This school year across the district, many staff and students have been using the DyKnow classroom monitoring software to enhance student learning. This software supports student learning by providing the opportunities for staff to gather data on what applications and websites are being visited by students on a classroom level, as well as create plans to help support student learning and focus in the classroom. This software provides tools that allow or block students from using applications and websites on their ISD devices, from a central program monitored by teachers during school hours.
In addition to monitoring and focusing computer usage, some staff are exploring other ways to utilize this tool in the classroom to help promote collaboration and highlight student learning. This is the case for Liberty High School Social Studies teacher, Ross Matheny.
Mr. Matheny has found that in addition to using Dyknow to monitor student computer use, he can easily use the program to highlight and spotlight student work. In one particular lesson, students were working together in collaborative groups as they were analyzing and contrasting advertisements from the early 20th century. Students were working in groups to select an advertisement that would properly represent the theme or idea that they wanted to share out with the whole class.
As students were ready to discuss, Mr. Matheny then projected the student monitoring software on the main classroom screen and spotlighted the screen from one student per group to view. This allowed students to find and prepare their work on their own computers in each group, and Mr. Matheny was able to swiftly and easily follow the flow of the table group discussions and student comments to project the work of the students from around the room. It was seamless and followed the flow of the students as they were sharing their learning.
Using the Dyknow program in this way allowed Mr. Matheny to focus on the natural flow of the discussions while providing visual access that helped all students in the classroom to see and view the individual computer screens. This all happened in a way that supported the learning in real time.
Mr. Matheny mentions that there are additional benefits to using this process with students. He shares, “one useful thing is this technique allows students who are reluctant to present in front of the class gain those benefits with fewer pressures.”
Thank you, Mr. Matheny for inviting us into your classroom to observe.
Have questions about utilizing Dyknow in your classroom? Please reach out to your Ed Tech Lead or Ed Tech TOSA for additional support and resources and check out our other posts about Dyknow on the BNP here.
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