Post # 5: Exploring Collaboration Apps

Collaboration in the classroom not only helps build a positive learning community between teachers, students, and families but also helps students build strong academic and social skills. In the age of 21st-century technology, there are many collaboration apps that can be used to encourage collaboration in the classroom. Four collaboration apps that I chose to explore include Flock, Padlet, Notion, and Lucidspark.

Flock Logo

Flock is a communication app available on Apple products that have several features that encourage collaboration including group chats, video calling, file sharing, and polls. Teachers could use this app to communicate with the entire class, but can also create private breakout groups for more individualized, small-group work. The teacher can also create tasks/assignments with due dates. Unfortunately, the free trial does not give access to many of the features listed here and it cost $6 a month per user to upgrade to the pro plan. I could not find any business/school plans, so overall I would not recommend reusing this app in the classroom setting since there are so many other options on the market. 

The Notion app is another app that could be used for collaboration in the classroom. As usual, the free version has very limited use and it cost between $96 and $180 a year to upgrade. The Notion app allows participants to take notes, write journals, or make various lists. The students can share their links with up to 10 people with the free version so they could work together. In addition, they can embed videos, images, and links from the internet into their work. Although the app may have potential, I had trouble finding enough benefits to make it worth spending money on the upgrade, so I would not recommend this app for the classroom. 

Screenshot: KWL chart available in the gallery

A fun collaboration app that I believe students and teachers will enjoy is called Padlet. There are several project templates to choose from such as a wall, stream, grid, map, canvas, or timeline. Students can share their links to work together and create meaningful projects to help enhance their understanding of the content they are learning. The app is available on Apple or Windows. The free version has several features that allow students to create beautiful work and it was easy to use, but the students can only create up to 3 Padlets. The upgrade price is between 69.99 to 99.99 annually depending on the plan you choose. If it is in the school budget, I believe this would be beneficial for technology integration in the classroom. Even if paying for the upgrade is not an option the teacher could allow students to use the three free Padlets to complete projects throughout the year. Teachers could also use it to collaborate together to create a list of resources to use in their classrooms or for professional development.

Screenshot: A sticky note template I used to create word lists

Finally, my favorite collaboration app I have found through this exploration is Lucidspark. This app is a virtual interactive whiteboard. Although it could be used to collaborate on projects in the classroom, I can see this being a great option for teachers to use to teach lessons during E-learning days. You can create your own board by choosing a blank whiteboard, but there are so many great templates available also. There are all styles of organizational charts, mind maps, world maps, and calendars to name a few. I really like that anyone that has the link can add to it from their screen. So, if a teacher is teaching a lesson, the students can help create the content on the whiteboard instead of passively watching the teacher. This could help keep the students engaged in the lesson. The free version only allows you to create 3 whiteboards. The upgrade is $7.95 for individual use or $9.00 per user for groups. There is an option for enterprises to call and speak to a sales representative for pricing, so I assume this would be the option for schools or districts to use to have full access. I definitely recommend this app for collaboration in the classroom.