What if teacher and students shared a discussion group, such as Whatsapp, closed and protected from external influences? This is the experience of Damien Waisse, English teacher at the Nicolas Ledoux high school in Besançon, thanks to an application developed in the academy: Blablacl @ sse.
A social network between teacher and students
“It was a math colleague who introduced me to Blablacl @ sse”, says Damien Waisse. While the two teachers do not share the same educational organization during confinement, mutual aid between colleagues and the academy’s concern to provide teachers with a protected application, lead to the dissemination of Blablacl @ sse.
“Blablacl @ sse is a protected social network that presents itself as a chat in which you can animate a conversation like in Whatsapp”, says D Waisse. “But Blablacl @ sse is compliant with the RGPD and closed”. To create a group in Blablacl @ sse it must be registered in the personal files of the academy. You can’t invite someone from outside.
On the other hand, it works very well between teachers and students. “I create a group. I send an invitation to my students. They answer and here they are in Blablacl @ sse on their smartphone”, says D Waisse.
Simultaneous written expression
How to use it in English class? “I first used it to discuss with the group of students who were at home, during the half-gauge period, while the students present were doing homework. I send them iconographic documents and I open a discussion . The pupils participate in writing. I observe the exchanges between pupils. And in the end I have a written record, “explains D Waisse. “We can also work asynchronously with the students. This keeps the link with the students.”
If Blablacl @ sse meets the needs of educational continuity, it has other advantages. “What’s interesting is the simultaneous written interaction, which you never do in class,” says Dr. Waisse. “We can use spontaneous written expression in a personal way that we cannot see and do in classical lessons. We can intervene directly in a personal way with a student. The text is recorded and we can also rework it more. late “.
For him, “being a moderator is a real plus. We see the students participate and get involved. We discover the first draft of their expression that we never see. We can help each student to improve his production”.
Does Blablacl @ sse have a future if the start of the school year is normal? “We can imagine an intermediate spot in a sequence. We sometimes offer them this type of activity artificially. There we can do it for real.”
Interview by F Jarraud
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