This is a sponsored post. All opinions, however, are my own.
In my Educational Duct Tape workshops and extended sessions, the participants share goals or issues that they are hoping edtech can solve for them. We then use the #EduDuctTape edtech integration mindset to identify some possible tools that they can use.
Along with questions like “How can I formatively assess my students?” and “How can my students create podcasts about content?” one of the most common ones is “How can I have my students participate in online discussions about content?”
Well, I think that I finally have an answer for that question that I feel really confident in. Not long ago, a company called Parlay came onto the edtech scene. I was intrigued from the very beginning. The tool offers 2 different functions: (1) hosting online class discussions and (2) facilitating live, in-person roundtables and Socratic seminars.
Today, I’d like to focus on the first of those 2 functions: online class discussions. In the #EduGIF below, you’ll see how Parlay guides the educator through this process:
- The teacher creates (or selects) a discussion prompt.
- The teacher sends the prompt to the students (via a link or Google Classroom).
- The students read the prompt and respond.
- The students read each others responses and reply.
- The teacher participates in the discussion.
- The teacher provides feedback on student responses.
- The teacher (and students) view rich summary data.
I think that this tool has a lot of potenial in classrooms across most, if not all, content areas. If you try it out, I’d love to hear how it goes!
A Pausable version of this #EduGIF is available here.
