Building and Sustaining Class Community – Make a Playlist

March 23, 2020,

You’re moving through the semester and the enthusiasm levels are, perhaps, sagging. Adding an optional activity can help students and teacher alike step back from the grind and find new ways to connect with each other.

Creating a playlist in a discussion thread is one such activity. The playlist might relate, however tangentially, to the course, or it might focus on issues unrelated to the course. Students respond with a link to their selected song, which may include links to YouTube and/or Vimeo. Challenge students to write a sentence or two about each song for a more robust experience. 

Example

Screenshot from an example of a playlist. The instructions are "to reply to the discussion post with one song that represents your past; one song that represents your present; and one songs that you hope will represent your future. Include at least one sentence that explains how the song represents your past, present, or future."

References

Logan, C. (2019, February 19). Music meme [screenshot]. Retrieved from: http://80sthrowbackparty.blogspot.com/2017/02/80s-music-memes-i-laugh-and-laugh-at.html

Acknowledgement

Thank you to Bret Staudt Willet, a PhD candidate in Michigan State University’s Educational Psychology and Educational Technology program, for bringing the playlist idea to my attention.