The following content is available on the Seesaw website and has been added to by our PDST Digital Technologies Advisors
 

Brief Description:

Seesaw is a digital portfolio tool which allows pupils to store their work in an online space and gain feedback from their teacher. It can be used on a computer (PC), laptop or tablet. It effectively enables teachers to set tasks or assignments and include instructions or templates for students to use at home. There is also an extensive bank of ready made activities in Seesaw which teachers can use as they are or they can be edited.

Overview of Seesaw video

There are paid premium versions of Seesaw called Seesaw Plus and Seesaw for Schools. Many schools find the free version is adequate for their needs especially when they are just beginning to use the platform. These schools focus on the embedding of the platform into their weekly practice. 

In the event of school closures, schools can activate the Seesaw Plus Trial for 60 days in their account settings. If the free trial has expired you may be able to get an additional 30 days by following the steps on this document: https://tinyurl.com/y8x4olta Caveat: Not all codes work!

More information on the difference between paid and free versions of Seesaw can be found here

Seesaw’s Privacy Policy states that it is GDPR compliant and more information can be found on this here. As with any product, terms and conditions can change and so schools should ensure they read the most up-to-date versions of terms and conditions (incl. GDPR sections) to ensure that you are satisified to use the product 

Getting Started:

Step-by-step approach to establishing home learning on Seesaw

Teacher Quick Start Guide:

1. Seek parental consent via Google Forms, Microsoft Forms, Aladdin Connect, letter to parents etc. Seesaw provide a sample consent letter here

2. Visit https://web.seesaw.me/ and click Sign up Free!

3. Click I’m A Teacher and complete form. Each class teacher needs to create their own account. 

4. Enter class name and choose class level you are teaching.

5. Press +Students on the bottom right of the screen to add student names that you have received consent for. 

6. Click No to “Do you want students to sign in to Seesaw using their Google accounts or email address?”

7. Click Shared Devices when asked “Most often, do your students share devices or do they have their own device?”

8. You can paste a list of students names here if you have one. 

9. The next screen will say “Get Students Signed In,” however these codes shown are if students are logging in at school and do not apply to home learning. Click X to close this window.

10. On the main Seesaw screen, you will see a button which says “Get Home Learning Codes.” Click this button. When students sign in to the Seesaw Class app or website using their Home Learning Code, they can complete activities, view their journal and view announcements. Students will not see other students’ work. Treat these codes like passwords and store them securely.

11. Click Download Codes, and they will open in a CSV file (like an Excel sheet).

12. A unique 12 letter code will be created for students and needs to be shared with families. This will allow students to log in from home using seesaw.me or the Seesaw Class app. This code should be treated like a password so needs to be shared with individual families securely. 

13. It is important to adjust your class settings. To do this, click the wrench in the top right hand corner. The main things to note are:

• Manage Teachers: allows you to add a co-teacher (job sharers or SET)
• Student Likes and Comments: best to turn off
• Students Can See Each others’ Work: best to turn off for home learning
• New items require approval: MUST be on so that the teachers sees all student work submitted 
• Enable item editing: Ensure that this is turned off so that students cannot tag their classmates in their work. Students may otherwise be able to post in one another's folders without the knowledge of the teacher. 
• Enable family access: This is to allow parents to see a child’s work and is ordinarily used to provide a home-school link when students are completing work at school. It is probably not necessary to enable this. If you do, bear in mind that parents can message the teacher directly via the app. This can be turned off after parents are added in the Manage Families menu. 

Video showing the Quick Start Guide for Teachers

Setting Work for Students in Seesaw

1. The teacher can send a message with details of offline work to be completed by using the +Add then Send Announcement button. The teacher can also set open ended tasks by typing them as an announcement and students can respond through a photo, file upload, video etc.

2. Teachers can set specific tasks and include templates for responses by clicking +Add then Assign Activity. This will bring you to the Activity Library.

• My Library: This is where activities you have set or saved are stored. You can create an activity from scratch by pressing +Create New Activity. Then enter the task name e.g. Weekend News, add typed or voice recorded instructions and add template to choose the format that students will respond through e.g. Note. 
• Community: This is where you can search for activities created by other teachers. If you like one of these activities, you can assign it straight away by pressing +Assign. If you would like to edit it or keep it for later, you can press the heart button and it will add it to your library. It can then be edited by pressing the three dots in the bottom right hand corner, “Copy and Edit”. 

3. Once you have chosen or created the activity, choose Assign and then the activity can be assigned to the whole class by choosing the class from the list or to a selection of students by choosing Edit Students and selecting from the list.

4. Teachers will see work appear on the left of their screen as it is submitted and can use the Approve, Send Back or Delete buttons and can leave written or typed feedback on student work which can be seen by the student and parent. 

Quick Start Guide for Students

1. Students should download the Seesaw Class app (free) or visit Seesaw.me

2. Choose I’m a Student.

3. Enter the home learning code received from the teacher into the Text Code box at the bottom of the screen.

4. Once logged in, check the Journal view on the left hand side of your screen to see if your teacher has assigned work to you. If the work you have been assigned doesn’t show up here, click the Activities tab. Click +Add Response to work on the activity. Press the green tick to submit your work when you are finished. 

5. If your teacher hasn’t assigned a task within Seesaw but has asked you to take a photo of some work you have completed, press +Add button. Choose which format of work you want to add. 

6. Check the Inbox to see if you have any announcements from your teacher. 

7. Students sign out by clicking on their name/avatar in the top left hand corner of the screen, then click the cog and then sign out. 

What is Seesaw? - Video introduction for pupils

Key Features:

Video showing new tools in Seesaw.

Seesaw Creative Tools: 

Seesaw creative tools are a number of ways that pupils and teachers can upload content. 

1. Photos: Images can be taken using the native camera on the device being used. Pupils can take photos of their work and add a narration to this explaining a process. They can also add text to their images, or draw on the image to include arrows and additional information.
2. Videos:  Pupils can make a recording of themselves engaging in oral language work and upload it to the platform for feedback from their teacher.
3. Drawing: Pupils can use this tool to create diagrams which can be uploaded to the platform and can add narration to this to explain their workings.
4. Camera Roll: Pupils can upload images from the camera roll and can add narration and text to these as normal.
5. Notes: Pupils can type pieces of text such as reflections and longer pieces, such as narrations, and upload them to their portfolio on Seesaw. They can also create their text in one language (e.g. English) and add narration in another language (e.g. Gaeilge) to create dual language texts.
6. Links: Pupils can upload relevant links to their folder on the platform to add more information to their projects etc.

Folders

Each pupil gets their own personal folder. The class teacher can also assign subject specific sub-folders to each child's folder for maximum organisation.

Activity Library

Teachers can create their own content relevant and subject specific activities or can draw upon the community library which has a plethora of ready made and universal activities to assign to their class.The Seesaw activity library is available here: https://app.seesaw.me/activities

Feedback 

Teachers can provide feedback in various ways such as:

• Voice Comment

• Text Comment

• Editing a document to correct it manually

• Liking a piece of work

This video explores how teachers can provide pupils with voice feedback in Seesaw based on a mini rubric.

Supports and Tutorial links:

Seesaw training hub: https://web.seesaw.me/training

Seesaw Mini Training YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhtA9yG20-g&list=PLb__lPS6CQsAaNkfTH_BXlo7FT3dj_GvK

Seesaw’s YouTube Channel with many video tutorials is available here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYUfnb7MIsGald-Xtig9Umw

Link to short screencasts guiding users through Seesaw, available here: www.padlet.com/michellebrady/seesaw

How to use Seesaw: teacher and pupils’ views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9FUJD3R2xI

Useful Wakelet link to Seesaw resources: https://wakelet.com/wake/9d8b8c8f-8bf5-4630-b2f4-d921856bdc9f

End of year platform tips

https://help.seesaw.me/hc/en-us/articles/115000452783-End-of-year-guide (For admins)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGwDacfya2Y (Seesaw for Schools - teacher actions)

There is a premium version of Seesaw, but many schools use the free version and find that this is adequate for their needs.

Social Media

@Seesaw	Seesaw on YouTube	Seesaw on Facebook