Slack in education: a voice platform for quiet students a personal reflection using drawings

Thesis (M.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2023In this thesis, I will be exploring how Slack can be used as a platform for quiet students in the classroom. I do this by referring to barriers I faced as a quiet student myself. These barriers include the competitive atmosphere of learning, unheard communications for help, unread and unanswered emails, and limited connections with my teachers. The scholarship on Slack's presence in education hasn't yet researched the topic of Slack as a platform for quiet students to find their voice. In this thesis, I explore my own experiences as a quiet student and as a teacher using Slack; I don't have qualitative or quantitative research, however, my work is a start. I explore the ways that Slack can be researched and used as a tool in the classroom to give every student a voice, a place to express themselves, and a place to connect with their classes and their learning more deeply. While exploring the ways that Slack's platform can be used in a class, I use hand-drawn comics throughout my thesis; one of Slack's most powerful tools is its access to so many multimodalities. With my comics, my goal is to provide a deeper understanding on the affects and benefits of using multimodalities in a learning setting.Chapter 1. Introduction. Chapter 2. Barriers for the quiet students in a traditional classroom -- 2.1. Introducing silence as a lack of voice -- 2.2. The competitive learning atmosphere for attention -- 2.3. Unheard communications for help -- 2.4. Unread and unanswered -- 2.5. Delayed and limited in the margins. Chapter 3. Using slack as a tool to clear out barriers -- 3.1. Slack's growing presence in education -- 3.2. A noncompetitive and collaborative learning atmosphere for attention -- 3.3. Heard communications for help -- 3.4. Read and answered -- 3.5. Direct and limitless in multimodalities instead of margins. Chapter 4. Conclusion -- References

Graduate Catalog, 1999-2002, New Jersey Institute of Technology

https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/coursecatalogs/1004/thumbnail.jp

2008-2009, University of Memphis bulletin

University of Memphis bulletin containing the graduate catalog for 2008-2009.https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-ua-pub-bulletins/1428/thumbnail.jp

2006-2007, University of Memphis bulletin

University of Memphis bulletin containing the graduate catalog for 2006-2007.https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-ua-pub-bulletins/1426/thumbnail.jp

2007-2008, University of Memphis bulletin

University of Memphis bulletin containing the graduate catalog for 2007-2008.https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-ua-pub-bulletins/1427/thumbnail.jp

Factors That Contribute to Lower Enrollments of Underrepresented Minority and Female Graduate Students in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) at Bay Area California State University Campuses and Mitigating Factors From Student Perspectives

Over the last decade the Bay Area region has witnessed a lack of diversity in Silicon Valley technology professions, a subject of current political and popular discourse. The California State University (CSU) system provides accessible higher education; the CSU system approach to accessible higher education affirms the distinctness of regions, prepares graduates for professions in these distinct regions, and affirms the diversity in the state and the world. The CSU fall 2019 - 2021 enrollment dashboard data indicated there was a decrease in enrollment of underrepresented minority (URM) in graduate programs across three Bay Area campuses. Public fall 20119 - 2021 enrollment data disaggregated by degree program indicates URM participation in Computer and Information Sciences decreased to less than 10% of the graduate student body across the three Bay Area campuses; URM enrollment levels a decrease to approximately 10% at the graduate level in Engineering. Graduate education is a lever of social mobility, professional advancement, and provides opportunities to access knowledge economy professions.The Bay Area CSU campuses are situated at the nexus of the knowledge economy. The decrease in URM student participation in related disciplines at the graduate level is a problem of practice that raises questions of the role and mission of the CSU. Equity in opportunity in a regional economy dominated by technology professions intersects with CSU graduate education as a lever of social change and social mobility. Underrepresentation of minorities in technology professions and in graduate education is not without social consequences. A homogenous Bay Area knowledge economy workforce may result in new layers of digital infrastructures and applications that reinforce dominant cultural perspectives and biases. This qualitative research study explores the experiences, perceptions, and attitudes of URM graduate students in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) disciplines at three public universities situated in the Silicon Valley knowledge economy. A transformative worldview and critical theory guide case study data collection and analysis of semi-structured interviews, a focus group, and qualitative textual analysis of related CSE policy, research, and graduate community content at the three Bay Area CSU campuses. This exploratory research study attempts to uncover the sense making and meanings URM graduate students construct through the graduate student lifecycle. This study focuses on graduate students who succeed in academic cultures that are selective, competitive, homogenous, and that may be unwelcoming. This research may guide higher education reform to recognize inherent assets, talents, and aspirations URM students bring into academic culture and thus reshape campus cultures toward diversity and inclusion

2005-2006, University of Memphis bulletin

University of Memphis bulletin containing the graduate catalog for 2005-2006.https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-ua-pub-bulletins/1425/thumbnail.jp

2003-2005, University of Memphis bulletin

University of Memphis bulletin containing the graduate catalog for 2003-2005.https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-ua-pub-bulletins/1424/thumbnail.jp