SDaly121: EEND 675 Artifact 1: Linoit.com

Artifact 1: Linoit.com http://linoit.com/users/sheiladaly/canvases/Collaborative%20Assignment

In the beginning of the course we were assigned to find an online tool that would help students collaborate with one another. After browsing through St. Francis’s modules and reading a list of recommended online tools, I stumbled upon Linoit.com. I first found a video on YouTube to help me understand the design of the website before proceeding forward. The site is simplistic in nature, but I found to be extremely engaging for my students, as I created an assignment for my students two weeks before the school year ended. My rationale was that, if I am going to be exploring new options, I might as well try it out with my students, and that way, I would be able to tell immediately if it was a useful or useless tool.

I decided on this digital artifact to use because it resembled some of the lessons I had previously done in the classroom with my students. Previously, I would have students write their thoughts, questions, and/or responses to other students, on sticky notes, and walk to the posters in the corner and place them in according positions. What I noticed about this, was children were more willing to respond and be engaged in the activity. However, it was always awkward having 10-27 children crunched into a corner trying to read each other’s responses, place their answers on the poster, and/or respond to one another. So when I stumbled upon Linoit.com, I felt that it was literally an activity I use in the classroom already, except now it was digitial!

What I found attractive about this digital tool, was the fact that students could stay at their desks, answer their questions and post their answers without the jumbling around the classroom. I also liked the fact that when students typed out their answers, it was far more legible than some of the students’ current handwriting. I also found students to be far more engaged, and their answers to be more thoughtful than typically on the tangible post-its. My students did this assignment with nine days left of school, and remained incredibly engaged in the activity. It was much more useful that I thought it would be. To be honest, I expected a disaster, but I was completely incorrect.

For this particular tool, I used it in a Social Studies assignment. Students were responsible for asking questions I posted about Manifest Destiny and the Trail of Tears. They were also responsible for answering one another, or posting questions that they developed while reading their curriculum. In the following assignment, students collaborated on different ways Manifest Destiny and the Trail of Tears could have been addressed. However, I feel that this very simplistic site could be used for much more than a Social Studies assignment. In all reality, any subject could be applied to this website, from math, to health, to PE. Additionally, because it is an online tool, this could provide students from other classrooms to communicate with one another on the same curriculum they are learning with a different teacher. For example, if we had an assignment for ReadyGen where students have to find text evidence and answer questions from the curriculum that are complex, they have the opportunity to connect to another classroom and read their ideas. Let’s say, I posted a question, but emailed the same link my students had to Mrs. Hamilton who is on the other side of the building. Our students could help one another with questions, collaborate, debate, share ideas… the potential could be very exciting for our students, and I truly hope to launch it next year. Trial and error, and I will find out what works well and what does not next year.

Conversely, some of the issues I did see when launching this assignment with my students for the first time, was how cluttered the page could become. To avoid this problem, it would be important that you explain to children how to navigate the page and that they do not have to pile on all their answers in one corner of the page. Additionally, instead of having 27-30 children answering, you could break students up into groups, which would also solve the “cluttered” look.

Overall, I feel this is a very fun, yet simple, tool teachers could apply in their classrooms. Students understand how to use it quickly, correspond with one another, and know they are held accountable because people know who you are and what you are saying.