Baiboard for Collaboration
As part of the AVID program, Ms. +Michelle Marconi's students participate in tutorials. The idea of a tutorial is that the students are forming structured study groups with a college tutor and their AVID peers. Within this study group, they present problems or challenges they find in their different classes in hopes of getting help and finding solutions. For AVID, there is a structured process in which the students fill out a tutorial request form that includes information like what is the problem, what they know about the problem, what resources have they used to help, etc. them think critically about what they need and how to proceed.
In the past, the students have shared this information with their tutorial groups by taking turns writing it on the physical whiteboards in the room and then starting the tutorial session. While this method allowed the students to do what they needed, it left a lot of downtime and created an opportunity for being off-task for the waiting students.
As a result, Ms. Marconi went in search of something new to increase the amount of student engagement during the tutorials and found Baiboard. Baiboard is an interactive whiteboard app that allows students to collaborate on a virtual whiteboard after having imported the pdf of their tutorial request form. In using this app, the students are able to instantly share their form with their group members as opposed to waiting for one person to write all the necessary information on the whiteboard in the room.
Pretty great, right?
Ms. Marconi noted that prior to using this technology, during a tutorial session, one or two students would be able to present their problem whereas now, with Baiboard, usually all four members are able to work on their problems. Using Baiboard also created another positive outcome in that when the students are done with the tutorial, they can easily export it and share it with everyone via Google Drive. The technology allows the students to keep a record of the work that they’ve done for future reference that wasn’t previously possible without the app.
As with everything our students do in class, they find ways to make the activities work best for them, as was the case with a Senior AVID student who wanted to work on math problems, but dislikes using Baiboard for writing math. In this scenario he uploaded his tutorial request form to Baiboard for his group, but then chose to write on the physical whiteboard in the classroom to solve an equation. He then took a picture of the work on the board and inserted it into the Baiboard so that all the notes and work were in one place.
Ms. Marconi shared that one of the goals of the tutorial groups is to help the students learn how to get help and develop their own study groups in college when they don’t have the same support system. With Baiboard, the students don’t necessarily need to be physically present with each other to work on problems. Hypothetically the students could all be at home, in different parts of the building, etc. and still work together.
Baiboard is a very cool app with lots of potential...and it’s not right for all situations. Ms. Marconi shared that it can be glitchy and sometimes the handwriting is not super clear. She also mentioned that there is a delay when writing that can cause problems. Several other teachers stressed that it is best used for a small group and that having too many people on it, especially, not always super mature high schoolers, can lead to some chaos and shenanigans.
Other ideas for using Baiboard:
- Have students create their own study groups in the class and create a Baiboard for them to have access to each other for help when they’re not in class.
- Have students collaborate on storyboards for video projects.
- Have students create a concept map for an important idea.
- Have students import their written work and give each other feedback.
Interested in trying it out and want to bounce around some ideas or just get a little support? Talk to Ms. Bodden or one of your DTCs!
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