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Digital Communication Tools for the Classroom AbstractProject 1 reports on various types of asynchronous and synchronous digital communication applications that can be utilized in the classroom. This report is designed to identify the advantages and challenges of each reported tool.Authors:Kenneth Christensen, Jacqueline Harris, Jena Hartley, Courtney Isgett, and Sukhjeavan KaurIT 648 Spring 2019 April 14, 2019 IntroductionGroup Four elected to explore several communication tools that addressed various aspects of the educational experience. The goal was to expand the group’s understanding of some familiar tools and gain insight into others that were well known. Our group members and their chosen tools are Kenny Christensen (Seesaw), Jacqueline Harris (GroupMe), Jena Hartley (Socrative), Courtney Isgett (Quizlet), and Sukhjeavan Kaur (StudyBlue).Seesaw is an online asynchronous digital portfolio and communication tool that promotes student engagement and communication between schools and parents via either web browser or mobile app. A course 648 Group 4 was created, and the group used the option of Email/Google sign-up to join. The code generated for joining the 648 Group 4 course was only active for 7 days, so the group needed to act quickly to get signed in. The first activity was a “Group Intro,” which required each member to post a picture with a caption that included a brief biography. This would allow us to feel more connected, as we could see each member of the group. Throughout the course of Project One, two additional activities were added to the Seesaw class: a “Project One Update” activity that asked each member to provide a short video of themselves sharing their progress on their tool and addressing any concerns they were having, and a linked Google Form poll to attempt to coordinate a synchronous meeting to discuss drafting the project.GroupMe is a message communication tool that is a great way to stay in touch with family, friends, colleagues, instructors, and more. GroupMe was used as synchronous communication between peers to discuss assignments without delays. We were able to create a poll, upload screenshots, and add outside links. The group discussion became essential for using examples in our projects, including a poll that vote on the importance of this communication tool. GroupMe is a good form of communicate when asking questions and receiving responses. It was easier to use because of the various devices each peer has, we were able to see information instantly. Group members first activity was to read an article discussing the importance of GroupMe and share their thoughts about it. The second activity was to vote on the poll if GroupMe was a useful app for secondary education. The third activity was an optional interaction, to upload an additional article related to GroupMe. Teachers can use GroupMe to inform students and parents outside of school hours about assignments and upcoming activities. School administrators can also use it to inform students and parents about emergencies. Socrative is a digital communication tool that provides a platform for online assessment either asynchronously or synchronously. This flexibility allows both the teacher and student various interactive ways for assessment options. Group members were asked to complete an eleven question quiz on root words that is normally administered to second grade students. All members participated in the online assessment. This activity sparked ideas for many in-class applications and its usefulness in the classroom. Socrative provides students and teachers an alternative route to testing outside the traditional paper and pencil method; thereby, streamlining the grading process for teachers. Socrative dispenses instant valuable data collection options for the teacher that encourages student ownership of the learning process. Quizlet is a synchronous communication tool that can be used to enhance study outcomes for students. Quizlet is also a tool for teachers to upload information, track student activity, and progress while they are using it for study purposes. Parents can use this tool to stay informed of their child's study habits and activity. This form of pliability offers many different ways for students to study using the flashcards, quizzes, Kahoot! Live feature and more. The group members were to sign into Quizlet as a student and join the IT 648 class. Once members joined the class, they were able to access study material through the various activities available through Quizlet. Group members were asked to study the flashcards and complete the other activities related to the information uploaded by the moderator. StudyBlue is a synchronous communication tool that is accessible anywhere there is an internet connections. It allows students to create their own study materials in the form of flashcards and study them efficiently and effectively. These virtual flashcards replaces the paper index cards and students do not have to worry about forgetting them at home or school, because they can be accessed on any internet connected device. Teachers are able to view the performance of their students by viewing the Class Stats. The group members were sent a link to study flashcards. There were different ways to view the study material like a review sheet, a quiz, or a set of flip-though flash cards. This allowed the group members to choose a study style that was best for them.Findings for Seesaw Function Seesaw is an online asynchronous digital portfolio and communication tool that promotes student engagement and communication between schools and parents via either web browser or mobile app. Teachers create activities or browse a collection of user-generated assignments and share it to the class. These activities can include audio or video instructions and examples, as well as templates for students to model. Students then respond using either classroom computers or their own individual electronics. Multimedia options for responding include photos, videos, drawings, notes, file uploads, and links. Seesaw also allows teachers to invite family members to view a student’s work, granting a parent or family member access to the student’s journal and insight into the daily activities at school. Finally, Seesaw also features an inbox for sending announcements out to either students or families, and an option to create a class blog.1257175To use the tool, teachers would first need to create an account either online through or by downloading the app for their mobile device. Student sign-in is extremely easy in a face-to-face K-12 classroom. Teachers can simply project a generated QR code for students to scan, or choose to register through course code, student email, or Google account.Teachers can choose to either create their own activities or browse Seesaw’s library of shared activities, which are searchable by Grade or Subject, as well as key in on trending searches, “popular this week” activities, featured authors, or recently added activities.4276725114300To create an activity, teachers will title the activity, type up instructions and/or provide voice or multimedia instructions. This can include photos, video, drawings, notes or options to attach files or web links. Seesaw’s activity creation also allows for the addition of a template students can use to post their responses. Finally, there are options for teachers to add notes which are viewable only by teachers. In the paid version of the tool, Seesaw Plus, there are tags for skills, grade levels and subjects to further classify activities and make searching easier.1457200Once an activity has been created, teachers will save the activity and, when ready, click the green “Share” button at the top of the activity to send it to students. In “My Library” teachers can also organize their activities into collections by clicking on the heart button next to the “Share” button on each activity.The app features quick links to Journal, Activities, Inbox, Skills (paid version only), and Blog at the bottom. The web-based version of Seesaw is very similar, though layout of the quick links is present on the right side of the page, rather than at the bottom. Advantages Compliant with FERPA, COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).Accessible in both a web-based format (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge) or mobile app (iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire HD)Seesaw permits teachers to collect work digitally, cutting down on paper generated and work to carry home. Seesaw provides unlimited storage space beginning with the free version, so there is no limit to the number of posts anyone in the class can upload. Teachers are able to review and approve all student posts before anyone else can see them. Each post has options at the bottom to like or comment on the post, and teachers have options to delete, edit, or share items. Extensive library of teacher-tested activities hosted in Seesaw, searchable by grade and subject. The ability to share student work with family members. By allowing family access through the Seesaw Family app, teachers invite the family into the educational experience and can easily showcase student progress and give parents better insight into what a student did at school, avoiding the dreaded “nothing” answer (Constine, 2016).Compatibility with numerous apps or websites including Dropbox, Kahoot!, iMovie, Prezi, Quizlet, YouTube, and almost any app that supports exporting as a photo, video, PDF, or link.Challenges One issue is Google compatibility with the Kindle Fire. Other login methods are supported on the Amazon devices, but Google sign-in does not function on the Fire. One possible solution for classrooms using Kindle is to use the QR code or class code option for sign-in. From a teacher standpoint, initial set-up of multiple classes can be time-consuming if students are not responsible for signing in using an email or Google account. For older students (4th grade and up), using email sign-in can eliminate the need to create a class roster for each course. Issues with viewing journals can arise when the “Shared Device Sign in” option is set because every student shares the same sign-in. Since there is no clear indication of which specific student is logged in, the program doesn’t know which journal to show. According to the Seesaw Help Center, this can be corrected by either switching sign-in options to “1:1 Device Sign In” or enabling the “Students can see each other’s work” option in Settings.Free version is limited to 2 teachers per class and 10 active classes per teacher. Seesaw Plus ($120/year per teacher) permits 5 teachers and 25 classes, allows teachers 500 custom activities, and the ability to post privately on student work.Seesaw for Schools gives access to 20 teachers per class and 100 active classes per teacher, while providing unlimited custom activities, data on tech usage and family involvement, and the option to allow journals to follow students from grade to grade.Classroom Integration Seesaw was designed from the start as an educational tool, so activities are naturally geared for the classroom setting. Surveying the various teacher-designed activities for Seesaw, one will see a wide range of possible uses. Math as a subject area is particularly suited for Seesaw activities. Teachers can create image templates with math problems and then have the students use the “drawing” tool to manipulate the template to show their work and then record their thinking about the process.For ELA classes, teachers can design templates to have students place words into categories based on long and short vowel sounds or require students to upload a photograph of a text with annotations marked using the drawing tool.One teacher recommended a “Weekend Update” activity, which required students to write, draw a picture, or record video summarizing what their weekend involved. This type of assignment would allow students to share with the class without being disruptive and give the teacher insight into each student’s lives and interests (Scheffer, 2018). Findings for GroupMe1476375114300FunctionGroupme is a free application individuals can download from the Apple Store, Play Store, and Windows Phone Store. Available for devices like, Androids, Iphones, Tablets, and Computers. There are options to send group text using your provider’s SMS or within the app. Individuals that do not have unlimited texts on their phone plan, can you the features within the app to make sure they don’t go over their data plan. Groupme functions are adaptable enough to be considered easy user friendly interface. Setup GroupMe 19051228600Enter your Facebook, Microsoft Account, Google, or email address and click continue.Enter your name, set an avatar (profile photo) and create a password.Select the box after agreeing to the Terms of Service. Select the box if you want to sync your contacts to GroupMe, then select continue. Enter your phone number and then select Get PIN. GroupMe will send you a text message (SMS) containing a PIN. Enter the PIN that GroupMe sent to your phone into the app and select continue. There will be a brief tutorial to get you started. Even if you don’t have a smartphone, you can use GroupMe over SMS. To get started, text START to +1 973-419-6864Send a Direct Message (DM):19051114300From the main menu, select Contacts.Select the person you want to DM.Type the message and send. You can also send a DM from a mutual group:Select the group’s avatar. Select Members. 2819400219075Select the person’s avatar that you want to DM, then select Direct Message. You’ll be redirected to a private chat with this user. SMS users are not able to participate in Direct Messages. GroupMe additional features: Sharing and searching locationsUploading and sharing photosAccessing to your Dropbox Uploading to GIFs, Images, and Videos 3438525466725Creating an event for your calendar and send invites to the groupShare GroupMe link and QR code Advantages It is a private and free chat room for small groups. You can create as many groups as you and can have 500 members per group. It is the perfect app to coordinate activities with coworkers, friends and family in the same place.Groupme works on every device such as native apps for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. Individuals can chat with their friends on their computer at the office, tablet You can add anyone from your phone book and they will immediately be able to chat with the group.You can chat with your groups directly over SMS, so you don’t have to log into GroupmeHas a new feature called Split, which allows group participants to transfer money to one another or chip in toward a common goal. Payments can be accepted via credit card, and once the you have collected the money, it should appear in your bank account within 24 hours. Splits are free set up, but anyone that contributes will be charged 4.0% plus $0.99 Has a new feature called Split, which allows group participants to transfer money to one another or chip in toward a common goal. Payments can be accepted via credit card, and once the you have collected the money, it should appear in your bank account within 24 hours. Splits are free set up, but anyone that contributes will be charged 4.0% plus $0.99 You do not have to log in through a SIM card You can see when someone is typing a message like iOS products 3371850352425Challenges There are no customization of application wallpaper or application themes like competitors WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or Tango. Groupme doesn’t provide end-to end encryption, which is a technique that uses cryptographic keys to protect content from unauthorized eyes. This ensures that nobody except for the sender and the recipient can view or mess with the content-not the internet service provider nor the application service provider. Groupme does not have an option of searching for specific keywords to look for particular message No bookmark or save feature to view a text later Groupme does not support many languages than some of its competitors like WhatsApp and Facebook MessengerNo confirmation that message has been delivered Classroom Integration Instructors and peers can use Groupme for several activities to assist in student participation, group assignments, and parent-teacher discussions. Teachers can use GroupMe to send out messages and communicate with parents about students’ assignments. We use GroupMe for Grey’s Christian Elementary School to stay updated about parent-teacher conferences. I have used Groupme to coordinate campus tours, send confirmations, and alert students of available assistantships. Peers can organize assignments, share files, and vote on polls for group projects and setup times to meet at specific location. Groupme gives students and teachers the opportunity to send instant messages without giving personal information out. It allows students, parents, and instructors to communicate in a social environment. -66674190500Instructors and students alike can create a poll in the group chat to collect opinions and ideas from other members. You can select a date and time to end the voting on the poll. Everyone in the group receives a notification when the poll is created and you can see the poll in the chat. You can change the your vote as many times as you want before the poll ends. A reminder notification is sent to the group 5 minutes before the poll is scheduled to end and another is sent when the poll has ended. Findings for Socrative Function -57149276225Socrative is a free website that provides teachers with quick and easy tools to assess the results of the student’s level of mastery. Teachers can upload or create tests on any subject with various answer choices. The purpose of Socrative is to provide teachers and students an opportunity to assess and be assessed, using a web-based interface. Students can log in using any device that is connected to the internet, enter the class code, and begin taking the test. The image shows the Student Login page. Once they enter the room name, they are in. Teachers can view in real-time, all the students’ results and progress. Socrative also provides the teacher with several different result reports and graphs for data collection. This collection of data can be used for having data chats with the students, that give them a sense of ownership in their learning. Advantages 3571875576263There are many advantages of Socrative, and most of the functions are free. The free version includes a Space Race, real-time test results,, user-friendly tests, easy to create assessments and several test answer options, such as multiple choice, true and false, and short answer. This image shows the options available for the teacher. The Quiz, Space Race, and Exit Tickets are all created with the same format and question choices. The data graphs and reports, like the one shown below, provide teachers with a foundation to initiate data chats with the student and provide an opportunity for immediate necessary interventions.Challenges The challenges with using the free version of Socrative include not being able to have more than one classroom at a time, having a limited classroom size, being able to access one set of results at a time, and the freedom each student has to participate in activities regardless of where they are. For instance, students do not have to be present in the classroom. Therefore, they could skip class and still look like they were there and participated. However, if a teacher uses Socrative during a synchronous class session, then there is no problem. Classroom Integration There are many ways to integrate Socrative into the classroom seamlessly. As mentioned previously, teachers can use Socrative for formal or informal assessment purposes, but that is not all; Socrative is an asynchronous and synchronous tool. Teachers can use Socrative to engage and inspire classroom discussions. For example, prior to a class the teacher can set up any number of short answer questions, and during a video, lecture, or book reading the teacher can stop and ask a question, pausing during each question and as students answer the question their responses can be displayed in real-time for everyone to see and discuss. As shown in the image teachers can hide students’ name to protect their identity when using during a synchronous class session.-1523993305175Also, teachers can set up a quiz to capture biographical information about their students, such as their likes and dislikes, birthdays, and other personal information. Collecting and organizing this information offers teachers a simple database to save vital information for getting to know their students and for planning activities that are of interest to the students. Teachers can use Socrative to engage the students in fun and interactive ways to learn. Socrative offers a game platform called Space Race. In this feature, teachers will build a short quiz and put students in small groups or teams. Teachers have the option of selecting any number of teams. The students can come up with their own team name. Students will work with their team to answer the questions and race to be the first to complete all the answers correctly. The image shown is an example of the live feed for all the students to see, with two teams selected. Not only is this activity enjoyable and engaging but it provides the teacher with instant summative assessment results and students are learning and perfecting their skills on how to collaborate cooperatively.1114300The ways to use Socrative will only be limited by the teacher’s imagination. One last classroom idea would be to play a modern version of Guess Who. Teachers can post a random question such as “If you could be anyone or anything in the world, what would it be?” Once everyone has answered and the responses reviewed, students would get a chance to guess who said what. This is an amusing and enjoyable way for students to get to know each other, enhance their speaking and listening skills, as well as exercising their creative writing techniques. Findings for Quizlet Function Quizlet is a free communication tool for students, teachers, and parents. Quizlet can be accessed through a desktop computer using any of the major web browsers available. It can also be accessed using any mobile devices and through the Quizlet App. Quizlet includes study modes and other learning tools that can help students enhance their learning. Students can use Quizlet at their own discretion or join a teachers class and use the various tools the teacher creates such as flashcards to study, quizzes, tests etc.Quizlet also offers “Quizlet Teacher” which is a premium feature. It includes many more options for enhancing student engagement and learning through games, Quizlet live, and the ability of the teacher to track student activity and progress. Although Quizlet is not meant to be used as a formative assessment tool, it can track student functions and give an idea of progress, which includes possible areas of improvement. Parents can also join the teachers class and see their child's progress. Quizlet is a great tool to use for acquiring new knowledge through the use of technology and online learning. It can help parents and teachers see specific student achievement, possible areas of improvement, overall class progress, student study activity and so much more. 3048000304800Advantages The free version of quizlet has many advantages:Collaboration: Create, share, and study information with other classmates.Receive specific study material from the teacher through the online classroom.Usage:The Quizlet search tool includes a huge variety of study information and material related to many different topics and subjects created by past students and teachers.Students have the ability to share their study information they created for others to use. Challenges The Quizlet free version is great for basic study functions but it does require a premium version if other study tools want to be accessed. Another challenge is tracking of student activity and achievement. The class progress icon and study mode icons show the teacher and parents of the specific class the progress of the student and their activity but if the student does not join the specific class, then quizlet will not save their information or activity. Teachers also need to make the class they create private or by invitation only because if it is public it will not save class progress. 36861751057275Classroom Integration Teachers can use Quizlet to get the students involved in learning through the use of a different, new, and fun form of technology, which is always exciting! Quizlet live can be used in the classroom as a live feature of quizzes and study material. The class can use Quizlet Live with their teacher or they can use it as a tool to prompt a classroom discussion. Quizlet also has the feature of adding images and sounds to study material, which helps to engage the learners. Quizlet can be used outside of the classroom as well at the students own pace to study specific material. The Quizlet assessment tools are graded immediately so the students, parents, and teachers can see which areas need specific improvement. can see which areas need specific improvement. Findings for StudyBlue Function 2886075238125StudyBlue is an application that allows flashcard creation and sharing which is great for high school and college students. The saved content allows the material to be synced between Web and mobile devices. Students can create double sided flashcards and study them anywhere like at school, home, or even on the go. There are different ways to view the study material like a review sheet, a quiz, or a set of flip-though flash cards. The cards also have an option to includes images along with the text. It allows students and even teachers to organize material for multiple classes, set reminders, and share the materials with other classmates. This application can be very helpful for individual students and groups of students and help keep them organized and stay top of their course load. Advantages 3943350295275Can be downloaded for free from the iTunes Store or Android Google PlayThe free version has banner ads, however, an ad-free subscription to StudyBlue is $4 per monthAllows students to collaborate easily with other classmates within the appUsers can search by school name and easily get a lists of classes with student names and email addressNotes to Flashcards - upload notes to StudyBlue and convert them into flashcardsOffline Mode - when there is no internet connection available, students still have the option to access Recently Studied or My Materials list.Power Creator Program - consists of a library which consists of over 300 million pieces of user-generated content.Teachers have the right to protect their copyrighted lecture notes and other course materials like study guides, class outlines, summaries, etc.StudyBlue abides by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Challenges Privacy preferences seems to share information like email address, school names, classes, and photos with everyone by default, making StudyBlue a questionable choice for younger usersQuality of the content depends on the authorTechnically speaking, the navationation can be a bit confusing at first, information is layered upon more informationClassroom Integration StudyBlue can be used by teachers to create flash cards to share with students. This allows students to review material on their own. StudyBlue allows teachers to see Class Stats for free up to 30 students and is designed to give in-depth look into what their students are studying, and see what their students are having trouble understanding. There is also an ability to view stats and track total sessions and scores of students while they study.Teachers can upgraded subscription if their class is of 30 students or more. The upgraded subscriptions offers additional features like Class Stats for unlimited students, ability to add equations, add audio and images to the front and back of flashcards, custom formatting, reset stats, study reminders, class study guides, and advanced search. Summary Digital communication tools for education is an evolving business, and the opportunity to engage with five major tools in the field is enlightening and insightful. Several of the group members had previous experience with a couple of these tools, but each of the members learned something new, particularly about how to incorporate them into the classroom. Though none of us chose a tool specifically classified as synchronous, the nature of group work required group members to utilize Canvas Conferences and Google Docs (via Canvas Collaboration) to facilitate the creation of the project document. Seesaw and GroupMe were beneficial in coordinating group members and updating the team on progress. Quizlet demonstrated methods for effective study and assessment. Seesaw, Socrative, and Quizlet are tools that can be used synchronously in the classroom to enhance student engagement. Respectively a couple of group members found themselves concerned about their knowledge retention of root words and medieval economies. Seesaw has many advantages to engage all types of learning styles and provides fun and engaging ways for students to keep journals and create a portfolio of their ideas and thoughts. Also, Seesaw promotes creativity by allowing students the option to create video journals, which enhances their speaking and listening skills. GroupMe is a great communication tool for small groups and can be used to manage group work outside of school hours. However many members found the, notification feature in the app inconsistent.. GroupMe is an effective tool to manage and coordinate parent to parent communication as well as providing a platform to organize fundraisers and school activities. Socrative provides the user the options for multiple choice, true and false, and open-ended questions making it an effective tool for teachers in any discipline. From a student perspective, it is user-friendly and straightforward.The idea of using Socrative’s open-ended question feature to spark class discussions is exciting for students and provides essential insight into the student’s perspective for the teacher. Quizlet is an invaluable tool to assist students in studying vocabulary words or concepts. The various methods available for studying in Quizlet are effective and motivating, Students can move from flash cards to games, providing them some control on how they study.The option to do in-class, synchronous games with Quizlet Live brings a welcome change to Kahoot! quizzes. StudyBlue is a communication tool that offers effective ways to help increase the study potential of students. StudyBlue includes many different activities such as studycards, quizzes, and the ability of the student to reset their own study stats. There are multiple formats for the quizzes. Instead of the teacher choosing it, the students can choose which option they prefer, True/False, fill in the blank, multiple choice, or all of them. References Agee, X. (2018). Xavier Agee IT 648 Project 2. Retrieved from , J. L., McInnis, E., and Randolph, C. (2013) "The new frontier of education: The impact of smartphone technology in the classroom." American Society for Engineering Education. 1(1). Constine, J. (2016). How Seesaw accidentally became a teacher’s pet at ? of US schools. Retrieved from . (2019). Retrieved from Miller, M. (2019, April 10). How to start a Quizlet Live game in 60 seconds tips and tricks. Retrieved April 11, 2019, from . (2019). Retrieved from Quizlet: Plus (n.d.) Retrieved from , J. (2018) 10 ways to make Seesaw part of your daily routine. Retrieved from . (2019). Retrieved from Socrative: , C. (n.d.). What platforms and operating systems does Seesaw support. Retrieved from , S. (2019, April 6). What is GroupMe? Retrieved from . (2019). Retrieved from StudyBlue: , C. (2013, March 7). Chatting is great, but GroupMe’s mobile apps now let users split payments, too. Retrieived from ................
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