Over 6,000 institutions in 32 countries rely on CLASSUM for their education. In this blog, we will share some success stories in professors’ words about their experiences using CLASSUM. Find out how they use the platform to engage students and build collaborative learning communities in their class.
“Even without my engagement, they resolved their issues”
- Hyung-Tae Kim, Assistant Professor, California State University
What challenges did you have with your students?
My accounting students are shy and do not easily speak out in class. So sometimes, I do not understand what they are thinking about. It’s very hard to recognize if anyone has trouble or issues with their study. Not many students try to share their opinions and questions. That’s why I thought interaction would increase if they could communicate with me at their convenience. The more I know and communicate with my students, the better I can try to help them. What I found about my students this semester is that they’re not used to in-person classes yet because they had classes over Zoom for two years. So, get easily distracted during offline lectures.
How did CLASSUM help you resolve these issues?
CLASSUM helps lower the communication barrier for my students, and they can approach other students or me a lot easier. During the pandemic, we could not meet in person. Students had to go online and take their classes over Zoom; they got used to communicating with other classmates via messaging apps or email. Therefore, when we switched to an in-person format, my students had difficulty communicating with other students or professors. Fortunately, CLASSUM was able to help my students overcome such communication difficulties and initiate discussions anytime, anywhere.
Can you describe your experience using CLASSUM in detail?
One day, a student asked me a question on CLASSUM. Luckily, I was on the phone and immediately responded to my student’s question. For that reason, my student started to use CLASSUM more frequently by asking questions through the app.
Another student had a question about an assignment that was due right before the deadline. Other students shared the same issue that the student had and helped answer the question. Even without my involvement, they resolved this issue and successfully submitted their assignments. I felt relieved and assured that I was not the only one in the class.
“Passive and introverted students started participating more”
- June Lee, Assistant Professor, University of San Francisco
How did students respond to using CLASSUM?
Students were excited, and the responses were positive. Students quickly picked up how to use CLASSUM. In the case of undergraduate students, the Generation Z, it seems that most of them understood how to use CLASSUM well without being taught how to use it. There are many elements similar to existing social media platforms, online games, and other communication tools, so they seem to have adapted quickly.
In what way did CLASSUM change your class?
Passive and introverted students started participating more. Some international students were always quiet in class, but I witnessed them actively participating in discussions in the CLASSUM Space. This made me realize that rather than having no questions, these students may have simply hesitated due to feeling the pressure of speaking in English in class. I think CLASSUM is a space where many students who feel uncomfortable with verbal expression can communicate comfortably. In this regard, if CLASSUM is used not only in online classes but also in in-person classes, I think it will be possible to combine the advantages of verbal and text-based communication to increase student engagement.
Any words for other professors considering using new online tools like CLASSUM?
Nowadays, students learn online without having to do anything online. As an educator, I think embracing the skills students want to use is necessary. Students always have a laptop and cell phone with them. So I think making use of these tools to lead meaningful learning is much better and more efficient than trying to avoid them. There are a lot of Edtech tools out there, but you have to consider the things you are trying to achieve with those tools. If you want to encourage collaboration and communication with students as well as is done between you and your TAs, CLASSUM can be a great tool.
“CLASSUM allowed me to view student participation as valuable data for teaching.”
- Myunghwan Shin, Assistant Professor, California State University
How do you use CLASSUM in your class?
Unlike traditional classes, students mostly work on group projects in my class. CLASSUM was used for fostering active discussions, sharing materials within each group, collaborating, and gaining insights while watching others’ activities. Separate Spaces were created for each group so that questions and answers related to the projects and discussions were shared in each space before, during, and after class.
What do you like about CLASSUM?
I like that it’s collaborative as it encourages everyone to contribute. Students can answer each other’s questions and everything can be nicely categorized with hashtags. We can have a conversation where things are recorded and remain in one place. CLASSUM is an easy platform to learn how to use and doesn’t require much effort from students. Seamless integration with Canvas is also nice. It seems that students prefer using tools that they can access right away from Canvas.
How is CLASSUM different from an LMS?
I’m using Canvas, and it has so many functions that are not easy to use. However, in CLASSUM, you make a few decisions when you set it up, and then after that it’s quite intuitive and straightforward. Also, in general, LMS seems to focus on evaluation, data collection, and analysis. But CLASSUM also analyzes qualitative data such as the content of conversation and level of participation which helps understand students’ participation and improve the quality of classes. It was nice to check student participation at a glance. CLASSUM allowed me to view student participation as valuable data for teaching.
Conclusion
CLASSUM helps break communication barriers and build learning environments that foster growth and collaboration. Using the appropriate platform is a critical part of supporting not only students but also instructors to succeed. CLASSUM allows instructors to create and maintain a classroom environment where all learners are connected and engaged in the learning. With CLASSUM, a ‘class’ can become a ‘forum’ where students ask, answer, and discuss creative ideas with each other.
Learn more about CLASSUM 👉 www.classum.com
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