Backchannels. Go Ahead, Let Them Chat In Class!

@LisaBerghoff/@Joe_EdTech

I was at a conference a few years ago and even though the session that I was in was fascinating, it had been a long day and in typical fashion, I found my mind wandering.  Typically, I would have started making lists of things that I needed to accomplish in the upcoming week, ingredients that I needed to pick up from the supermarket, or my March Madness picks.  However, at this particular session the presenters had set up a backchannel.  I was new to the idea of a backchannel and was curious to give it a try.  One of the presenters was moderating the backchannel while the other was presenting.  Before I knew it, I was exchanging ideas with other participants in the room.  Did we stay on topic the entire time? Absolutely not. Was I more on task using the backchannel than I would have been if I was writing out my grocery list? Definitely. Also, I was actually interacting and creating meaning with other educators and not just sitting and consuming information. During this particular conference session, the backchannel gave me permission to converse with other teachers who were also in the room without disrupting the session. I was hooked!

The term backchannel refers to a digital conversation that runs concurrently with a face to face activity. Backchannels have many applications in our classrooms. They empower student voice and help allow every student in the room feel that they are participating in the knowledge building that is taking place in class.

Here is a just a short list of ways to use backchannels in class:

1.  Assess prior knowledge. Have students use the backchannel to share what they already know about a topic.
2.  Hold discussions of video content shared in class.
3.  Have a "fishbowl" conversation where the students observing are actually interacting digitally.
4. Check for understanding after a lesson.
5. Crowdsource feedback from students on learning activities and then use the information for future lessons.
6. Take a poll on a particular debate issue or topic. All students can participate in an unobtrusive way.
7.  Have students ask questions or ask for clarification on something they don't yet understand.
8. Engage shy students in classroom conversations.
9. Brainstorm ideas for a project.
10. Do a collaborative note taking activity.

Credit to Sylvia Rosenthal Tolisano: http://www.langwitches.org/blog

I'm ready to start using backchannels! Where/how do I start?

Ok, there are always multiple tools to use and people prefer some over others for various reasons.  Here are two backchannel tools that won't steer you wrong.

Today's Meet

Today's Meet is the most widely known backchannel. It is incredibly easy and a teacher can quickly set up a backchannel room in less than 30 seconds. Getting students on a Today's Meet backchannel room is quick and does not require a student log in but you can set your room for students to log in if you choose.  This backchannel is free and you can set your room to remain open for as little as a few hours or a full year. I'm excited to tell you that Today's Meet has recently added some teacher friendly features that were previously unavailable such as a projector view and built in QR code for your room but they also now have their "teacher tools", which are a paid upgrade. Join my Today'sMeet room here. 

81DASH  

81Dash was developed by teachers for teachers and they promise that it will always be free because they believe teachers should get free stuff.  How do you not love that?  This backchannel is perfect for classroom use because it is safe in that the teacher has the ability to monitor and control the discussion environment, called the "room" by 81 Dash.  Students can be uploaded by the teacher or the link to the room can be shared.  It also has the ever popular share to Google Classroom button. Conversation transcripts can be easily saved in pdf format and if a student deleted a comment, that comment will appear on the transcript in red. You can have unlimited students in a room and they are limited to 160 characters per comment in order to make the conversations easy to follow. Students can create their own private notes for themselves and you can create task lists for everyone in the room. You can also open or lock a room to control when comments can be added.  It sounds complicated doesn't it?  I promise that it is not. Here is a handy instruction sheet. Want to try it?  Join my room here and check it out.  

GE-Teach: Compare Side By Side Maps!

Comparing and Creating Side-by-Side Maps with GE Teach

@joe_edtech/@LisaBerghoff

You know what has been really fun about the Presidential Primaries so far? I don't either, but as the traveling circus goes from state to state, and the candidates talk about issues affecting our globe, we have an excellent opportunity to engage our students in real conversations about how geography, political and physical, impact economic and political choices. What impact can we see on the primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina based on issues like demography, population density, and migration? Is there anything about geography that makes one group of candidates more popular in the northeast and another group popular in the south?

GE Teach is a fairly basic web 2.0 tool that you could give to your students to explore those kinds of issues. Furthermore, since GE Teach is built on Google Maps, you can have your students simply use the maps provided inside the tool, or they can import and analyze their own maps from Google. In it's basic form, GE Teach lets students compare different data sets in side-by-side or layered maps, or it lets students annotate and determine measurements for distances and altitudes.

If you are thinking of working with teachers from other disciplines, GE Teach is a simple tool that can be used to start conversations. What better way to discuss science, history, politics, language, and statistics that with comparative map data?

GE Teach is a relatively new tool, and it continues to change as it's creator, high school teacher Josh Williams adds and improves features. While it is fairly intuitive, it is easy to get lost playing with the maps and layers. The site offers several tutorial videos, and I would suggest starting with them instead of hunting and pecking on the site. But my best advice is to turn your students loose. Let them explore and create with the site. That might actually provide a leadership role to some of the students in your class who are great with these kinds of tools but who haven't always been seen as "academic" leaders in your class.

Here's Mr. Williams' intro video. It is almost 9 minutes, but provides a great overview to all of the basic capabilities of the site:

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Can you think of a good lesson using GE Teach? Tell us about it in the comment section below.

Brainstorming?? Try Dotstorming!

@LisaBerghoff/@Joe_EdTech

According to Mirriam-Webster, brainstorming is defined as a group problem-solving technique that involves the spontaneous contribution of ideas from all members.  Brainstorming is such an important part of the learning process.  It is imperative that students learn how to generate ideas, collaborate, and then make decisions about next steps for problem-solving. 

The main issue with traditional brainstorming in the classroom is that not every voice is heard. We tend to cater to our outgoing, confident students in these activities.  It's not that the quiet kids don't have thoughts to contribute, they are just, well, quiet.  Also, once your list of ideas has been generated, the next step is to discuss the merits of each idea and then make decisions about next steps.  Again, this is an exercise that will most often involve a few students. It can be awkward to make these choices as a group, even if all voices are heard.  When the goal is to engage and involve all of our students, it's time to add some new tools to our toolbox.

I'm excited to tell you about Dotstorming. Dotstorming is a real time group brainstorming and decision making app.  This free tech tool allows all of your students to participate in brainstorming activities in 4 easy steps.  You create a dotstorming board, invite participants, add ideas, and vote on the ideas that you like. This site is no-frills and easy to use.  You can whip up a dotstorming board right in the middle of class and your students will think you're a genius.  Here is a video showing you the features of Dotstorming. 

Want to try Dotstorming as a participant? Click on this Dotstorming board to brainstorm your favorite tech tools.  Please feel free to add images or text. Don't have anything to add?  That's ok, just take a look at what is on there and vote for your favorites.  I can't wait to see which one wins!

Happy Dotstorming!

Advanced Search In Google Drive

Don't Just Search for your Docs - Search Well

@joe_edtech/@LisaBerghoff

I used to love asking classes full of freshmen to explain Google to me. Specifically, I would ask, "What is Google?" A complex question for sure, because Google is a multi-billion dollar international industry that is always growing and changing, offering new services, products, and entire platforms. All true, of course, but the simplest answer is always the best - and this is the answer I always rewarded with chocolate. Google is a search engine. 

Indeed it is a search engine. Everything else from Google is but an extension of the search engine. One of the reasons I love Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Drive is that the search functions are so robust. In fact, the search in Google Drive just got better.

Loyal readers (that would be my mom) remember that last year I spent some time writing about advanced search options in Google. Well, the same basic principles apply to searching in Google Drive. To start with, don't simply trust the first suggestions you get. You'll always get better results by typing in your full search terms and clicking the blue magnifying glass icon at the far right of the search bar.

When you start to type characters into the search window in Google Drive, you'll get a drop-down window with a partial list of matching documents in your drive. But if you type in the whole search term and click the blue magnifying glass, you'll get a far more complete list. Additionally, Google recently improved search in Google Drive. Now, when you click the "inverted triangle" icon in the search window, you'll get a drop-down window with an advanced search option.

If you are having trouble finding that pesky document, you can search by owner, or even search for words included in the document. You can even easily search for items you may have inadvertently thrown into the trash.

You can also get to the advanced search just by putting your cursor in the Google Drive search bar. You'll see a list of filters (for instance, you can search all of your PDFs, or Text documents), but if you click on "More search tools" at the bottom of the drop-down window, the advanced search window will open.

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Got any search tips or tricks to share? Please post them in the comments below.