well as students, post materials for students to complete online and for teachers to make corrections and return work to students.

The interface is very student-friendly and clearly lists work that needs to be completed as well as collating completed work into an online portfolio for students and families to refer back to. The platform allows teachers to incorporate audio and visual materials such as photos, audio clips and videos into online lessons which helps to offer engaging study materials for students. Teachers can upload existing documents or create totally new ones. Seesaw allows teachers to store the lessons they have created and offers a library of existing lesson materials also.

Seesaw offers a very well developed and supportive training program for teachers. Trainers are very positive and offer many practical ways to best use the platform.

There are a few issues that surface when you use the platform to correct and return student work, such as the way that teachers are lead around in several steps (that could be reduced) to write on (by editing), make comment on (in the text box section under tasks) and return student work. This does not impact what is seen by students when the work is returned, but is something that could be addressed by programmers to make it more efficient to use as an educator.

What I liked the most about this tool is that it allowed my students to creatively share their work, projects, and reflections through a variety of formats, such as images, videos, and files to me to improve communication with them. Another thing that I liked is that as a teacher I was able to provide immediate and personalized feedback through comments and digital evaluations, which encourages more effective and collaborative learning and finally, another utility of this tool is its integration with other tools for creating of digital portfolios and the possibility of involving parents in the educational process.

The only bad thing I have noticed from time to time is that the platform often has technical issues, such as loading delays or data sync errors, which can be frustrating for students and educators.

Using Seesaw has allowed me to personalize learning for my students. It is very easy to get started and set up your classroom. There are already a plethora of resources that other teachers have created or you can create your own content. Seesaw is very teacher-friendly and easy to set up. There are tons of resources ranging in content and grade level that will meet the needs of any classroom. I also love that students can create their own videos to explain their thinking and learning as well as take pictures.

I do not have any cons in regards to this program. I frequently talk about it within my workplace and have had many teachers sign up for the program and use it within their classrooms.