Rise and Shine: Using Wakelet to Promote Student Interaction and Collaboration

In this presentation, Professor Chrystal Trapani and Professor Kristen White of Old Dominion University will dive into how engaging students in a digital environment does not have to be limited to word processing workspaces. They will introduce their use of Wakelet, which is a content curation platform that allows for the gathering, curation, and presentation of a concept as a digital pinboard. A Wakelet may hold links, social media posts, videos, documents, and original content as a collection for private or public presentation. Chrystal Trapani and Kristen White will give examples as to how they use this platform for student success, interaction, and collaboration.

About the Presenters:
Chrystal Trapani is an Instructional Technologist with the Center for Learning and Teaching and an adjunct instructor in the Department of English at Old Dominion University. Chrystal has crafted tech-forward activities in her composition courses for over twelve years. She blends her experience working with first-generation and non-traditional students, curriculum development, creating interactive and accessible online course content, and training and mentoring faculty in order to help them achieve positive student outcomes and success. In working with faculty, she helps her colleagues gain strong, working knowledge of how to make course content successful for students of all learning abilities. Chrystal continues her commitment to teaching so she can share personal classroom experiences with faculty.

Kristin White is an Instructional Technologist with the Center for Learning and Teaching at Old Dominion University; she is the university’s lead Zoom trainer. Kristin has been an integral part of ODU’s transition to remote teaching during COVID-19 and continues to develop and facilitate faculty support on topics including Zoom, Blackboard, VoiceThread, Kaltura, and other instructional technologies via workshops, consultations, videos, and support documentation. While building online interactive activities for faculty, she has noticed the absence of basic accessibility knowledge and does her best to inform and educate others on how to make content accessible to all learners.