Dotstorming

Hunter Clark

Purpose
Describe the purpose of the web application. What does it do for the teacher? Student? Parent?
This application aims to connect a group of people with a similar objective to accomplish. It allows teachers to communicate to
their students via “workspaces” by posting announcements, assignments, and other classroom information. Dotstorming will
enable students to have an online classroom environment to post projects. As for parents, if the teacher decides to create a
workspace for them, they can see announcements posted.

Link to an Overview Video (emphasis on “Overview”)

Title of Video – One or two sentence description – Update hyperlink for the title
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQIU6rGASnQ&t=19s
This video provides a basic tutorial on how to operate Dotstorming. It briefly explains how to open and use the different features
Dotstorming offers, such as voting boards, new walls, and collages.

Features
Choose 3 most important tasks or features. 2 part answer.
Describe the classroom application for each task or feature.
1. The workspace feature allows teachers with block
schedules to have multiple “rooms” for their classes.
2. The voting board function is among three features that
teachers can use within their workspaces for classroom
management. It allows the teacher to apply student input
to their lessons.
3. The new wall feature allows the teacher or student create
posts.
4. The collage function is a fun creativity function where
art is applied to learning.
Why is this feature or function important?
This feature is essential because it allows the teacher to
organize the progress and assignments of their different
classes.
This feature is important because, it allows for the teacher to
grasp an understanding about their class. It could show class
culture, knowledge, or progress.
This feature is essential because the teacher could present a
layout of the weekly schedule for their class. As well as allow
students to create timelines and other projects for assignments.
This feature is essential because it provides a fun outlet for
students to create compelling images related to the lessons.
Teachers can also use this function to form visual
representations of their teaching information.

Key Text Resources with Description

1. https://www.teachersfirst.com/single.cfm?id=16997 This website helps teachers find reliable technologies to advance their
classroom environment. In this case, teacherfirst.com is reviewing Dotstorming. The article describes the similarities between
Dotstroming to Padlet and the various functions Dotstorming has.
2. https://scarfedigitalsandbox.teach.educ.ubc.ca/dotstorming/ This is a website article that provides a comparison between the
free version to the paid version of Dotstorming.
3. https://www.freetech4teachers.com/2017/02/dotstorming-adds-new-features-and.html Similar to source two, this article
also compares the free and paid versions of Dotstorming. In addition, however, it also provides video examples.

Key Video Resources with Description

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xezk0taaJxg This video provides help to teachers who use Dotstorming to help engage
and maintain student interaction.
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5fbPfvkKUg This is a video that shows how to use Dotstorming to create mind maps for
students.
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJwhiqLSGpg This is a video that provides an in-depth example on how Dotstorming is
used. It shows the posts and responses that are visible to both students and teachers.

Pricing Model
Describe the free and/or paid model used by the company. Include cost, major features, and any restrictions associated with each
model.
There are three pricing models that Dotstorming has to offer. Those prices are the free standard version, the gold subscription for
five dollars a month or 25 dollars per six months, and the school gold subscription for $999 per year. The free standard version
Dotstorming
Hunter Clark
allows the user to utilize all the essential functions, except they only have one workspace. The gold subscription provides
unlimited workspaces, video, file uploads, passwords, and imports. Finally, the school gold subscription is the same as the gold
subscription, but it allows access for an entire school.

Possible Improvements
Provide 3 possible improvements and explain why. 2 part answer
Describe the possible improvement.
1. Direct access to a help center.
2. A description of the school gold subscription.
3. A better way to add students to a workspace.
Explain why this is a needed improvement.
This is a needed improvement because there is no immediate
help. The only service provided is a bubble in the top right-hand
corner of the page. When clicked, it brings you to a playlist of
tutorial videos of the older tutorials of Dotstorming. A help
center could provide up-to-date solutions and possibly a
company number to call.
Under the billing tab, the user is brought to a page to view the
possible billing plans. Unfortunately, there is no description for
the school gold option for principals or superintendents
interested in setting up Dotstorming for their school. Instead,
there is a link to the company's email. Some questions could
arise from this, such as, "Does that $999 price tag vary?" or "Do
I receive the same benefits as the other two versions?" Those
interested in this option can better understand what's offered
with a short description.
The only way to add people to a workspace is by sharing the
post link. However, this type of sharing can be inefficient to
keep students connected. A solution could be that the teacher
or overseer of the workspace could add participants via their
email addresses. This solution could save time and frustration
for sharing.

Support Available
What types or formats of support are available?
The only support available is the bubble option in the top right had corner of the page that brings the user to a tutorial page.
What is the quality of the resources?
The quality of the resource is not good. The only support it provides is to the older Dotstorming model.
Is there a cost associated with any of the support options?
There is not cost associated to the support videos.
Does the company offer a certification in the use of the product?
There is no certification.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question Answer
1. How do you use Dotstorming?  Search google for “frequently asked questions about dotstorming”
 Include the link to the answer.
 Provide a summary of the answer.
2. State the question  Provide the keywords used to locate the answer
 Include the link to the answer.
 Provide a summary of the answer.
3. State the question  Provide the keywords used to locate the answer
 Include the link to the answer.
 Provide a summary of the answer.