Collaboration

Flip, formerly FlipGrid, is a collaboration platform that allows students and instructors to engage with each other via video recordings. Instructors can post prompts to which students can respond and then interact with each others' responses. 

Flip is a useful tool in the ELA classroom as it can extend the reach of the traditional classroom while bringing elements of traditional classroom engagement to the online classroom. This is beneficial for instructors to assess individual speaking and listening skills of students. 

Additional benefits of Flip:

• Affords each student the opportunity to be heard

• Allows additional time for marginalized students and struggling learners to respond to their peers

• Connects students beyond the traditional classroom and provides face-to-face communication opportunities to online students. 

Academic Integrity

While the Flip is more personal than writing based discussion forums, the digital distance still separates students, increasing the likelihood of incivility between peers. Instructors must still be present and facilitate discussion posts and model the appropriate behavior for civil discussion. 

Along is an online platform for personalized discussion. Similar to Flip, Instructors can post prompts to which students can respond. However, student responses are directed to the instructor alone. This makes Along an excellent tool for building meaningful relationships. 

Along is a useful tool in the ELA classroom as it extends both the traditional and online classroom to bolster conversations that may not have otherwise happened. Instructors are then not only able to connect individually with students, but formally or informally assess speaking skills. 

Additional benefits of Along:

• Nurtures safety in student sharing as responses are accessible to only the instructor. 

• Furnishes a space for instructors to reach out to students beyond classroom content. 

• Allows additional time for marginalized students and struggling learners to construct a meaningful response. 

Academic Integrity:

While the audio/visual component dissuades sharing of materials or copying another student's work, it doesn't prevent a student from fabricating content or misusing other's intellectual property. Instructors must set clear expectations and communicate the purpose and intended outcomes of using the platform. Students who understand the purpose of the tool are less likely to manipulate it. 

Pear Deck is an online software and Google add-on that incorporates interactive slides into presentations. Instructors guide students through the content while inserting opportunities for student participation and immediate feedback. 

Pear Deck is useful in an ELA classroom as students can practice writing skills and answer content questions and instructors can provide live feedback. 

Additional benefits of Pear Deck:

• Encourages student participation and skills practice at the most relevant time.

• Can be incorporated into Google classroom for seamless integration and delivery for students present or absent.

• Can be instructor guided or student paced depending on instructors' and learners' immediate needs and classroom environment allowances. 

Academic Integrity:

Students may be tempted to deviate or be distracted from the teacher led presentation. Informality may also lead students to fabricate responses or not participate. instructors must continue to monitor student participate in traditional classrooms. In online platforms, instructors Should be timely in their feedback so students understand the value of participation.