Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Backchannels

Over the past year I have been sharing a lot about backchannels with staff and find that many are unfamiliar with this term. A backchannel is "the practice of using networked computers to maintain a real-time online conversation alongside the primary group activity or live spoken remarks". There are many tools available that teachers can utilize as backchannels in the classroom.
  • Today's Meet - "TodaysMeet helps you embrace the backchannel and connect with your audience in realtime.  Encourage the room to use the live stream to make comments, ask questions, and use that feedback to tailor your presentation, sharpen your points, and address audience needs.
  • Edmodo - "Quickly and easily bring your Edmodo groups into a realtime discussion.  Each Edmodo group can have a BackChannel Chat.  View the names and profile pictures of your Edmodo students.  The Edmodo app has All of the premium features of Backchannel Chat such as private messages, full transcripts, and advanced moderation."
  • Padlet - "Padlet is a free tool to create an online bulletin board that you can use to display information on any topic.  You can add images, links, video, and more.  Walls can be private, open to the public, or moderated by you- meaning that you approve all contributions before they show."
  • Socrative - " Through a virtual room such as those available in Socrative, students may pose questions or comments regarding the material at hand in real-time, which the teacher may use to drive teaching and discussion. Classroom collaboration thus extends beyond segments of teaching followed by discussion, seamlessly melding the two, fostering participation and engagement.  Often done silently, it helps maintain class control while igniting and furthering collaboration."
Below are some resources (documents & webinar), from EdTech presenter and blogger Richard Byrne, that can help you understand how to use backchannels and the difference between these different backchannel tools.





No comments:

Post a Comment