Jelka Krampl, Osnovna šola Dobje, Dobje
Learning about Earthquakes and Volcanos in the Cloud There are many parallels between everyday life and subject matters at geography lessons. Talking about volcanos and earthquakes in a classroom offers learners many opportunities to look for information on the internet. Thus open learning is established. Using modern technology motivates learners and meanwhile turns a teacher instead of being a source of information into a moderator of the learning process and a mentor of using new methods at the same time. The learning process went on in the Cloud 365. All the learners were logged in the OneNote Class Notebook. The lesson was planned on the basis of learners’ independent work. They watched two videos about volcanos and earthquakes at home and they answered the questions afterwards. At school learners were obliged to log in the digital notebook and solve the worksheets. The questions referred to the two videos they had watched at home. They could also use the internet to find necessary information. The lesson ended by interactive exercises I had prepared at home. The learners were using Microsoft tools for matching, drawing, labeling pictures and maps, … different concepts connected to the theme. Revision included some quiz questions, made in the Microsoft Forms. The method described above encourages students to work independently and to feel responsible for their own knowledge. At the lesson students were actively involved in the process, they were asking questions. I had an insight into their work and prior knowledge. After all the collaboration work enabled me to check who did the job and when. I found out that quickly. Students organised their time individually. All the materials were also available on their mobiles, even when they were not connected to the internet. At the same time, students could also get to know the Microsoft tools. I cannot imagine to plan a geography lessons without using modern technology. After all it has improved the lessons in many ways: learners are more critical, eager to learn and self-initiative. Key words: open learning, earthquakes and volcanos, the Cloud 365, OneNote Classroom, Microsoft Forms
