Collabrify
The Collabrify apps support in-class, face-to-face collaboration. But the apps can be used when a student is at home, confounded with a homework assignment: call a friend, share the text document/concept map/drawing, and that confused student isn’t working alone anymore. Students can converse and work together inside a document even when they are not co-located. Students never have to learn alone again!
Learning is, indeed, in the conversation. That argument was first made in order to provide a rationale for why and how technology could be useful in education. First the educational need — support dialog — and then the technology — the Collabrify Suite of Apps — that supports that need. In the end, moving K-12 classrooms from places where monologue is primary to where dialog is primary can be front and center with collaborative apps. Indeed, inquiry learning, project-based learning, knowledge building, 5E learning, are all pedagogies that highlight dialog as a core activity.
Collabrify is device agnostic - whether a student is using a netbook, laptop or tablet, they can use Collabrify!
KWL: Collaboratively use the KWL technique for learning.
In Collabrify KWL students can work together to share what they know (K “frame”) and want to learn (W “frame”). Then, to conclude a lesson, the students can go into the L “frame” and identify what they have learned.
Flipbook: Collaboratively construct drawings and “flipbook” style animations.
On Flipbook's canvas, students can draw freehand, insert different shapes, include a photo and then draw on top of it or label parts of it with text, as well as combine multiple drawings to make an interesting animation.
Writer: Collaboratively use multiple media in “writing”.
Writer offers students two views: Question & Answer and Document. In the Q&A view, teachers can preload the file with questions that students need to address. Videos, pictures, or sound clips can be added by the teacher or student in either the Question or the Answer frame. In the Document view, students can co-construct a story using multiple media.
Map: Collaboratively “graphically map” out ideas using nodes and arcs (relationships).
Within each “node” in the concept map, students can add informational notes, or add images using Google Image search or images from their own Google drive.
Collabrify can be found here. If you would rather use the Chrome apps, you can find it here. If you would like help integrating Collabrify into your lessons, please fill out the form below: