Slack is a very helpful collaborative online tool which can be used for any workplace. It can be used as a primary source of sharing information and exchanging thoughts along with live updates from your colleagues/ educators. Especially while working remotely during this pandemic, Slack can be very useful. It has a free version which allows the members to use the basic features and three different paid versions to choose, based on the company requirements.
In today’s digital world, technology use in the classroom has undoubtedly increased. There are several Learning Management Systems (LMSs). But these LMSs are not user-friendly when we want to use them on mobile devices. Moreover, beyond concerns about user-friendliness, the discussion forums in most LMSs are designed in such a manner that students who post are not able to see the feedback that peers provide in a real-time manner (even though they may get some notifications via email). Additionally, most LMSs make it difficult to search previous threads and to find specific items that were mentioned in earlier discussions. If we want students to engage with discussion in a timely manner – and if we may want them to go back to find information from previous discussions that could still be useful for them through searching or tagging – LMS discussion boards are quite limited in their use. Especially for students used to the immediacy of social media, Slack not only creates similar fun and enjoyable parts but also invites students to use the literacy practices that they are accustomed to from social media settings.
Slack can be easily integrated with your learning style and can be used on mobile devices and computers. It is similar to a private chat room, but with a lot more interesting and helpful features. Slack is organized into different Channels for different topic discussions, based on the subject and class teachers can create different Channels. In normal class, students email their questions, their concerns to their teachers. It takes some time to type any formal email and to get the answer and act accordingly. Slack can help to cut down this extra time and allow immediate interaction.
- Kalpana