Information Technology Services

A Newsletter About Learning Innovation

Dear LMU Faculty,

As you prepare your spring courses, are you planning to have your students work on group projects? Do you want them to improve their communication skills and problem-solving ability? The Instructional Technology team is excited to bring you the third edition of our newsletter series, focused on Collaborative Learning.

Collaborative Learning can transform the classroom into a community—one where students gain understanding from one another, along with what they gain from the instructor. Below, we explore effective ways to foster a sense of community in your upcoming courses, and we provide examples to consider for diversifying communication opportunities in your activities and incorporating collaboration methods in your assignments.

Relevant Research
"The need for social belonging—for seeing oneself as socially connected—is a basic human motivation," according to Gregory M. Walton and Geoffrey Cohen. Their research with race-based control groups found that uncertainty about belonging undermines people's motivation and achievement when their group is negatively characterized in academic settings. See A Question of Belonging: Race, Social Fit, and Achievement (2007) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(1), 82–96.

Collaboration Methods

Learn how professors Ingrid Greene and Susan Bakhshian are enhancing student engagement with peer-to-peer feedback.

Peer-to-Peer Feedback

Multiple forms of peer-to-peer feedback can offer effective ways for students to derive meaning from course content.

ITS provides Peerceptiv, a peer learning and assessment platform that fosters collaboration through perspective sharing, constructive feedback, and critical thinking. Assignment types include peer assessment, group formation, live presentation, and team member evaluation--Get started with Peerceptiv.

Want to see how faculty champions Ingrid Greene and Susan Bakhshian are enhancing student learning with Peerceptiv? Watch this video.

Social Annotation

Social learning tools let students read together and annotate content collectively. They can form virtual sleuthing groups to decipher documents, articles, image files, and more. ITS provides Perusall, an inclusive platform that promotes synchronous and asynchronous engagement, active learning, and critical thinking. Get Started using Perusall.

Multimodal Discourse

Beyond the annotation of documents, you can promote collaborative learning over multimedia content. ITS provides VoiceThread, a social solution that lets learners exchange perspectives using audio and video. Encourage collaborative learning with critical conversations, enhanced conversations, and personalized feedback. Get Started using VoiceThread.

Live Polling

Want to turn lessons into dynamic experiences that promote collaboration? ITS provides Poll Everywhere, which allows students to compare responses, discuss results, and reflect on revelations. Real-time feedback fosters active participation and strong connections in classroom and virtual settings. Get started using Poll Everywhere.

Group Discussions

Discussion boards offer threaded forums where students share ideas, debate issues, critique peers, and crowdsource knowledge. ITS provides Brightspace Discussions, a structured space that fosters reflection and diverse perspectives, serving as a hub for organic interaction and collaborative learning. Create a Discussion Forum in Brightspace.

Dialogic Prompting

How about collaborating with AI? You can take the Socratic method to the next level by helping your students use AI as a collaborative partner. Educause’s recent article, Dialogue at Scale: AI, Soft Skills, and the Future of Assessment, explores how generative AI tools can be used to foster critical thinking and collaborative learning through regular dialogue. Are you interested in putting these ideas into practice? We’ve created a one-page handout with ready-to-use prompts that your students can enter into Copilot to begin a guided inquiry and skill-building exercise, for any discipline.

Spring Opportunities

Save The Date

Mark your calendar for the Teaching with Technology Symposium, happening Friday, March 13, 2026, in Hannon Library. This year's theme is "Teaching in the Age of AI - Promise, Peril, and Practice." The call for proposals is open, so please complete this form.

Pilot Programs

ITS is extending two fall pilots into the spring semester to expand their usage and adoption. To join the programs for the AI Study Companion or for the Digital Accessibility remediation integration, Panorama, contact the ITS Service