An Inside Look at a Classroom Success Teacher
Students at Canadian Martyrs School in Mississauga, ON learn about Edwin features and partner apps, like WeVideo and Pear Deck.
From day one, all Edwin users are part of a community of inspiration and support. The Edwin Classroom Success Team helps students and teachers by embedding their new enhanced learning tools into everyday practice.
We recently spoke with Kevin Salt about his experiences as a Classroom Success Teacher for Edwin. Here’s what Kevin had to say:
Why did you get involved with Edwin? What does a Classroom Success Teacher do?
I’m always looking for new things in education, so I was eager to check out Edwin. One of the first things I found was a video of a pilot program at a school [nearby], and as I was watching, I saw a student who looked familiar, and then another one. As it turned out, three of my cousins were involved in that pilot program!
Edwin really resonated with me, because I was one of those students who did things a little bit differently. Back in my day, there wasn’t an opportunity for me to show my learning through a video, or by making a podcast. Learning was all about consumption, and when I did have a chance to create, I had to produce a specific product in a specific way. That was tough for me. Now, I look at my cousins, and they’ve got a chance to steer their own learning and engage with content in ways that work for them and their individual learning styles. And that was when I knew that I needed to be a part of this.
As a Classroom Success Teacher, I go into classrooms and support educators as they’re embedding these enhanced learning tools into their everyday practice. Every classroom is different, and just like teaching, what works in one might not work in the next. But—and I think this speaks to Edwin’s flexibility and effectiveness—I haven’t been in a classroom where I couldn’t make this work with what teachers are already doing. I put a lot of pressure on Edwin. I lean on it a lot. These classroom visits are where Edwin gets tested in the real world. On the training day we can talk about how great it is, but until we have it in a classroom, teachers can’t really see what it does. I’ve worked with teachers who are concerned that Edwin won’t cover the same content as their print textbooks. But when we compare the content in Edwin, it’s always there. I haven’t hit a roadblock with that yet.
How is Edwin’s professional development program developed? How does Edwin help educators?
When we show Edwin to teachers, a lot of them are amazed at how much it offers. What we emphasize is finding the tools that work for them, that make their lives easier, and that help them take their students’ learning to the next level. Because at the end of the day, it’s teachers who are tasked with implementing Edwin in their classrooms. Talking about Edwin isn’t like some PD sessions where teachers are shown a perfect student scenario with a perfect classroom scenario. PD sessions for Edwin are given by experienced teachers who know how diverse classrooms can be. We check out every question, even the ones that might seem hard to answer. And that lets teachers see how Edwin will work in their classroom, with their kids.
Trevor Lewis, Principal at Miniota School in Miniota, MB, receiving personalized training with Kevin Salt.
How does Edwin support both in-class and online learning?
Edwin offers a vast range of content-specific resources that have been curated and assessed by education experts. It’s easy to find things—just enter a keyword. What I’m seeing is that teachers are taking what they like from it, finding what works for their students, and then running with that.
Of course, things are interesting right now, but it’s great that Edwin helps teachers and students continue and thrive, even when everything is online. The switch to online-only happened suddenly, which isn’t ideal, but we’re still doing the same consultations. If teachers want to book online appointments with us, that support is still there, just like it would be in a physical classroom.
How does the role of the teacher change with Edwin, and what impact has it had on students?
I think the shift towards different ways of learning was already coming. There’s been some reluctance to embrace this, but Edwin is doing it. The role of the teacher is changing. We’re moving away from students as content consumers and giving them the tools to be content creators, letting them show their learning in ways that work with their learning styles. There’s more guiding of students, getting them going in the right direction. But teachers don’t have to worry that self-directed learning gives students too much freedom, because everything in Edwin is curriculum-aligned and vetted, so it’s all relevant. And because students can make choices about the sources they’re using, this is the first step into wider explorations of discriminating between good and bad information.
There’s also the potential to personalize learning, and the flexibility that comes with going digital is a game changer. For English language learning students, we can change the language of their home page to help them feel more comfortable. We worked with one student who had a visual impairment and who struggled to read print texts because there wasn’t enough contrast on the page. For this student Edwin was quite literally the difference between being able to read content comfortably and having an ineffective, uncomfortable experience trying to decipher a page. Students who are unable to type can use dictation. Pretty much every problem has a workaround to the dismay of some of my students!
A lot of learning now is focused on building skills, not just knowledge retention. Edwin helps students get comfortable with these skills. It bridges the gap between learning and entertainment. Maybe a student makes an awesome YouTube video? Let’s run with that. Edwin always works because it’s so flexible. All teachers need to do is put the pieces together in a way that they like.
Edwin is available to school boards for open access.
Contact us to learn more.
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Kevin Salt
Edwin Classroom Success Facilitator