The Evolution of Seesaw From Digital Portfolio to a Learning Experience

Seesaw stands out as a transformative force in EdTech, reshaping elementary education through innovation and technology designed specifically for elementary learners. Originating as a digital portfolio, Seesaw has evolved into a learning experience platform, expanding its offerings to encompass various tools, features, and curricula designed to empower teachers and students, elevate instructional practices, and facilitate effective communication with families.

As we explore Seesaw's journey, we'll uncover how it has evolved from a digital portfolio tool to a multifaceted learning platform primed for student autonomy and growth. Seesaw continues to redefine elementary education, providing educators with the tools they need to create dynamic learning experiences that meet the needs of every student while creating opportunities for joyful learning.

Q: What is Seesaw?

A: Trusted and loved by 25 million educators, students, and families worldwide, Seesaw is the only elementary learning experience platform offering a suite of award-winning tools, resources, and curriculum for teachers to deliver joyful, inclusive instruction. Through interactive lessons, digital portfolios, and two-way communication features, Seesaw keeps everyone in the learning loop by providing continuous visibility into the student's learning experience to support and celebrate their learning.

Q: How has Seesaw evolved?

A: Seesaw began as a digital portfolio platform, allowing students to showcase their work and progress to teachers and parents. However, it has since responded to educator, student, and family feedback and the changing needs of the educational landscape to evolve into a comprehensive educational platform, including Seesaw's formative assessments, which quickly gauge student understanding through auto-grading. Educators can combine the time savings of auto-grading and the power of multimodal tools to gain deeper insights into student learning to target support and guide instruction. We have and continue to be committed to investing resources into building enhancements that unlock new instructional possibilities. We value our users' feedback and use that to help us decide what to build to make Seesaw as valuable as possible to impact teachers, families, and students positively.

Q: What instructional tools and curriculum does Seesaw offer?

A: Seesaw understands the unique needs of elementary educators and has created tools and resources to help save teachers time. Teachers can use Seesaw flexibly to meet their classroom needs, gather important data for reports and administrators, and connect with families - all in one platform! The Seesaw Library contains thousands of standards and curriculum-aligned, ready-to-teach PreK-6 lessons with everything educators need to confidently teach, including lesson plans, assessments, standard & curriculum alignments, scope and sequences, and implementation guides. With comprehensive subject coverage, the Seesaw Library offers lessons spanning traditional content areas, lessons in Spanish, computer science, Language Development, character building, and more. Our subject area-specific curriculum alignments span from state/national standards to over 30 curricula across multiple subject areas.

Q: How can Seesaw be leveraged to support student autonomy and choice?

A: Seesaw's platform is centered on student voice and choice, so we have a lot of built-in features that many other programs do not offer. Seesaw provides students with various multimodal tools, including drawing, voice recording, video creation, and more, allowing them to express themselves creatively and engage with their learning in diverse ways. They also can choose how they express their learning, leading to high engagement and joyful learning. With Seesaw's multimodal tools, learners have a safe space to learn, practice, and build confidence while their strengths and experiences are honored. Tools like "draw with audio recordings" provide teachers with deep insights not possible through paper/pencil and other programs.

Q: How does Seesaw facilitate inclusive communication among stakeholders in the learning process?

A: Seesaw provides inclusive communication tools that keep peers, families, and administrators in the loop. Features such as digital portfolios, highlights folders, messages, and announcements ensure that all stakeholders are informed and involved in students' educational journeys. It allows teachers to engage families in the learning process through inclusive two-way communication to provide insight into their student's work and a window into the classroom. Messages can be translated into over 150+ languages! Share photos, progress, videos, links, and files in private messages or through school-wide announcements. It is perfect for newsletters, weekly recaps, and reminders.

Q: How can Seesaw be used to support all students?

A: With Seesaw, differentiation is made easy for teachers to support students with physical, learning, cognitive, or other disabilities or learning challenges. Teachers can offer multiple modes of instruction for any lesson or communication. These can be displayed through voice labels for pre-readers or visually impaired learners and text labels for deaf and hard-of-hearing students and families. Flexible student groups, multimodal tools, and digital portfolios allow opportunities to support Multilingual Learners and IEP/504 accommodations. Each lesson features audio supports for activity instructions in both English and Spanish and easily accessible closed captioning. Seesaw also provides translation. Seesaw's Learning Experience Platform offers multiple ways for educators to apply the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines to their instruction. Assessments also support numerous IEP & 504 accommodations. 

Q: What is Seesaw releasing for back-to-school 2024?

A: Expand the power of the learning loop even further with Seesaw Instruction and Insights - a new tier of Seesaw available in August 2024. This includes:

• Actionable insights at the teacher, school, and district level. New dashboards provide deeper visibility into engagement on Seesaw and performance on standards.

• Collections and curriculum organization tools in the School and District Library make it easy to provide high-quality content to address your district initiatives inside Seesaw! Curate instructional sequences using your content, or have us align Seesaw lessons to YOUR district scope & sequence.

• New premium instruction & assessment tools to deepen instructional impact for all learners (Reading Fluency Assessment, Read-with-Me, Flexcards, etc.), a Computer Science package included, and exclusive access to Seesaw Early Literacy & Seesaw ELD (English Language Development).

• Customizable administrative controls, settings, and new integration options to simplify management and implementation.

Q: How can educators experience Seesaw for themselves?

A: Educators can begin using Seesaw today at app.seesaw.me. This allows you to explore the platform's features and discover how it can enhance teaching, learning, and communication in their educational communities.

Seesaw has revolutionized elementary education, evolving from a digital portfolio platform to a comprehensive learning experience platform that empowers students, engages families, and supports educators in delivering high-quality instruction. With its innovative features, premium tools, and inclusive communication options, Seesaw transforms how we can teach and learn in the digital age.