TECHNOLOGY TOOLS IN A COLLABORATIVE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT

• Discussion Tools: Get Them Talking

SurveyMonkey is a good way to ask a variety of questions, find out what students are
thinking, use it for a quick formative assessment, and many other possibilities.

TodaysMeet is a backchannel tool that can be used in or out of class, as a way for
students to contribute to a discussion or ask questions. It can also be used to provide “office
hours” online, for students to ask questions beyond the school day. There are many possible
uses for this tool, and setting it up is easy.

GoSoapBox is a response tool that can be used to ask a variety of questions without
students having to create accounts. Students simply need an “event code” provided by the
teacher to access the activities available. GoSoapBox can be used for polls, discussion questions,
quizzes and more, and provides a fast way to assess students or to simply learn more about
them and their thoughts.

Recap is a video response tool, where students can respond to a prompt and all
responses are compiled into a “daily reel” for teachers to view and provide feedback. Students
can respond from anywhere and feel comfortable in sharing their thoughts using this tool.

• Communication Through Collaboration

Blogging: Through blogging, teachers can provide support for students and help them to
gain confidence in writing and speaking. We have used Kidblog to complete many writing tasks
and creative writing assignments.

Wikispaces: A Wiki has worked really well in our classes for having students collaborate
on a topic, create a discussion page, and set it up to inform on a topic, to list just a few
examples. We created a wiki on Spanish art and also created our own travel agency.

Padlet: Padlet is a “virtual wall” which promotes collaboration, communication,

creativity and more because of its versatility. Students can write a response to a discussion
question, add resources for a collaborative class project, work in small groups, use it for
brainstorming or connect with other students and classrooms throughout the world.

• Using digital tools in this way is great because the discussions don’t have to end when class
does. These tools provide ways to get students talking and share their ideas, so that classroom
collaboration can even be taken home.