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There are so many ways that you can actually use Miro in your online classrooms. I’m going to go through some of them. The first one is brainstorming. You can actually get students to use sticky notes to brainstorm ideas on the digital whiteboard.
The second one is mind mapping where if there is a difficult concept and you want them to understand and unpack the concept, you can get students to actually write their thoughts down either using the text box or there are all the sticky notes and then you can actually organize them into a coherent structure so that students can see the themes that pop up. Another example is using it for concept maps. So if you want to illustrate relationships between concepts, you can get students to use the sticky notes again to put their points in, and then organizing them and help them see the relationships between the different concept and how that can actually be connected to the bigger concept that you are trying to show it to them in class.
And finally, interactive presentations are a great way to get students to be more creative. I find that my students really like to use images, graphics, to explore the concepts that we are covering in class together. So, you can actually break them out into groups and you can get them to do their individual group presentations using visual images that really aids in the learning process and also, it is exciting for students and enhances the engagement even further.
In this lesson, we will explore some of the well-established ways of using Miro for learning and teaching:
- Collaborative brainstorming: You can create a brainstorming board and invite students to contribute their ideas using sticky notes or other visual elements. The board can be used to generate ideas for a group project, classroom discussion, or essay topic. The same can be done with your colleagues for lesson planning where you and your colleagues can add ideas, resources, and activities.
- Mind mapping: You can use Miro to create a mind map. Students can contribute their ideas and you can organize them into a coherent structure. Mind maps can be used to explore a topic, plan a project, or study for a test.
- Project management: You can use Miro to manage group projects by creating a task list, assigning tasks to students, and monitoring progress. Students can update their progress in real-time and collaborate on tasks using visual elements like sticky notes or timelines.
- Concept maps: Teachers can create a concept map to illustrate the relationships between different concepts in a topic. Students can add their own ideas and connect them to existing concepts. Concept maps are useful for visualizing complex topics and understanding how ideas relate to each other.
- Interactive presentations: You can use Miro to create interactive presentations by adding visual elements like images, videos, and diagrams. Students can interact with the presentation by adding their own ideas and comments in real-time.
- Visualizing learning objectives: You can use Miro to create visual representations of learning objectives. For instance, they can use it to create mind maps or concept maps that can help your colleagues understand complex concepts. The same can be done for curriculum mapping where you can create a visual representation of the curriculum and this would help you see how different topics and concepts are connected and how you can integrate them into your lessons.
- Collaborative feedback and reflection: You can use Miro to provide feedback and reflection on your teaching practice. For instance, you can use it to collaborate on lesson observations, peer reviews, and self-assessments.
One of the courses that I have been instructing for several years is Consumer Psychology, which aims to equip students with an understanding of the decision-making process that consumers undergo when purchasing products or services. In traditional face-to-face classes, I would easily illustrate this process using a whiteboard. However, when we transitioned to online instruction, it became challenging to convey this information effectively. This is where Miro proved to be a valuable tool. I created a table on the digital whiteboard with headers that corresponded to the various stages of the consumer decision-making process (see the PDF below). I provided clear instructions for each category (instructional scaffolding), and students were able to share their responses using sticky notes. It was gratifying to observe how rapidly students grasped the concepts and collaborated effectively. Additionally, I noticed that several students struggled with the final stage of the process (Purchase Decision), which indicated to me that I needed to provide further clarification in this area.
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Discussions
Now that you have gained insight into various ways that Miro can be utilized in online classrooms, how could you use one of the strategies described above in a current course you are teaching?
Please share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below.