The latest versions of the MimioMobile™ app and MimioStudio™ classroom software bring an exciting upgrade to one of my favorite tools: Collaborate. The newest version of the Collaborate feature, ready for release in September, allows the teacher to push a MimioStudio Notebook page, including an interactive page (oh yes….I said interactive) to the student’s device, where the student can annotate, sort, write, and interact with all of the tasks on that page. (Okay…all together….oooohhhh….aaaahhhh!) The work of the student is displayed on the whiteboard in real time, and the teacher can simultaneously assist students or bring a particular student’s work forward to full screen to use as an example. When the teacher ends the Collaborate session, the student’s work is automatically saved to the MimioStudio Notebook Gallery, where the teacher can open it. Each student’s work is now displayed on a separate page for easy sharing, teacher review, or assessment. And don’t let me forget to share this extra bit of amazing news: the MimioMobile app will now work on iPads, iPhones and Android tablets and phones.
In anticipation of the new MimioMobile release, get ready for a plethora of ways to use this great Classroom Collaboration feature. Here are just a few:
Math:
- Place-Value Activity – Create a place-value activity with cloned place-value blocks, or use one from the Back to School Gallery Pack. Fill in a number for the students. Push the activity pages out to student devices, and ask them to use the cloned place-value blocks to demonstrate the number. With all of the student screens displayed on the whiteboard, have students discuss their answers and note how they are the same or different from their classmates’ answers.
- Long-Division Activity– Use the MimioTeach stylus to write a long-division math problem or a word problem. Push the page out to the student devices and ask students to use the MimioTeach stylus to find the answer and show their work. With all of the student screens displayed on the whiteboard, compare and contrast student answers.
Reading/Language Arts:
- Noun Activity- Create a noun activity or locate one on the MimioConnect® site, in which students sort words or images into three categories: Persons, Places, or Things. Push the noun activity to the student devices. Students sort the nouns into the correct categories. With all of the student screens displayed on the whiteboard, discuss student answers or use this activity as a check for understanding. Open the completed pages from the MimioStudio Gallery to check for accuracy.
- Main Idea/Close Reading – Insert or type in a reading passage for your students on a MimioStudio Notebook page. Push the page out to student devices. Ask students open-ended questions about the main idea of the passage, and have them use the highlighter and/or pen tool to find the information in the passage that best supports their answer. Discuss answers with the students.
Social Studies:
- Time-line – Create a time-line activity with events from a particular period you are teaching, or find one on the MimioConnect site. Push the page out to student devices. Have students pull the events from the choice pool and place them on the time-line in the correct order. With all of the student screens displayed on the whiteboard, discuss student answers.
- Definitions – Open a blank MimioStudio Notebook page and key in or write a vocabulary word or concept. Push the page out to student devices and ask them to use the MimioTeach stylus to write or illustrate their understanding of that concept. With all of the student screens displayed on the whiteboard, compare and contrast student answers.
This is just the beginning! The MimioStudio Classroom Collaboration feature can be easily used with your existing lessons, as well as with any lesson from the MimioConnect site. Share your ideas on how you will use Collaborate in your classroom. Join me and let’s COLLABORATE!