Using Slack for Communication in Courses

14 December 2020
By Brett Coup

Many of Carleton’s online computer science courses supplement Moodle with Slack for class communications. Slack is a messaging system that’s used a lot for team communication in business settings, and we use it here at Carleton every day in ITS.  Slack uses “channels” to organize ongoing conversations and can be a handy replacement for email.

in Computer Science, however, Slack also replaces Moodle discussion forums and announcements for class communication. Amy Csizmar Dalal teaches Computer Networking and uses Slack almost entirely for communicating with her students. Amy reports that Slack is easier to navigate and use, and that more natural and authentic conversations arise in Slack than in online discussion groups. Previously Amy would use email to send her students information about the course, feedback on assignments and exams, and other information about the course, but now this information is all found in an #Announcements channel in Slack. Likewise, online discussion around course topics previously happened in Moodle discussion groups, but now has moved to Slack.

Amy reports that it’s not very challenging for her students to get used to using Slack. She makes it clear in the Syllabus that it will be the mechanism for course communication, and makes a point during the first few weeks of class to make sure everyone is comfortable using all the tech tools required for the class, Slack included. She ways that most computer science students use Slack and are already familiar with it, but even the new students catch on quickly.

As a part of their coursework, students in Amy’s class have to post answers to required readings, and this often happens in Slack  (although sometimes this particular activity is moved to Hypothes.is).  If students email her directly with questions, she says that she’ll ask for permission to repost their question – without their name – in Slack and answer it there, so that everyone can benefit from the question and answer. She reports that other students will also answer questions, and a healthy, ongoing dialog has developed in Slack around the course content.

At the same time, Amy also uses Moodle extensively for her course. The syllabus, the course calendar, and assignments are all in Moodle, and she uses the Moodle gradebook for grades. Communication, however, has been moved out to Slack.

If you’re interested in trying Slack yourself, visit Slack.com and sign up with your Carleton email address. Be sure to uncheck “It’s ok to send me emails about Slack.”  Once you have an account, click Create New Workshpace and then move through the prompts. You’ll see where you can invite your students to join your workspace and how to create various channels, which can keep the conversation organized. 

Learn more about using Slack in your classes from Carleton’s Learning and Teaching Center.