Slack: a new tool for education?

By Andrea Gonzalez — Posted on: Mar 16, 2016

In offices all across the world, email (especially Microsoft Outlook) is one of the main technologies to facilitate group collaboration. As part of Microsoft’s Office suite, Outlook software has considerable features for group communication, time management and contact management – yet some have recognized how impractical it can be as they see their inbox cluttered overflowing with emails on a daily basis.

Enter Slack. Slack is an online communication platform and collaboration app, which transforms email into a group activity, giving users the opportunity to create topic-specific channels where discussions can take openly within teams. Launched in 2013, Slack’s user platform has swelled dramatically to over 2.3 million users, making it one of the fastest-growing communication platforms today. Within the platform, people can quickly and easily exchange information and chat with colleagues, attach files for sharing, send emoji, search and customize their Slack screen.

Since 2014, Slack has become an important communication and collaboration tool at UBC, with teams including the Learning Technology Users Group, Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Technology, UBC Learning Technology Rovers, UBC Library IT and the UBC Faculty of Science IT.

The Slack chat room interface, with public and private communication channels and a direct messages between colleagues. Screenshot by Jeffry Pincus.

For the UBC Learning Technology Rovers, Slack is particularly useful as team members are spread out across the Vancouver campus providing support within their respective faculties. The LTR Collab team provides a centralized forum online where tech rovers can chat and exchange messages. Private channels are developed to brainstorm ideas, coordinate between team members, share files, pose tech-related questions, agree on project details and arrange meeting times and deadlines. Rather than having to send bulky emails to a larger group of people, messages can be posted and sent out to the general channel. In addition, the search feature saves time spent finding the most relevant information.

Some are now taking the chat platform one step further, proposing that it could be used as a learning technology within courses. However, while Slack has the potential to be used for online education, since the platform is hosted in the US, use in courses goes against British Columbia’s FIPPA (Freedom of Information for the Protection of Privacy) laws.

Having identified a need for real-time communication in online courses, Ian Linkletter from the Faculty of Education is currently working with CTLT and UBC IT to pilot a similar chat platform. Two standout candidates include Mattermost and Rocket.Chat. As open source alternatives to Slack, Mattermost and Rocket.Chat have the potential to be hosted here at UBC and used for internal course communication and group collaboration. Both platforms feature private and public chats, including one-on-one communication, archiving, and the ability to upload files from any browser or device.

Evaluation and testing of Mattermost and Rocket.Chat has begun. If pedagogical, technological, usability, and accessibility requirements are met, a single-course pilot could take place as soon as May 2016.

Update: We have been piloting Mattermost! Read about the Mattermost Chat Pilot, as well as the One Year Update blog post!

Additional Resources

Featured ETS Team Member

Staff Writer

UBC Centennial Maker Faire

Event Information

makerfaire__1200x630

Event Description

If you’ve ever wondered what it might be like to make a keyboard out of bananas, learn how to 3D print a miniature version of your favourite sculpture, or find out how to make your old robot vacuum into an abstract expressionist painter, then you might be interested in attending the UBC Centennial Maker Faire.

Even if you haven’t casually pondered how to hack your refrigerator, other folks certainly have and they make up a vibrant and creative community of hobbyists, tinkerers, creators, tech enthusiasts and other Do-It-Yourself-ers. Collectively known as makers, they are pushing the boundaries of new technologies, repurposing old ones, and delighting us with their seemingly limitless creativity along the way.

The UBC Centennial Maker Faire is a showcase of innovative and creative projects from the various UBC maker communities around campus. Taking place on April 7th, 2016, the faire offers a venue for makers to showcase their projects, engage with others and provide insight into their creative processes. Learn what it took to bring their visions to life and the driving forces that make them tick.

If there’s one event that you should visit during the centennial celebrations, this one promises to be stimulating, creatively inspiring and ultimately a fascinating experience all around. For more information, contact us by email at ets.educ@ubc.ca or by phone at 604-822-6333.

Photo Gallery

Play Prev | Next

Presenters

UBC Solar (http://www.ubcsolar.com)

UBC Solar is a solar car racing team. They build full-scale electric vehicles powered by solar panels built into the surface of the car, designed for competitive races against teams from other universities. Their first generation vehicle is currently under construction, and the team plans to enter this vehicle in the 2016 American Solar Challenge.

Solar racing is an exciting pursuit that pushes the boundaries of alternative energy and efficient vehicles. Races have been held on an international scale since 1985 and can involve thousands of kilometres of highway driving at speeds in excess of 100kph, all powered directly by the sun.

Open Robotics (http://www.openrobotics.ca)

We are a team focused on building skills relating to robotics and sharing knowledge using an open source philosophy, with the goal of competing in the @home competition in 2017 or 2018. This competition involves creating an autonomous home assistance robot that can respond to commands and navigate unfamiliar environments without outside assistance. On our journey to the competition we are learning about real-time systems, electromechanical devices, computer vision, and many more technologies, all while growing a dynamic and enthusiastic team.

UBC Physics and Astronomy Outreach Program (http://outreach.phas.ubc.ca/)

The UBC Physics & Astronomy Outreach Program offers a wide range of activities, from summer camps, science competitions, to teacher workshops and public lectures. Our goal is to communicate the excitement and wonder of physics and astronomy, and its relevance to global issues and our everyday lives.

At the Outreach program table, we will showcase cool small circuit projects you can do at home with some wires, a motor, and a battery. Play with the LED flash light, a mini Theremin, and the digital 7-segment display – all built on top of a breadboard (no, it is not made of bread!!). And, try out the circuit scribe pen to draw your own circuit!

How We Learn (HWL) Lab (https://blogs.ubc.ca/howwelearn)

We are a research team consisting of faculty members, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students from the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy in the Faculty of Education. The key objectives of the HWL team include: 1) the empirical and conceptual investigation of how media and technology are in-interaction-with learning across the lifespan; and 2) the development of theories and methods for studying these processes.

At our HWL education table we invite you to hack your smartphone into a mini 3D hologram projector! Experience google cardboard virtual reality and explore the best apps for teaching programming and coding (grades K-12).

AMS Knitting and Sewing Club (http://knittingsewingatubc.blogspot.ca/)

The AMS Knitting and Sewing club will provide a fun and creative environment where knitters, sewers and crocheters alike can gather and share the joys of the craft. Students involved in the thread arts, or who are interested in learning about these amazing hobbies, can meet new people and find others who also wish to learn about knitting, sewing, or other arts.

UBC Library (http://www.library.ubc.ca)

Not only does UBC Library have some great books on makerspaces, but also it also loans resources that support makerspace activities. The Education and Woodward branches will have Squishy Circuit kits and Arduino kits for participants to try out, and Technical Services will demonstrate book binding and repair techniques and tools.

Faculty of Applied Science (http://www.apsc.ubc.ca/)

UBC Applied Science provides students with extraordinary learning opportunities in the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, the School of Community and Regional Planning, the School of Nursing, and engineering at the Vancouver campus and the UBC Okanagan School of Engineering. Course content is amplified through lectures, in cutting-edge laboratory facilities, in team-based projects, through early design experience, and through co-op.

Geering Up UBC Engineering & Science for Kids (http://www.geeringup.apsc.ubc.ca/)

Geering Up UBC Engineering & Science for Kids is a non-profit organization with the mandate of promoting science, engineering and technology to youth across British Columbia. Affiliated with the University of British Columbia, Geering Up is designed, organized and operated by UBC students. We endeavour to show program participants how fun, exciting and useful engineering and science can be.

Organizer

Technology in Transit — Edmodo

Edmodo was March’s technology of the month, an online networking application for teachers and students that can be used to collaborate, share digital content and access homework, grades, class discussions, and notifications from your computer or phone. Edmodo is primarily a tool for within-class communication, making it ideal to cultivate a peer-learning and peer-support environment both in the classroom and online.

Using the app and the browser version in his computer, Presenter David Gwilliam showcased how he uses the platform in his inquiry project with his grade 7 I.B. practicum clasroom to present information, materials and instructions and to build an online learning conversation with his class. Students in Edmodo can post messages to their teachers, or to their entire Edmodo group, but teachers maintain full control of their Edmodo groups and can delete posts, monitor all activity, review student posts before they go live. Gwilliam also demonstrated how the website can be used to post homework information, write short summaries of lessons for students who were absent, place digital resources for students to access and download and to create polls for students to vote online.

Play Prev | Next

Presenter

Our featured student this month was David Gwilliam from the Faculty of Education.

David Gwilliam

Locally born and raised in Vancouver, David has spent the majority of his professional academic life at the University of British Columbia pursuing his undergraduate studies in the Faculty of Arts attaining a double major in the English language and Sociology. A return to UBC saw David venture into the world of real estate and property management through the Sauder School of Business. David is now invested in developing his practice of educating the middle years level with a specialized focus on the International Baccalaureate program and studies in the English language from grades K-12.With such a great group of fellow TC’s to work and learn with, David actively sought inclusion in the Education Students’ Association and has been elected President for 2015/16.

Spring 2016 Digital Technology Series

On March 2nd and March 3rd 2016, the ETS office held their first-ever annual Digital Technology Series, designed to provide faculty members and staff with hands-on practice with different learning technologies available at UBC. The series included various workshops on technologies like Camtasia, Collaborate, UBC and Connect Blogs and Connect Assessments and Grading. As part of the workshops, participants were given the space to experiment with the technologies and to consider how they could implement them in their teaching practice. Ian Linkletter walked instructors through the Collaborate virtual classroom application integrated in Connect, demonstrating how the application can be used to facilitate classes, meetings and presentations. Instructors were able to experiment with several of Blackboard Collaborate’s useful features for online teaching and office hours, including polling and raising hands, a whiteboard area, a chatroom feature and breakout rooms for small group collaboration.

Sharon Hu guided instructors through the process of creating engaging media content using the powerful screen capture and video-editing tool Camtasia. With Hu’s directions, faculty members and staff created their own videos from start to finish and added audio using the interactive and user-friendly Camtasia Studio Editor, preparing them to produce video lessons and tutorials for their own courses. In the Blogging workshop, Bill Pickard went over the steps involved in creating your own blog using UBC blogs and Connect Blogs, highlighting the potential use of the platforms to encourage student discussion and engagement with course material. In particular, instructors were shown how to customize their UBC blogs, how to attach and embed images, multimedia and links in their blog entries as well as how to comment and provide student feedback.

Play Prev | Next

During the tour of the new enhanced seminar room Ponderosa 1008, Sharon Hu went over the possible blended models of teaching that can be implemented in the room, while A/V representative Steve Sharpe shared the room AV/technical capabilities and demonstrated how to use some of the amenities including the projectors and flat panel displays.

Finally, the Connect Assessments and Grading workshop introduced participants to the Assignment Dropbox and the Full Grade Center in Connect. During the workshop, Tech Rover Andrea Gonzalez outlined the workflow process for submitting, viewing and grading tests and assignments in Connect. A sandbox course was created with a Connect Template for instructors to follow along and to create their own assignments and tests with step-by-step instructions.

Overall, the workshops generated a space for instructors to develop their technical skills through dedicated hands-on activities and to find out about the multiple possibilities to integrate learning technologies into their practice. Participants were able to pose their questions and to share their experiences using technology with their colleagues. The ETS office is planning future workshops in the Digital Technology Series, stay on the look out for more hands-on sessions in September 2016!

For any questions about learning technologies or if you would like to learn more about future events, please contact the ETS office by email at ets.educ@ubc.ca or by phone at 604-822-6333.

Technology in Transit — Edmodo