I HAVE THREE different identities on Trello and one big incentive to reactivate my Trello Gold acccount--my best student knows dozens of others would appreciate seeing their activities tracked inside Trello's friendly and colourful interface.
I have too many check-off lists in my life and lack the focus needed to actually nail down and complete very important tasks. Trello is forcing me to prioritise some of my time by focusing me on the activities that produce the greatest engagement among students. Trello's notification system prods me to respond to student work very quickly, often with a simple emoji but always with some form of feedback. Knowing that's happening is a powerful reason to use Trello in higher education.
I have also discovered Trello is helping me iterate and prototype ladders of assessment because Trello's interface encourages me to keep things simple for the small screens students are using to navigate through the various boards and lists I've prepared. The lists come from long form tastings on Moodle and my shortened versions have resulted in much higher levels of participation from students during field exercises.
But the biggest reason I enjoy using Trello is its use causes me to review my assessment mechanisms. During my reviews of the practical sessions, I've culled extraneous material and redirected attention on the most important tasks. I believe that renewed focus will improve student performance and ensure we will be able to accomplish more sophisticated tastings in the months ahead.
You should check back for an update in mid-March when I plan to comment on this blog post with a recap at the halfway point in the spring semester 2017.
[Bernie Goldbach teaches creative business in the Limerick Institute of Technology. He produced the image and screenshot for this post while using an iPad Mini in The Workbench with sports management students.]
