Collaborating at a distance

A number of teachers are understandably anxious about transitioning from a remote learning environment back into the classroom. There are a plethora of uncertainties surrounding what schooling may look like for the next month, the remainder of the school year, and also how schooling may be changed indefinitely. However, one thing that is certain is that our students have been, by in large, missing out on regular authentic communication and collaboration with their teachers and their peers whilst participating in remote learning for an extended amount of time. At Tomorrow’s Teacher, we believe that collaboration helps students explore content at a deeper level and allows for meaningful connections to be built between everyone within the classroom. That is why we will continue to build digital collaboration activities into our classrooms. Here are some ways that we will collaborate with students safely using these wonderful tech tools:

The Chain Mail Question

Do you remember how annoying it was in the early 2000s to open your e-mails and find one of those chain e-mails that stipulated if we don’t pass the e-mail on to at least five friends something bad would happen to us in the future? (perhaps all that bad luck contributed to the events of 2020!). Let’s bring it back! It’s time to re-invent the chain mail for the classroom. How?
1. Assign each student a topic or a question.
2. Ask each student to prepare an e-mail that either explains the topic they were assigned or responds to the assigned question.
3. At the bottom of the email, ask students to write the phrase:
“You have (insert a suitable time) minutes to respond to this email with additional information or a question you have. You must then forward this e-mail to four students in the class. You cannot send the e-mail to a student who has already been a recipient of the e-mail chain. If you are the last student in the class to receive the e-mail, please forward it to your teacher after making your contribution.”
The result is that students inboxes are flooded with e-mails from their peers, but unknowingly they begin actively reading the question or topic provided and contributing to their learning and the learning of their peers. If you have a large class, we suggest setting up e-mail groupings rather than using the entire class.

Padlet

One of our favourite digital tools for collaboration is Padlet. Padlet is essentially an interactive canvas/pinboard where students can post and share ideas (this can be literally in almost any form the student desires, text, images, links, videos, etc.) that are shared instantly with everyone else in the class. Students can also comment, vote, grade, or like other posts. It is free for a basic account (this is all we use) and students do not need to have an account to contribute.

Padlet is super easy to use and it already has built-in templates that include blank walls, maps, timelines, and streams. To get started, sign up for a free account (if you don’t already have one) and select ‘make a Padlet’. Select your desired Padlet and then modify the settings to allow/disallow comments, likes etc. That’s it. All you need to do now is send your students the link or you can provide a QR code.

Handy tip: We love using Padlet when we run professional development sessions with other teachers as a brain storming or peer sharing tool! We recommend using these within your teaching teams or meetings to collaborate with other staff!

Flipgrid

Flipgrid is a free digital tool that collates students video responses to posed questions. It is a great tool for facilitating discussion and sharing ideas. You can assign multiple questions (topics) and student’s then record a video in response. Students can view other students responses and submit additional responses.

Flipgrid is easy to get started, sign up for a free account (if you don’t already have one), and select ‘add new grid’. Name the grid and set how you would like students to access, you can then "‘add a new topic’ and set what you would like the students to do. Then, send the link to students and you’re done!

We use recommend using Flipgrid for class discussions, exit tickets, student reviews, brainstorming, and debates! Hint: if privacy is a concern, students can add videos from the web, images/files, or voice.

Other digital tools worth a mention:

1. Google Suite for Education or Office 365 Microsoft provides unlimited possibilities for collaboration in Google Docs/Microsoft Word, Google Sheets/ Microsoft Excel, /Google Meets/ Microsoft Teams, etc. OneNote even has a built in collaboration space that you can set up for groups of students. Most school’s will have access to either the Microsoft or Google Suite, so utilise what your school is already paying for.

2. Peergrade this is a tool where students submit responses to set tasks and questions (assignments) and then give feedback on other student’s work. Students are allocated peers and provided with a set feedback criteria or rubric to assess their work. The free account has all the functionality you need but students do need an account (and unless you already use Google Classroom you will have to set up a class through Peergrade (students join using a code)). See a video explanation here.

What collaboration tools will you use when face-to-face teaching returns? Comment below and share your strategies with our Tomorrow’s Teacher community.