Some of Our Favorites: 

• Perusall: Perusall is an online annotation software that is similar to Hypothes.is, but I find it considerably more user friendly.  It is free for students and instructors, but everyone must sign up.  With this program, all of your course texts– and even videos can be online in one place, and students can comment on texts, and they can have conversations with EACH OTHER about texts.  You can also ask them questions, see who’s commenting, give them grades, and have non-text-based discussion forums. HERE is a link for how to get started HERE is a video overview.  The office of FYW will provide more resources and office hours about how to better use this program (as it’s new to us too!) HERE is a helpful short slideshow. (Please note: we’ve found Perusall to be fairly functional on tablets)
• Padlet: Padlet is a great app that allows students to interact on making maps, timelines or a “graffitti wall,” in which they can simply comment on an essay or subject—and see each other’s responses all in one place. Honestly, I’m just learning about this program, but it looks phenomenal! See also: https://padlet.com/briggsa/ghhkm19jtte6 for some ideas.
• Screencast-o-matic: A screencast-o-matic screenshot video of an essay or article for class. In other words, they can screencast a text they are reading and:
  • Point out a favorite passage and explain why
  • Point out a place they got confused and explain why
  • Give a lesson on vocabulary words in context
  • Give a summary of a paragraph or section
  • The possibilities are endless!
• Zoom: I think we’re all pret-ty familiar with Zoom by now. But if you’re looking for ways to provide synchronous learning opportunities, Zoom can’t be beat. It’s a video-conferencing platform that allows you to engage in live Web conversations with your students using audio, video, and text-based chat features. Instructions on how to download Zoom: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362233?mobile_site=true
• Google Drive/Google Docs: You’re probably all familiar with Google Docs as well, but here are some resources for using the Google Suite in your courses.
  • You can set up a class Google Drive folder (with multiple subfolders) for your course.  HERE  is a handy resource about how to set your drive up.
  • HERE is a resource for annotating collaboratively on Google Drive. 
  • HERE is a slideshow about Google Drive basics 
  • When we refer to a “Google Wall” in this course outline, we are simply referring to using a Google Doc that the whole class is collaborating on. 

  See the Model Course Hub for more info on using Google Docs.

Other great programs!

• Hypothes.is: This program is great for collaboratively annotating, highlighting, and tagging web pages and PDF documents with your students. Use Hypothesis to hold discussions, read socially, or practice note taking. For information on using Hypothes.is, visit: https://web.hypothes.is/help-categories/tutorials. It is also available to use as a plugin on OpenLab. Just make sure to activate the program under “Plugins.”
• Flipgrid: Ask your students to make intro videos, maybe using Flipgrid. They needn’t show their face. One thing that’s great about Flipgrid, besides that it’s free, is that they can comment on each other’s videos.  You can give them a few ideas, like:
  • MTV Cribs
  • Literature (or Science, or Gaming, etc) nerd intro
  • World’s Most Boring Intro.
  • Students can use this for other assignments as well, even reader response to essays (one another’s or texts for the course.)
• Edpuzzle: Using edpuzzle, you can add pauses to YouTube videos (TedTalks, etc) in which you ask students questions about what they’re watching. They must answer before watching further. This is also a good way to see who’s watched, but more importantly, to increase student engagement!
• Slack: Slack is basically a texting program you can use with your students (using their student emails) but it can be a great way to increase class discussion. You can send brief reminders about upcoming deadlines or office hours and it is a nice, conversational forum for having class discussions in a lowkey way.