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A digital whiteboard - for collaborative brainstorming, diagramming, infographics - what else can you think of? What would this add that you could not do with a Google doc?

The expert interviews are something I need to do more of. Love the idea of a virtual Career day. Would be a good way to keep alums connected.

I agree that app integrations is the best feature. We are using Canvas for our classes at my institution but we are also using Teams for university wide communication. Both are new but the experience so far has been positive. I may follow up on the advise to start a small project on Teams to learn more about its best features in building a collaborative classroom. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for posting this, Jordan, and reminding me that here at UofL we've got MS Teams as an additional resource! I've just check to see if there's the possibility of integration with Blackboard and it appears there is. (I'm glad to have the option for synchronous class meetings, since I've always found Blackboard Collaborate to be a little baroque in its layout....)

Thanks for the tip @greghutcheson ! It hadn't occurred to me to look for Teams/Blackboard compatibility. I'm not sure yet if I prefer Teams over Blackboard Collaborate, but if one runs more smoothly than the other, that would be my pick!

Provides guidelines for creating effective online collaborative tasks.

A good article in favor of learning multiple languages!  The first part mentions a number of tech apps for assisting in global learning collaborations.

"The Foreign Language Teaching Forum is an integrated service for FL teachers, dedicated to encouraging communication, sharing, and collaboration at all levels. Our broad discussion topic is foreign language teaching methods for any level of instruction in all languages."

Discussion on how technology is being used and why we're still struggling to give more control of learning to students. A good read!

"A 2014 paper by researchers at Michigan State University, in East Lansing, provides a tangible example: Teachers and students in the small-scale study were found to be making extensive use of the online word-processing tool Google Docs. The application's power to support collaborative writing and in-depth feedback, however, was not being realized. Teachers were not encouraging group-writing assignments and their feedback focused overwhelmingly on issues such as spelling and grammar, rather than content and organization." This really gets to the heart of the idea of combining education and technology: the technology has to serve the goal and it doesn't sound like the teachers' goals were the same as the stated goals of the assignment. So obviously Google Docs is a fantastic tool, but it has to be utilized appropriately for it to be effective.

I must say I have sat through many workshops in my tenure at my university that included the modification of some practices and even included, to my frustration, the basic structure of a lesson from stating outcomes to assessment. The problem with our particular situation is that usually it is directed to a "one-size-fits-all" use of a given technology that may not apply to many disciplines. I have found them somewhat useful for upper-level courses at times, but the language classes often pose the need for a kind of collaboration and interpersonal technology that isn't presented. Hence my desire to take this course. Another difficulty is the overwhelming number of technological applications presented--I can't tell you how many--and the students really become overwhelmed, since they often have to learn new technologies in almost many courses. Some work and some don't, and since they are the guinea pigs and there are no guarantees that everything will work as planned, and given the astounding changes in tech, the newness never seems to end, neither for the student nor the teacher. So focusing on just 1 or 2 to begin with seems like the only way to deal with it. Finally, I think that, at least in our university, the huge courses found often in the sciences reflect the slowness to adopt meaningful change. Many in these disciplines have simply used the tech to deliver more lectures on topics students must memorize, perhaps adding clickers for comprehension checks. There seems to be a great disconnect between what happens in the classroom and the amazing advances in tech they have made for their hands-on work--labs, collaborative work, etc.

The article describes why and how to use Padlet. It emphasized its intuitive design and described it as digital wall that participants in the classroom can use to express their ideas, comments, suggestions etc.

Interesting article. I will have to try it out. See it used, never used it myself.

This is a great idea for using with Poll Everywhere. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks! I used GS so much this past year, and yet did not use it deliberately to encourage collaboration and community-building. This gives me great ideas.

I agree that what we need now more than ever is collaborative, community building exercises. Last semester when we went online, at least we knew our students and they knew us. In the fall, if we go online, there will be students that we haven't met and built a rapport with in person. It will be more important than ever to foster an interactive environment and focus on meaning and communication.

The article highlights the effectiveness of collaborative and cooperative language learning activities such as school exchanges and pairing students with counterparts abroad. It also bring up the issue of difficult assessment gets in the way and brings to the front solo performances and summative examinations.

I certainly agree with this as being an effective way to language learning. We in the military community use the group/pair work approach for many reasons. Pair work keeps them interested and motivated to learn. It also makes better use of class time. I also think that when the students are ready for the OPI, they generally do better than if they were in a traditional classroom. As for assessment, yes it is more difficult, but it is up to us as instructors to find ways to measure the students' performance based on the interaction. Once the student is in country, it will be up to him/her to communicate with others. That will be the true test.

This site has information about creating and assessing telecollaborative projects - and assessing the "Telecollaboratively Effective Person" (TEP). This is a link to the Evaluation section which has many resources, rubric, descriptors, and examples of how to assess a telecollaborative activity.