We have so many conversations in so many ways throughout the day at a school. Most of it is in person, the danger being that what has been quickly said and quickly heard is also quickly forgotten. Email is probably the next most common, but with so many of those stacking into our inboxes every day, it’s easy to loose track of what went to who and were. Additionally, we’ve all had colleagues and admin that don’t check their email. I even had a mentor teacher who communicated a lot of her instruction in partial sentences on little sticky notes. Sadly, those notes didn’t convey much, and so most of them made it into the bin at the end of the day. A tool like Stack allows groups to organize collaboration with specific individuals, teams, and projects so that everything shared can be easily tracked and developed.

My Experience with Slack

I originally chose Option B – Padlet for my JumpStart module, so I was already comparing the two as I created my Slack account. What I discovered within the first few minutes is that they’re so different that they can’t really be compared. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, and while most people tend to like “one or the other” I think these two would work really well in tandem.

Slack has some advantages right off the blocks. The layout of the application is very familiar, similar to other email or chat programs. It looks and feels like you’ve already been there, and for many users, especially those who have trouble adopting and adapting tech, that’s one less hurdle. The tutorial and support are also very user-friendly. Of course, we in JumpStart have had the benefit of Jennifer’s lessons, and between those and the helps that Slack offers, I feel like I could confidently train my students or my PLC members how to use the app in the first sitting.

A weakness of collaboration by email is the chance for people to be left off of mailing lists, or the baffling tendency of some applications to not deliver messages to every member of a mailing group (side-eye at Outlook). Instead of having to worry about whether or not anyone was left out, or that very long and tedious email chain that comes with all of those >>> arrows, pertinent group are created that collectively gets the message, who can either acknowledge in writing or through collective emojis like other forms of social media. Every thumbs-up doesn’t get it’s own email, and they are tied to specific comments so everyone knows exactly what is being referenced.

I also really appreciate how Slack and the other applications we have studied in JumpStart are cloud-based and available on multiple platforms. My classroom is still full of binders left by previous teachers, full of random stuff from their PLC’s and personal curriculum. I would imagine that they lugged those around with them to every meeting; it must have weighed a ton! With Slack et al, I can store and access everything on my phone or tablet and create, review, and share anytime I want. My students can do the same, which means that I can collaborate whether they are in the classroom, sick in bed at home, or waiting in line at Disney Land.

I noticed that uploaded items tend to scroll with the conversation, which might make it difficult or annoying to keep track of them as time goes on. I’m sure there is a way to work that out, either explicitly explained in Slack or via creative measures from collaborative members. I didn’t bother to search it out, but the app has been around long enough that I’m sure it’s been addressed.

In My Classroom

In the classroom, labs or groups could be created and modified as needed throughout the year, with all of their collaborative documents and projects stored in the cloud. A teacher could create a HyperDoc assignment and send it to a group for collaboration. They in turn would collaborate their notes, input, and contributions, culminating in a final project the would all be accessible through Slack. As the overseer of the collaborative team, the teacher could check in at any time, make observations, recommend corrections, and final assessment, all though Slack. This would work with project-based Math and Science, and collaborative research and writing in both ELA and Social Studies.

Let’s say I assign groups to do research and produce a project on Native tribes in Arizona. We would chose our groups through a random method like numbered heads or drawing sticks and then create Slack groups for each team. Those groups would collaborate in person to choose the tribe they were going to research, and their slack group would be named accordingly. The students would use their Slack group to keep track of all of their individual responsibilities and discussion notes, as well as a place to upload documents and photos that they would want to use as references in their final work. For homework, they would be required to contribute a certain amount or time or input per their rubric, and time stamps would serve as proof that it was done outside of the classroom. In the end, their final artifact, be it a video, slide presentation, or research paper, could them be stored and summitted for review on Slack, and then improved upon before final submission or presentation. Each final submission could then be made available to the class as a whole through Slack.

Nothing gets lost, everyone has the opportunity to contribute, and the evidence of learning would be easy for the teacher to access and assess. As the students moved on in their education, they would keep their Slack membership, which would mean that they would always have access to what they did. It could be a long-term part of their educational portfolio, something they could use to impress someone on a first date, and something they could fall back on when it comes time to teach their own students, children, and grandchildren.

Screenshots of my time on Slack