#  Tech Tool Suite 

 



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GSE IT provides a suite of tools to assist online teaching and support in-person teaching. All the tools listed have been vetted to meet security and digital accessibility standards, and are recommended by learning design teams at the school including those in the TLL and in GSE IT.

If you wish to tool that is *not* listed, you must contact us first. Please note that tools such as Miro and Padlet, for example, ought not to be used as they fail conditions for use with Harvard students.

## Slack

**Slack** is a powerful communications hub. Its features allow users to exchange ideas and create connections in real-time. It is enabled within the course template and merely requires activating in the Canvas site's Navigation tab in Settings.

Slack is best suited for situations that call for:

- Asynchronous student discussions (Discuss).
- Asynchronous and synchronous communication (Communication).
- Community-building (Community).

Some specific use cases for Slack include:

- Using random encounters to create study groups.
- Providing quick answers to student questions about homework assignments.
- enhancing student empowerment around community-building.
- encouraging students to share and discuss course content and experiences.
- quickly exchanging information between students and the teaching team.
- providing students with feedback and clarifying questions in real-time.
- Sharing audiovisual content.
- Commenting and annotating audiovisual content.
- Assess audiovisual assignments submitted by students.

In the following links you will find guides and tips to improve your use of Slack in your course.

- [Slack Grid | Harvard University Information Technology](https://huit.harvard.edu/slack)
- [Create a Slack workspace for your Canvas course site - IT Help (service-now.com)](https://harvard.service-now.com/ithelp?id=kb_article&sys_id=344c04bbdb73449430ed1dca48961978)
- [Quick Start: using a Slack workspace - IT Help (service-now.com)](https://harvard.service-now.com/ithelp?id=kb_article&sys_id=e0521098db7b041030ed1dca489619c7)
- [Manage members in Slack - IT Help (service-now.com)](https://harvard.service-now.com/ithelp?id=kb_article&sys_id=3817506fdb73cc5430ed1dca4896195e)
- [Using Slack | Slack](https://slack.com/help/categories/200111606)
- [Best practices for using Slack in a course - IT Help (service-now.com)](https://harvard.service-now.com/ithelp?id=kb_article&sys_id=64944afedb8a105460c0d9fcd3961987)
- [Comprehensive "Slack for the Classroom" slide deck (Google Slides)](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WcgNz2STWU2UyM8Csdq7q4CS91wj6vZZ2CcMRlNYq0E/edit)

## Harmonize

**Harmonize** is an excellent alternative to Canvas discussions and integrates well into your Canvas course site. It also provides an excellent means of administering video-based assignments and some peer review situations. It is enabled within the course template and merely requires activating in the Canvas site's Navigation tab in Settings.

Harmonize is best suited for situations that call for:

- Asynchronous student discussions (Discuss).
- Asynchronous and synchronous communication (Communication).
- Student reflection on peer or instructor generated content (Reflect).
- Assessing asynchronous student interactions (Assess).

Some specific use cases for Harmonize include:

- Creating class-wide discussions around a text, video, or image.
- Assigning small group discussions around a set of prompts.
- Creating anonymous discussions.
- Tracking individual and class engagement with specific prompts.
- Creating graded assignments that can be viewed in SpeedGrader.

## Teachly

**Teachly** is a web application, preinstalled in Canvas, that helps faculty teach more effectively and inclusively. It is enabled within the course template and merely requires activating in the Canvas site's Navigation tab in Settings. The key features are:

- **Student** **Profiles** - Enrich classroom discussion through searchable profiles on students' backgrounds and interests.
- **Interactive Seating Charts** - Track which students participate and easily identify classroom blind spots through heat maps.
- **Real-Time Analytics** - Identify participation patterns with session-by-session analytics dashboards.

For more on how Teachly works and how to incorporate it effectively into your teaching, please take a look at the [Teachly website](https://teachly.me/) and/or contact [Josh Bookin](mailto:josh_bookin@gse.harvard.edu), Director of Instructional Support and Development.

## Survey Tools

Surveying or polling tools available are:

- [Qualtrics](https://harvard.qualtrics.com)
    - [Getting Started with Qualtrics | HUIT](https://harvard.service-now.com/ithelp/qualtrics.harvard.edu?id=kb_article&sys_id=902a3b2cdb0f609060c0d9fcd39619d4)
- [Poll Everywhere](https://polleverywhere.harvard.edu)
    - [Getting Started with Poll Everywhere | HUIT](https://harvard.service-now.com/ithelp/qualtrics.harvard.edu?id=kb_article&sys_id=6f71a35097722950d8353b47f053afcf)
- [Microsoft Forms](https://forms.microsoft.com)

All faculty, staff, and students have access to these tools automatically - you do not need to request an account. Merely login at the link provided.