Today I want to share with you a simple but powerful online tool that enables students to share, discuss and decide on ideas.
It is called Tricider, and among other
features, allows for online brainstorming and decision taking based on most
voted ideas. Here is the access link: https://www.tricider.com/home
How it works
A person posts a question. This is available right on the home page You just have to type your question and then
click ‘Go’.
Others -and you too - give their ideas (Using
the ‘Add idea’ button and then saving it.)
Present arguments for or against the ideas
and then vote.
In their turn, voters can also present
their own ideas and arguments and be voted. A participant can also present an argument against
an idea, which implicitly justifies their not voting for it.
The tool does not require signing up from participants
in the decision making. Participants can be invited through a link that can be sent
via e-mail or social media, or by copying and pasting it to any platform that reads text.
Let’s now see how Tricider can help us in our teaching.
Tricider can be used for collaboration. More
specifically, it can be used for tasks involving reaching consensus and
decision making. Students can be presented with a situation on which they need
to decide by everyone presenting their ideas and arguments to support them,
followed by a discussion that is done by others supporting, presenting their
counter arguments, or voting. The most voted idea becomes the decision.
For example, imagine that you planned a series of online presentations, and you want students to decide on the best day of the week and time for the presentations to take place. You can create the question on Tricider and share the link to the class WhatsApp group (or any other communication platform you use). See the example here.
It is important to give explicit
instructions on what students are expected to do and include a short
explanation on how to use the platform for that purpose.
For example, the task above it could be
shared as this:
Hey all,
I would like to know when you think is
the best day of the week and time for your presentations.
Please follow this link http://www.tricider.com/brainstorming/37vxMoJidQV to share your ideas.
[While attaching
a screenshot of the question page you could add the following explanation]
Click on “Add idea” to give your idea.
Click on “Add argument” to give your
justification
Click on “vote” to support an idea that
you like
To increase the likelihood of students’ participation
I think it is important to set some rules. For example, that everyone should present
an idea and either present an argument for their idea, or against someone else’s.
Another aspect that might increase participation is that fact the decision to
be taken be on a real matter. In this way students will be using language genuinely.
In this example the teacher is the one starting the discussion but in other instances you could encourage students to start their own questions.
Summary of advantages and affordances for learning
- Allows for the practice of students' writing skills integrated with reading
- Opportunity for students to improve their digital literacy skills
- Simple
interface, which is good for students and teachers who are beginners in the
digital world;
- Low data
costs: unless one decides to add a picture or video, for a simple decision-making
activity involving text the site does not involve heavy data processing;
- No subscription
needed: in some contexts, students do not have e-mail accounts and having
a tool that does not require one is an advantage;
- A good combination of language learning, collaboration, digital literacy skill, and autonomy.
Limitations
This is risky to write, but as long as
there is Internet access available to students and teacher, I honestly cannot
find a limitation with this tool. But this could just be from the context I am
writing. What do you think? What are some of the limitations that you see in
the tool? Please share in the comments.
Thank you for reading and see you next
week!
Cândida
