I am teaching a large course on Russian and Eastern European science fiction in translation. The course integrates technology in several ways, but a notable new approach that I see a lot of potential in is in my use of the tool called Pear Deck.
Pear Deck is an application that allows students to respond to my questions using computers or mobile devices during my class. Because it is a large class, it is impossible to ensure that every individual participates in the discussion orally; however, this tool allows me to make sure that each individual does participate in the course discussion in other ways. Pear Deck allows various question types, including text entry, dragging objects on the screen, and drawing. I can bring up student responses on the projector without their names, which can allow them to contribute ideas that they might not have been comfortable saying out loud, and I can scan through responses to provide a glimpse of views on a particular topic. I have found this approach very rewarding. I include some screenshots from student responses below.
