Figjam lets students weigh in with their own reactions and responses on a virtual classroom whiteboard.
Studies have shown that technology can lead to social isolation among young people, but what if there were online tools that helped boost student collaboration and communication?
It may sound like a contradiction, but a shared board, a collaborative doc, or a class Kahoot aren’t screens that pull students apart. Instead, these platforms can actually pull students into conversation with one another.
Many of us know and like Google Classroom, but rather than a destination, I prefer to see it as a hub or a digital filing cabinet. It’s worth reaching past the basic set of Google tools to explore the more innovative online options listed below:
Padlet is chart paper’s digital equivalent: Instead of having to roll it up and store it, Padlet always lives online to refer back to or repurpose.
Drop a question or a prompt on a shared board and let students post text, images, links or even short videos, all landing in the same space in real time. That means every voice shows up on the board at once instead of five hands going up while the rest of the class checks out. I’ve used it for gallery walks, do-nows, KWL (Know, Want to know, Learned) charts, and even a running class glossary that students build together.
FigJam provides students with a shared digital canvas where they can brainstorm, plan and problem-solve together. Teachers can create templates for group work, like KWL charts, sentence starters or story webs, then watch collaboration happen in real time.
FigJam is especially good for English language learners and special needs students who need processing time to craft responses, as well as quieter students who may not be comfortable raising a hand in a room of 25 but still have plenty to say on their own terms.
Book Creator turns collaboration into something students actually finish and can hold onto. Small groups can co-write a digital book, combining text, drawings, narration and embedded audio.
Any subject matter works and on any grade level — from a picture book in an elementary integrated co-teaching class to a multimedia research project as a high school social studies assignment. Finished books can be downloaded, made into ebooks or printed.
Kahoot! is known as a game-creation tool, but the collaborative version — with which students can build questions for one another, or compete in teams — turns review sessions into a shared project.
Students designing their own Kahoots as a culminating activity does more for retention than any worksheet ever could.
Canva Education is free for K–12 teachers and students, and its shared boards let a group build a single infographic, presentation or poster together in real time, watching one another’s edits appear live.
Canva builds students’ design skills and allows for trial and error, as opposed to a poster done in permanent marker. Canva lets you download finished designs so they can be printed and displayed or used as elements in other projects.
None of these platforms replace good pedagogy, and no app can magically make an activity collaborative on its own. But paired with the right task, each of these tools has the power to get students building something together.