Reporting the Use of an Innovative Platform for Online Teaching and Teamwork

Abstract The introduction of a new and innovative teaching platform is shared. The motivation for the use of the platform was to increase student affability and functionality for teamwork sessions. The advantage of the platform is that it provides for live, virtual teaching and learning events, where networking between students scan proceed in a real-time face-to-face virtual environment. The testing of the platform proceeded first, followed by incorporation into a number of voluntary engineering and education courses. The response of the students and instructors has been overwhelmingly positive. The versatility of the platform has led to it being used for a variety of other programs; including university administrative forums, outreach, and numerous university events ranging from eSports meetings to outreach programs, such as GEAR UP and Upward Bound, and research programs, including team meetings, advising meetings and grant development meetings. Given the recent wholescale move to online learning platforms, platform has broad application for university coursework and laboratory programs. There is a real need to innovate and adapt to serve our students, who are thirsty for tech tools that are more like the traditional classrooms that they are all used to using. The innovative platform being shared is much more akin to their regular classroom environment, enabling students to both discuss active learning within a table of students, and to move freely between tables of students, in a virtual classroom setting which has the overarching comfort of seeming like a regular classroom of sorts; which is seen by students to be a distinguishing advantage. The response of all stakeholders who have used the platform has been highly positive, with requests leading to growth in use and breadth of application. These experiences are shared with the thought that the platform has broad appeal for future use in a wide range of settings. We will share the history of the development of the platform, the early design uses, and subsequent application in the higher education teaching and learning space.