Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, and Zoom have become the best ways for teachers to continue education during the Coronavirus crisis, but they can now count on Discord, too. The platform that is usually associated with video gaming communities today released a new blog post, showing how teachers can use Discord as a virtual classroom.
According to the post, Discord, as a company, recently made the decision to change the user limit on the Go Live feature of its platform from 10 to 50 people. This popular feature allows gamers to stream their screen, and “present” their content to their viewers. The decision was apparently designed to help teachers, as the company was “flooded with requests from educators asking: What can I do with Discord?”
welcome educators new to Discord 👋
you can now create your own pre-organized classroom space with one single click.
we wrote up some words on how to best use Discord with your students: https://t.co/Bd64IXBZzA pic.twitter.com/HgcmdIDJnO
— Discord (@discordapp) March 17, 2020
In the post, Discord essentially explains that on its own platform, teachers have access to many features found on other services like Microsoft Teams. From chats, video conferencing, and more, the list of what’s possible on Discord includes the following:
- A dedicated, free to use, invite only class space
- Text channels to organize things like lessons, homework, or study groups
- Voice channels for both one-to-one and group discussions, or even office hours
- A real-time teaching environment where lessons can be shared with up to 50 people at a time
- Discord is made up of invite only spaces known as servers — think of your server as your classroom.
- Servers are organized into individual channels where you’ll interact with students or other teachers.
- There are text channels, where anyone can post messages, upload files, and share images for others to read at any time.
- And also voice channels, where teachers can conduct classes with Go Live, and students can get together to talk and collaborate
Discord has also created a server template to help teachers get started with using the platform in education. It’s worth noting, though, that there is an age limit, as the minimum age to join Discord is 13. This might be problematic for younger students in grade-school; but for older teenagers, it may very well help as they are likely familiar with the platform anyway.
It’s quite interesting to see the Discord suddenly push its services for use outside of gaming and in education. But, knowing the dangers of Coronavirus, it’s great to see another player join in to help support remote-education. Do you think you’d use Discord for learning? Let us know in the comments below.
