The Collaborize Classroom team is back home in Santa Rosa from the CUE Educational Technology Conference in Palm Springs. We had an amazing time exhibiting at the trade show, meeting and signing up educators from all over California and beyond, and learning more about what teachers are looking for in educational technology.
We were asked many questions from those who visited our booth so we wanted to post a list of the most commonly asked questions we received for those who might not have been able to join us at the annual conference.
What is Collaborize Classroom?
Collaborize Classroom is a free online learning platform designed to complement in-class instruction and engage students by bringing online activities, lesson plans, assignments and discussions to a structured and private online community.
Is it really free?
Yes, Collaborize Classroom is a completely free online learning platform for teachers and students. We won’t pull a bait-and-switch and start charging after a year. Our online learning platform will always be free.
Are you a non-profit?
No, Collaborize Classroom is not a non-profit. It is the flagship product from Democrasoft, a 20 year old public company and leading provider of innovation in social collaboration and voting platforms for building successful online communities.
How do we get a t-shirt?
Because we had such great reception of our t-shirts at CUE, we’ll be doing many giveaways through our blog over the next few months. Please subscribe to the Collaborize Classroom blog for updates on how to win a “Engaged Students #Succeed” Collaborize Classroom shirt. We’ll also be at the ISTE 2011 conference in June, giving away many more shirts.
What makes you different?
Collaborize Classroom was designed to be simple to use and these 3 key features make our online learning platform stand out:
Topic Types: Teachers have a few different options that add structure around conversations when posting discussion questions or topics, including:
1. Yes or no questions (students vote yes or no on a topic then justify their position)
2. Multiple choice (students select from one or more options and explain their choice)
3. Vote or suggest (students suggest an answer or vote for another student’s response)
4. Forum (students can respond to a question or reflect on a topic, much like blog comments)
Results Page: See the outcomes of your students’ answers with charts, which teachers can bring back into the classroom and expand on the discussions.
Participation Reports: Teachers can see which students have participated online (provided answers, voted on other answers, replied to other students, etc.) and how many times each of them has logged in during customized time periods. Participation reports can also be turned into pdf’s or printed, resulting in less time grading students work.
Does Collaborize Classroom have to be implemented throughout a district?
No, thousands of individual teachers from all over the nation are using Collaborize Classroom in their classrooms. Though, usually we’ve found they like to share their new educational technology with others, resulting in many classrooms at one school engaging students with Collaborize Classroom.
Is this something I can use with all grades or all subjects?
Yes! Collaborize Classroom is a platform that works in K-12, as well as higher education and across all subjects. The content depends on the teacher and we have many free teaching resources and lesson plans for different subjects to get teachers started using Collaborize Classroom with their classes.
What about the kids who do not have Internet at home?
Teachers using Collaborize Classroom have found that students who do not have online connections at home are still able to access Collaborize Classroom using the Internet in libraries, at friends’ houses or while at school.
How do I get started?
Go to http://CollaborizeClassroom.com and fill out the form. Registering for and setting up your site takes less than five minutes! Once your site is set up, you’ll have access to free teaching resources and lesson plans that will help get you started with having successful online discussions.
How do I get my students started?
Once you set up your Collaborize Classroom site, you’ll receive an email with a dedicated URL to your private online community. You can give the link to your students and invite them to register. Only students or members you’ve approved can see the contents of your Collaborize Classroom site
Oh, and did we mention? Collaborize Classroom is free.
If you have any additional questions, please reach out to us on Twitter at @Collaborize, or email me at shana@collaborizeclassroom.com or you can take a look at our FAQ’s here : http://collaborizeclassroom.com/resources.
Today (Monday February 28th) is the last day to register for the CUE 2011 Annual Conference happening in Palm Springs from March 17-19th. Teachers – This is going to be a great conference with sessions teaching you how to interact with students through social media, blended learning and educational technology.
