With multiple channels and platforms for communication available, keeping all communications in all formats together can be challenging. Slack is a leading communication tool, particularly in the software development world,... [ view full abstract ]
With multiple channels and platforms for communication available, keeping all communications in all formats together can be challenging. Slack is a leading communication tool, particularly in the software development world, that turns out to be surprisingly useful as a one stop shop for communicating in multiple modes & formats with students in the online, blended and face to face classes of Higher Education.
Can Slack act as a light, simple, fire and forget, platform independent, mobile friendly alternative to Virtual Learning Environments, synchronous video delivery applications, chat, discussion forums, phone and email? In a word, YES!
The presenters reflect on their experience of using Slack in Education over a two-year period across multiple modules, programmes and cross disciplinary projects in multiple delivery modes.
The presentation covers how Slack maybe best used in the context of Higher Education to either augment or replace a number of existing TEL technologies:
- Creating collaborative workspaces
- Replicating social and community interactions inherent in the face to face setting
- Managing ‘Slack channels’ and access
- Structuring conversations
- Support for private messaging and screen sharing
- Cross platform support
- Voice & video calls without phone numbers
- Inherent support for peer learning
- Ease of sharing and publishing content
- Instant notification, attendance, feedback, progress, analytics, fully automated and tracked
- Extending functionality with SimplePoll, power-ups & bots
- Managing assignments
- Limitations and lessons learned
- The power of /AWAY
This presentation will help educators use Slack to communicate better with each other, and their students, more easily, effectively and efficiently, supporting the lecturer as a facilitator of education in all teaching modes.
