It was New Year 2020 and I was trying to find an activity to do with my students that would allow them to capture a glimpse of their life at the beginning of the new year. I ended up with these digital time capsule ideas because they seemed like a fun way to take snapshots of their lives.
Little did I know we were about to enter it was a very historic time. This digital time capsule ended up being even more special than I thought it would be.
So many teachers ended up using the time capsule to capture how differently life was looking for their students. I mean it was a digital activity after all. #disrancelearning
Now it has become a favorite activity among students no matter what is happening around the world.
So let’s dive in on how you can use these digital time capsule ideas to make memories with your students in your own classroom.
Digital Time Capsule Ideas: What is it?
A digital time capsule is a way for students to remember some of their favorite things and what is happening in the world around them at a certain time. Think of it as a time stamp on their life.
This time capsule is created in Google slides and require students to talk about a variety of things happening in their life.
For example, there is a slide for students to remember what they like to do in school, what their favorite television show is, and what music they’re listening to.
Unlike a regular time capsule where students need to find a physical object to put into some sort of box or container, students use images, gifs, music, and videos to create their time capsule.
Digital Time Capsule Ideas: When should we make a digital time capsule?
As I mentioned earlier I originally created the time capsule to use as a New Year’s activity. This allowed students to make a time stamp in their lives as they headed into a new calendar year. But this isn’t the only time to use these digital time capsule ideas in your classroom.
You could also use these digital time capsules at the beginning of the school year. This is a fun way for students to track what they like at the beginning of the year and you can even open them at the end of the school year (it’s okay if it hasn’t been a full calendar year). Your students will love to see how they’ve changed over the course of they’ll year in your classroom.
The end of a school year is another great time to use a digital time capsule. This is a fun way for students to look and see what they currently like as they’re about to go into summer before they head into a new school year.
Since the time capsule is digital it is easy for students to save their time capsule and open it at a later date, even if they are no longer in your class.
When the pandemic hit, teachers started using the time capsule as a way for students to remember their lives during such a momentous time. This time capsule can be used at any time as a way to capture a moment in time.
Digital Time Capsule Ideas: What are the benefits of making a digital time capsule?
Ah, I love this activity for a variety of reasons. Let’s discuss why you will love it in your classroom as well.
First of all these digital time capsule ideas are great because they don’t require much prep. With a regular time capsule, you are asking students to bring in objects from home or findings around the classroom. But with a digital time capsule, students are simply finding things online. It is such an easy activity to give your students and have them complete.
This digital time capsule is also easy to customize for your students. You can easily delete any slide you don’t want them to complete before you share it with them.
This digital time capsule also allows for a lot of flexibility. Students can keep their capsules in their Google drive for a later date. You also could have students print the slides out and put them in a container that is closed and saved to be opened at a later date. Make it work for your students.
Digital Time Capsule Ideas: Can this activity be used for more than creating memories?
I’m so glad you asked. Remember when I said I created this as a New Year activity? Well, I also was looking for an opportunity to review our digital citizenship skills for the second half of the school year. The digital time capsule was just what we needed!
If you use this activity at the beginning of the year it’s a great way to introduce digital citizenship and digital skills that you’ll be using throughout the school year.
This digital time capsule requires students to insert text, insert videos, and more digital skills. So many of the digital skills that you want students to learn and practice. The time capsule also provides an opportunity to show students how we use different sources on the Internet and what we should be searching for and staying away from.
These digital time capsule ideas are engaging activities that your students will enjoy but it also allows you to build digital skills along with healthy digital practices in your classroom.
So what are you waiting for?
This digital time capsule is an easy, no-prep activity that you can have your students complete at any time in the school year.
They create a time stamp for your students and memories that they will be able to carry with them far beyond this year in your classroom.
These time capsule ideas also allow you to practice and build those important digital citizenship and digital skills in your class.
Creating lasting memories while practicing needed skills? Sounds like a win-win!
So grab a digital time capsule and start building memories today.
Looking for more digital ideas? Check out this free week of morning messages.
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