Going digital on activities doesn’t mean students can’t work collaboratively and the digital gallery walk is a perfect example if this. Read on to learn how to use a digital gallery walk in your classroom.
What is a gallery walk?
A gallery walk is is a discussion technique that gets students out of their chairs and into a mode of active engagement. The advantage of the method is its flexibility and the variety of benefits for students and instructors alike. Wikipedia calls a gallery walk “… a classroom-based active learning strategy where students are encouraged to build on their knowledge about a topic or content to promote higher-order thinking, interaction, and cooperative learning.”
What are the benefits of a gallery walk?
Gallery walks provide students the opportunity to experience the 3 C’s. In this case, they aren’t our world language 3 C’s of Communities, Communication, and Culture (outside of California you are the 5 C’s). The 3 C’s benefiting students in a gallery walk are:
Critical thinking
Creativity
Communication (Ok this one is important)
Gallery walks also get students up and being active not just chained to a desk all day (figurative speaking). By now I hope we all know the importance of movement in the classroom. Also, incorporating movement stimulates the brain and helps students to learn and better retain the information. Here are some other awesome benefits of a digital gallery walk:
- Collaboration
- Deep discussion
- An audience for students to showcase their work to
- Feedback
So what are you waiting for? Let’s learn how to create a digital gallery walk that will enhance classroom learning and get students moving.
What is a digital gallery walk?
As you know, a traditional gallery walk uses paper displayed around the classroom or a hallway. A digital gallery walk takes this same idea and removes the need for paper. However, it can still be interactive and has the same benefits a traditional gallery walk encompasses.
A digital gallery walk is a way to display content, either teacher or student-created, and provides a platform for student discussion and analysis.
For Student-Created Work
- Students create work, art, or an artifact in Google Slides
- Students publish to the web (under the file tab)
- Students work will automatically play on the computer screen once published to the web
- Students travel from desk to desk to check out each other’s work
To make this more interactive, assign partners or small groups to travel together and converse about the work. The teacher can provide a set of questions to get the conversation moving along. Students can also leave a note or feedback using the comment button.
Teacher-Created Work
Another option for the digital gallery walk is for the teacher to create the content for the gallery walk. Send the work to a select few students and have them display the work on their computer screen. Follow the steps above for the gallery walk.
Extended Activities
- Make an interpersonal communciation activity out of the gallery walk.
- Swap partners with each rotation to give additional practice.
- Let students leave a post it note on the desk of the student-created work. This can be a compliment, feedback, or a wish to improve on something.
If you don’t have 1:1 devices, then you can always use paper laid out on the desks or hung on a wall.
What topics do you use for a gallery walk?
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