Primary sources, secondary sources, and the ability to create and collaborate are reasons why Actively Learn is a great space to encourage classroom research.
Teachers can assign primary sources to their classes and work through note-taking using the “highlight and take a note” option. Questions can be embedded (many are already included), but teachers can modify as needed. In addition to primary sources, teachers can create text-sets that include textbook selections, related articles, videos, books and more. Assigning work is one way research can be conducted with Actively Learn.
Actively Learn also offers a place for students to create their own research projects. One of the struggles new researchers face is the ability to organize their resources. Actively Learn makes this easy for students by allowing them to upload, store, share, and work on their notes right in Actively Learn.
To start, students can add their own content which they have the option to share with their classmates to collaborate with each other right in the Actively Learn platform. Students will need to select the class that they would like to start their research project in and select “Research Projects.” From there they can add content in the form of URLs, Google Docs, or PDFs.
Once they have started adding content, new options will be available such as “Collaborate,” “Labels,” “Cite,” and a “More.” Students who would like to collaborate with their classmates and allow them to participate in co-research will select the items, add students from the class which allows them to “Read and annotate this text with other students in this class.”
Labeling allows students to organize their research. They might have pros, cons, primary resources, or even multiple research projects underway! Labeling supports their organization of resources. There is also the cite option which creates a citation in either MLA, Chicago, or APA. They select any of the resources they used in their body of work and can copy the works cited. Finally, students can edit text details, cover image, move or delete them from the More options menu.
For more on conducting a research project in your classroom or on how to use Actively Learn for research check out these blog posts.
Research Project Overview
How to Improve Student Research
