Online whiteboard tools

A few months ago, I offered a handful of options for students reporting out in the classroom, and it is time to add a few more to the list.  I've spent some time trying out various online whiteboard tools this week, and since Richard Byrne at FreeTech4Teachers offers a great summary of several of these tools in this blog post, my focus here will be on some potential uses for online whiteboard tools.

Quick, informal activities

• Underline or highlight key text in a short excerpt from an article or other reading
• Draw a diagram (e.g., structural formula in chemistry, consumer surplus in economics)
• Annotate an image

Keep in mind that an image can be of just about anything - a photograph, political cartoon, map, screenshot of text from a webpage or an article, foundation for a concept/mind map, etc.  This is where an online whiteboard tool may be preferred to the physical whiteboard surfaces available in the classrooms; the physical whiteboard is a blank slate but an online whiteboard tool offers more options for using a "pen" to markup or add to an existing object.

Online whiteboard tools that may be best suited for quick, informal activities include: Stoodle, Web Whiteboard, and PixiClip.  Why?  No need to sign up for an account to use Stoodle and Web Whiteboard even for those interested in collaboration - just send your class/teammates the URL.  PixiClip offers some different features, but the online whiteboard tools can be used without signing up for an account.  You may want to consider creating an account if interested in sharing online; however, if the goal is to share in the active learning classrooms, it may be easiest to use the teacher station controls to send a group's screen to the rest of the monitors in the room for discussion.

The online whiteboard tool available from Stoodle.

Activities that are more formal and/or might need additional features

• Annotating or commenting on anything more than a brief excerpt from a script, article, case study, etc. (e.g., each team member is assigned a section from an article but the team has to collaborate to identify strengths, weaknesses, and contributions to the discipline)
• Building a comprehensive concept/mind map
• Creating visual maps of a timeline of events or a process

A tool like RealtimeBoard might be a better choice for an activity that is more formal either in its level of collaboration or the tasks it involves.  Premium features are available for free with an educational account which applies to both instructors and students (note that the verification process takes up to 24 hours).  In addition to features that you might expect from an online whiteboard tool, RealtimeBoard makes collaboration from a distance easier with a live chat feature and the ability to start a conversation within the whiteboard through the "Comments" tool.  The ability to zoom in and out and move freely around the whiteboard space seems like a good fit for building and organizing a visual map of any kind; the whiteboard doesn't appear to be restricted in size or by where the first stuff is added (you can still move up and/or left from where you start on the board).  You can check out more of RealtimeBoard's features in one or more of these video tutorials.

RealtimeBoard's interface and available tools.

Options for randomly selecting students or groups

Reporting out and sharing with the class often act as a transition from students working in small groups to bringing the whole class back together.  Making sure that all students are contributing to the larger group/class effort is important; for a class to be a learning community, ideas and information must be shared by all members (Barkley, 2010, p.122).

What are some ways to include everyone?  Having a go-to strategy for determining who reports out can be handy, and fairness is key.  Students do not want to feel like they are being singled out; instead, it needs to be clear that everyone has an equal chance of being called on.  Some instructors write students' names on index cards, shuffling through to select the next contributor and making note of how many times each student has contributed to the class discussion.  Similarly, student names can be placed on strips of paper and randomly pulled from a bag, box, or whatever is convenient for the classroom.  Here are a few tech-based options that may be worth considering too:

• Random Name Picker! from ClassTools.net

If your class has 50 or fewer students, this web-based tool might be worth checking out.  I love its colorful, attention-grabbing design, and the fact that it is easy to use doesn't hurt either!  No login needed; it is easy to copy-and-paste student names from a text or Excel file and then save to access in the future with a unique URL.  

• Random Name Selector from Primary Technology

The Random Name Selector is also web-based and easy to use.  Copy students' names from an existing document or spreadsheet and paste into the Change Names area, click Go! and let the tool do the work.  The Save and Share button provides a unique URL so that the list of names can be accessed each time you use it in the classroom.  One advantage over the Random Name Picker is its ability to accommodate more than 50 names.  (I used it successfully with 90 names which accommodates most class sizes on our campus.)

• The Hat from Harmony Hollow Software

I heard about The Hat from J. Ricky Cox during his session on engaging large classes at the Teaching Professor Technology Conference.  It is a free download designed for Windows machines, and one of the potential advantages this tool offers is its ability to select more than one name at a time - useful for randomly assigning partners or groups.  See the short demo video from Harmony Hollow for more.

Entering group numbers instead of individual student names is also an option for each of these tools.  In the middle of a class period, I have a tendency to want to call on the groups who either finish first or are most likely to complete high quality work, but it is important to share the wealth and hear from each group (over time).  Having a way to randomly call on groups keeps them on their toes and helps guard against groups thinking that they can "get out" of sharing simply by not completing the task in the allotted time or doing poor quality work.

Reference

Barkley, E. F. (2010). Student engagement techniques: A handbook for college faculty. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Options for students reporting out in class

There wasn't a class period that went by without the students working together in their small groups.  Having at least a couple of options for having the students/groups report out to the class has been indispensable.  Here is a rundown of what we used for reporting out in the classroom this semester:

Whiteboards located at each pod.  

The whiteboards are extremely helpful for brainstorming, making lists, etc. that we will refer to later in the class period.  I tend to ask the groups to write on the whiteboards when our goal is to compile the most complete list possible and/or when it is helpful for us to compare and contrast what the different groups have offered - these are great excuses for the students to roam around the room too.  As the instructor, I love being able to glance around the room and have a visual confirmation that we are ready to move on.

Google Forms 

A glimpse of a group assignment in a Google Form.

Quick and easy to set up.  I ended up using Google Forms later in the semester to collect some group work assignments completed during the class period.  Most of the time, these are a few questions that build on an individual assignment; the groups answer the questions together, and then we debrief as a whole class - the debriefing session is easy to do because the groups' Google Forms submissions are collected in a spreadsheet (Google Sheets) that I can look over quickly at the teacher station. 

Padlet

A blank canvas with a lot of potential!  We used Padlet a handful of times this semester to collect responses to a variety of prompts (one such example is discussed in this post).  I love how easy it is to set up a blank wall; with the default privacy settings, I can simply provide students with the URL/link, and students can contribute by simply double-clicking on the wall to add a post.  Students love seeing the contributions from their peers popping up in real time.  Plus, it is so easy to share links, documents, embed videos, add images, etc.   

Sets include either 40 or 63 unique Plicker cards.

Plickers 

We tried this out for this first time this week, and there is something magical about Plickers.  For anyone looking for a simple, free way to collect student responses to multiple choice and true/false questions, Plickers is worth a try.  The instructor is the only one who needs a smartphone or tablet with the Plickers app, making it a nice alternative to PollEverywhere and Socrative for classrooms that don't require each student to have a mobile device.  I decided to start out simple and printed out eight Plicker cards - one for each group; I was amazed at how easily the app scanned each QR code but quickly learned that the students wanted confirmation that I wasn't taking pictures as I used my iPad to scan the Plicker cards around the room.  Next time, I will be sure to explain what is happening on the iPad (or iPhone or Android device) before I start scanning the room.  Once we cleared that hurdle, the students were really into it.  I look forward to trying this in a larger class setting.     

Good ol' fashioned paper!  

I keep a stack of sticky notes in my folder to use for quick, short responses to impromptu questions.  Even in a classroom filled with technology, sometimes a small piece of paper can be a helpful tool.  At least once a week I find myself asking the students/groups questions that I didn't anticipate in advance, so scribbling a quick response on a sticky note helps us to move the class period forward in the most helpful way.

There are definitely other tools out there!  See the recent blog post from Richard Byrne on FreeTech4Teachers.com for his use of and perspective on Google Forms, Padlet, and Plickers as well as PollEverywhere and Socrative.

Getting started with Padlet

My collection of Padlet walls (or pages) is growing by the day.  My previous post highlights a few reasons why, but for a few ideas on how others are using Padlet in the classroom, check out this post on the Padlet blog, this short article from Education World, or this example from TeachingHistory.org, just to name a few.

Since I have been broadcasting my newfound love for Padlet, it is only fair that I offer a brief overview of getting started.  And it is brief because it really is that easy!

• The first step is to visit Padlet.com.



The Padlet homepage.

• The link to "Features" at the top of the page provides an overview of what can be done, all on a Padlet wall!
  
• When you are ready to try it out, either click on the orange "Create something" button in the middle of the page or the green "Sign up" button located in the upper-right corner.
• When your Padlet wall is ready, the toolbar area on the right will guide you to either post something or modify the wall:

The Padlet toolbar will prompt you to post or modify wall settings when wall is created.

• You can always modify later – layout, background, privacy, URL, etc. – by clicking on the gear/cog icon that appears in the toolbar hanging out on the right-hand side of the page. 

In my experience, it really is that easy! Of course, these are just the basics, so if you are interested in more detail, I recommend this video from Richard Byrne at FreeTech4Teachers.

Using Padlet to initiate in-class (and out-of-class) discussions

I knew they had questions.

There had only been four class meetings and less than two weeks for us to get comfortable with the class structure and one another.  Plus, our first stretch of online activities for our hybrid class was quickly approaching.  Despite all of this, the discussion area on D2L reserved for general Q&A remained quiet.  Zero posts.

Addressing questions, concerns, and requests was likely to alleviate some of the uncertainty that can accompany the initial “online days” in a hybrid class, especially on a campus like ours in which hybrid (blended) courses still are not all that common.  On a whim, I set up a Padlet page for questions – any kind of questions, no names attached – and set aside three minutes near the beginning of class for the students to chat and post questions.  Within those three minutes, we had a whole collection of things to address, with each group posting at least one question and some posting four or five.  I spent the next few minutes directly addressing a handful of the posted questions, focusing on the ones that were likely to benefit most from the students’ input (e.g., a question about assignment due dates) or repeating an important message (e.g., yes, asking questions and contacting me via email during our online stretch are both part of the deal).

A glimpse (screen shot) of just part of our questions page on the Padlet site.

Three things I love most about Padlet include: 

•    The ease of setting up a page with just a moment’s notice.
•      The fact that no login is required for students to post and/or view – I just have to provide them with the URL.  Double-clicking on the background is all it takes to add a post once you are on the page.
•       Its collaborative nature, especially when students can see the other posts appearing as they make their own contribution.

Maybe it is the third item that really wins me over - there is something reassuring about putting yourself out on a limb when you can see others doing the same!  Padlet is like a wiki-meets-online-bulletin-board that is just plain easy to use.  It seems much more organic than the discussion area available in the LMS (which has its own usefulness), and I appreciate that the conversation can continue outside of class too.  Several questions were added to the board after class was over, and I was able to go back and post responses to the questions we didn't have time to elaborate on while in the classroom.  Once this was accomplished, I simply re-posted the URL as part of an announcement alerting the students to the updates.

I have no doubt that we will be using Padlet to jump start in-class conversation again in the near future!  In the meantime, I will be looking around for ideas of how others are using Padlet for teaching and learning.