This blog post shares a software update from Swivl; Swivl Teams is now called “Reflectivity.” It details the app’s new features, including Reflectivity boards, and focuses on how educators can learn and grow through deeper and more purposeful reflection.
Over a decade, Swivl has supported thousands of school initiatives, impacting 100,000+ teachers.
Through it all, we’ve seen two challenges that deter individual and organisational growth.
The first challenge is that educators are often asked to absorb too many ideas from top-down initiatives. In response, they deflect these new ideas or block them out. It’s a rational decision to conserve energy for their daily work.
The second challenge is that bold exploration of new ideas often remains siloed rather than shared across organisations. Magic happens when educators can identify and work on topics they care about. Focus and ownership energise teachers to face complex problems. The effect is even greater when schools help colleagues learn from each other’s work.
But teachers, coaches, and administrators know this is a resource-intensive logistical nightmare.
Swivl recently renamed its “Teams by Swivl” software to “Reflectivity.” This is the place where educators gain the energy needed to reflect and grow.
Along with a new name, Reflectivity brings an exciting expansion to the existing hardware and software to address new problems that educators face.
Reflectivity brings focus and clarity to educators’ work. Reflectivity includes the existing software’s deep written and video-based reflection features. However, there’s a simple, energising new way for educators to bring meta-cognition to their work. This process starts with educators identifying the Topic they’re working on and describing their State.
Why Topic and State?
Reflection is powerful and necessary for professional growth. Video reflection, especially paired with coaching, could be the most effective form. But this deeper form of reflection is too rare to lead to improvement.
Starting with reflection in its simplest form addresses this problem.
With a few clicks, teachers gain clarity by identifying where they want to put their energy. When priorities or feelings change, updating ‘Topics and States’ takes a minute or less. With more awareness brought to the daily work, reflecting more deeply becomes less daunting.
Educators share their topics with their organisation, creating the energising effect of Reflectivity Boards. This is the most extensive and impactful experience we are introducing.
Reflectivity Boards energise and inspire your organisation.
Reflectivity Boards give educators energy through a real-time, dynamic display of colleagues' work.
There are two Reflectivity Boards, each with its own purpose:
- New: Topics colleagues have recently added, i.e., started working on
- Popular: Topics that are worked on by most people in the organisation
Reflectivity Boards give educators a view into how topics develop in their organisation. It is a visual rendering of where colleagues are putting their energy and improving their practice.
By viewing the Boards frequently, educators can build excitement about the topics they may want to work on and can discover new topics to explore on their own or with colleagues. Soon, the Reflectivity Boards will help educators connect with like-minded colleagues to collaborate and explore deeper thinking on a topic.
Tools for deeper, more purposeful reflection
After educators have added topics and begun working on them, they can continue to reflect in deeper ways.
- Refining Topics: Maybe it’s time to leave a topic behind and focus on a new one more relevant to an educator’s circumstances. A topic can quickly be moved to the Backlog, where it is saved and can be reactivated later with just a click.
- Written Reflection: After a lesson, conversation, or other learning experience, educators can reflect in writing to capture their thinking about a topic.
- Video Evidence: As part of a coaching program or to deepen one’s own reflections, educators can record or upload video evidence using our existing hardware and software tools.
We see many possibilities for expanding how educators and administrators interact with these reflections. Imagine giving educators a view into the deeper work happening on a given topic across their organisation. What if administrators and coaches could have a real-time understanding of the topics their teachers needed the most support on or were most excited to work on? This, and more, is what we’re excited to explore.
Experience Reflectivity in your organisation
Adopting the name Reflectivity signals a renewed commitment to Swivl’s identity as a reflective tools company focused on solving education’s most pressing problems.
We’re excited to see how educators use Reflectivity to gain increased focus, motivation, and collaboration in their work by exchanging ideas and sharing their energy. And they can do it all while continuing to engage in deep video and written reflection when the time is right.
More information on Swivl can be found here.
*This blog is extracted from Swivl.
About Swivl
Swivl is a video solution designed exclusively for educators. The Swivl auto-tracking Robot makes it easy to record lessons. The accompanying app, Reflectivity, is a powerful tool for self-reflection, coaching and collaboration.
Whether you want to enhance your hybrid classroom, master teacher self-evaluation, or start your peer and mentor coaching journey, Swivl will help you find your purpose and focus on the joy of teaching.
AP Tech is the authorised Australian distributor of Swivl products. Every solution is backed by local warranty and support.
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