Three Technologies for Communicating

#1: Pronto

Pronto is basically a texting tool and functions much like a group chat platform. Students can collaborate with students as well as teachers with simple texts from their phone (if they download the app) as well as directly through the LMS (it integrates with Canvas and Blackboard). Students can get quick answers to their questions, organize study groups, watch posted videos or live-streams, and meet via the video conferencing feature on the app. It also has an instant translation feature.

Pronto can also be used among faculty. This is my experience with using this tech tool. A Pronto group is established through the department LMS site (my college uses Canvas), and faculty can communicate quickly to exchange ideas. This is particularly valuable for adjunct and new faculty to get quick answers, tips, and advice when designing curriculum, dealing with a particular student situation, needing information on an institutional process, or quickly exchanging information to prepare for a meeting.

For department use, Pronto used only in Canvas works best when certain faculty are responsible for checking the platform regularly. It will show up on the Canvas dashboard, but messages can quickly add up and become overwhelming, as faculty have a several classes and responsibilities to attend to. Likewise, students have several classes and other responsibilities too. For this reason, I believe that it is absolutely necessary for faculty and students to have the Pronto app on their phone. In this way, the platform can be used in a way that is most familiar and will be more readily available for the quick exchanges that the platform is most valuable for.

I have not used Pronto with students, but my exchanges with other faculty who have reveal that it can be a powerful communication tool for students but that it is necessary for them to download the app early in the semester and for the instructor to initiate use of the platform (if the students are initially hesitant). All in all, it takes work on the instructor's part at the beginning of the semester for the platform to be effective with students. If integrated with attention to setting up a social learning environment that is mobile accessible, instructors will likely see Pronto being used as a powerful communication tool that fosters student relationships and enhances student collaboration and learner autonomy.

#2: Flip

Flip is the new name for Flipgrid, a platform for communicating through short videos. I have heard a lot about this platform from teachers, who have touted its use in discussion boards as an equitable alternative to written responses. The change in name is one result of Microsoft recently buying the platform, and Microsoft provides a thorough tutorial for the product, replete with a list of strategies for several contexts, from pre-K to Universities as well as for organizations and families.

Flip can be used not only for discussion board assignments, but for office hours; student, faculty, and guest presentations; and for group projects and presentations, or simply for group study. Taylor and Hinchman's (2020) article "Strategies for using Flipgrid in education" relates increased student success due to Flip's capability to enhance two-way and group communication efficiently. Though most examples come from using Flip in kinesiology courses, it illustrates activities with Flip that are easily transferable to other contexts.

The fact that Flip is also entirely free to use, functions well on mobile devices, and integrates with LMSs (such as Canvas and Moodle) makes this platform at least a "must try" for educators.

One concern with using student generated videos is the issue of compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This concern was voiced within my college's distance education committee when discussing the platform. Flip's accessibility page covers these concerns, stating that captions are automatically generated for videos and that the platform integrates Microsoft's immersive reader. But, as we all know, computer generated captions are not perfect; a common accuracy percentage is 85%, though it can be more or less accurate depending on the clarity and pronunciation of the speaker. Flip, however, does allow the instructor to adjust captions for student videos. This can be a time consuming task, perhaps even too time consuming; in classes with student need for ADA compliance, I recommend that the institution provide instructional support to make sure captions are accurate. A work-around for this would be for students to link in a transcript with the video, though I do not recommend this as this extra task would likely take away the "efficiency" of the tool, which is a central feature that influences student collaboration and success.

#3: WhatsApp

There are several other messaging apps that you can use outside of Pronto. The unique feature about Pronto is that is integrates with Canvas and other LMSs. But we have to acknowledge that Pronto will be new to most students, and they will have to download yet another communication app on their mobile devices. What if we used one that was already on their phone?

You may want to let student culture take the lead with this and simply use what your students are already using, such as Snapchat or WhatsApp. These are the two most popular messaging platforms in the USA; however, WhatsApp is far more popular on a global scale, and it is a more versatile platform than Snapchat as well.

In WhatsApp, teachers and students can communicate with group texts, voice messages, and videos, as well as send documents and other media to each other. The video call feature also makes students-teacher conferences a possibility as well as student collaboration on projects or routine study. WhatsApp is also accessible on your home computer, either through the app or website, which increases its functionality for group meet-ups or for even facilitating entire synchronous online lessons.

Key to the appeal of WhatsApp is the fact that it works in low internet connectivity areas. One thing this suggest is that WhatsApp classes can be a very equitable alternative to synchronous Zoom meetings if connectivity is an issue. This also makes WhatsApp a go-to technology tool for education in communities that routinely experience issues resulting from low internet connectivity. The video below offers an example of teaching a professional development workshop online with WhatsApp.