Thread by @kawaiilovesarah

[thread on online pedagogy 🤍🧵]

1/ i am hell-bent on proving that Discord is not only a useful agent of online instruction, it's better & more accessible than the pandemic canon options. last year i did a talk on this, this year i'll SHOW you how this works in real time.
[img]

2/ the first screencap shows the "classroom", a series of TEXT and A/V channels that by default DOESN'T REQUIRE VIDEO (no wall of blank screens!). it prioritizes text interaction and voice without video. THIS IS IMPORTANT. the left-hand side also features a NUMBER of sorted text

3/ channels that DO NOT DELETE after calls end, and they do not separate between calls. this keeps the text threads fluent and not dependent on synchronous lectures/video feeds. the right panel is the class, colour-sorted into "teams" (for peer editing) as well as avatars etc.

4/ now you might be like, "but i can't screenshare content or powerpoints or browsers??" NOPE, YOU CAN, EASILY. anyone in the call can share screen (i am doing so here) with chat still visible or minimized. here you can see my stream on left, chat center, Brightspace on far right

5/ and you have complete customizability of how your screen appears, including fully minimizing video/screenshare feeds. if students cannot render that, they can choose lower settings, listen to audio-only or turn off my video feed. i know students like seeing me, but there is 0

6/ reason to require them to be on video and Discord takes away the "weirdness" of that. you see i've also set up study rooms, workshop rooms, off-topic rooms and resource rooms that all hold different and EASILY ACCESSED, sorted information they can see anytime and tag others in

7/ and now you might say, "but onboarding is hard!" I wrote a 1.5 page doc that onboarded my entire class (25 students) in 1 day with ZERO QUESTIONS. i am HAPPY to share that onboarding document with you. now let me harp about accessibility for a minute here while you're with me

8/ ACCESSIBILITY: this is a robust server that hybridizes async/sync in ways that Zoom, MS Teams, WebEX etc do not do well. discord equalizes async/sync, a huge problem with aforementioned platforms is the rhetorical prefacing of synchronous content - we know this is problematic

9/ because it makes async look like "catch-up/afterthoughts". here, sync is downplayed and community building is central. there is always-availability (NO SCHEDULING!) of audio rooms, and the text rooms are perma-available for anytime interaction. this is huge for timezone issues

10/ it is OPEN ACCESS and SPACE EFFICIENT: phones, tablets, app-enabled fridges and toasters can download and use discord. it's 80mb. teams shuts down older tech with its massive RAM inefficiency. students can join via phone/tablet and use everything JUST as intended, no overlay

11/ HTML allows you more options for tagging, pinning, emojis, pinging, and community interactions (events etc) with their text servers - Teams significantly hinders who can access these functions. allowing students freedom to move as if in the classroom is important in teamwork

12/ it does NOT have autoCC - but the autoCC on zoom & teams is 60% accurate, which is NOT AODA/ADA compliant! recording software like Vidyard and Outklip can more accurately CC your video recordings (and you should be editing transcripts anyway!), so ANY interface can provide CC

13/ discord is also compliant with RIAA and WASG, and ARIA (UK) as well as JAWS, TTS, screenreaders, ZoomText, and is easily Kurzweil-transferable. it also has mental health/disability customizations: reduce noise, reduce motion, colour invert, disable gif, saturation customs

14/ MH accoms are virtually always overlooked in "accessibility vetting": low motion, low light, inverted colour, low saturation and low stimulus are IMPORTANT access features that nobody's talking about. if you have BPD, schizophrenic, ADHD, etc. students - they know about these

15/ and many neurodiversities rely on custom keybinding & lowtech settings.

moderation, safety and privacy all have their own setting dashboards. your institution also cannot monitor servers for "safety" (read: policing students and staff). this is increasingly important.

16/ i did a whole talk on this last year at DHSI: "Compassionate Pedagogy on Discord" [img/below]

transcript is HERE FOR FREE:
docs.google.com/document/d/188…
i will see if i am allowed to post the video recording (its in their library right now if you're a DHSI member) so you can see

17/ i think people are hesitant to add to the pandemic tech "canon" -- but there are BETTER OPTIONS. with ACTUAL ACCESSIBILITY (instead of added-haphazardly-afterwards) and ACTUAL COMMUNITY BUILDING INTERFACING.

i will teach you how to use it myself if it means you'll switch.

18/ yes, pandemic instruction is hard. build back better with strong online community classrooms. 💜🤍🧵

#TeamRhetoric #AcademicMentalHealth @CouragePhD @PhD_Genie @OpenAcademics @DisabledAcadem @DisInHigherEd @MindfulAcademix tagging collectives interested in access pedagogy.