10 Tools for Gathering Real-time Feedback From Students
Chat tools and polling services provide good ways to hear from all of the students in a classroom. These kinds of tools, often referred to as backchannel tools, allow shy students to ask questions and share comments. For your more outspoken students who want to comment on everything, a feedback mechanism provides a good outlet […]
GoSoapBox – Quickly Poll Your Class
GoSoapBox is a student response system that I’ve used off and on over the years. It offers a few ways to conduct online polls for your students to respond to on their phones, tablets, or laptops. My favorite polling option in GoSoapBox is called the Confusion Meter. The Confusion Meter is a simple poll that […]
How to Create a Backchannel on Padlet
Padlet is one of the most versatile tech tools that a teacher can have in his or her toolbox. From making KWL charts to exit tickets to simply posting ideas in a shared online space, Padlet can be used in nearly every grade level and subject area. And your notes aren’t limited to just text […]
How to Use Yo Teach! to Create a Classroom Backchannel
On Friday I wrote an overview of a new backchannel tool called Yo Teach! It’s a great alternative to the much-loved, but now gone, TodaysMeet. To help more people get started on Yo Teach! I made the tutorial video that is embedded below. Before you watch the video here are a couple of highlights of […]
TodaysMeet Is Shutting Down – Six Alternatives to Try
TodaysMeet is shutting down. James Socol, the creator and only developer of TodaysMeet, has announced that he’s shutting it down on June 16th. I’m going to miss it and I know that a lot of you will too. I encourage you to read the announcement that James posted because it will give you a good […]
How to Use Padlet’s New Broadcast Feature
Padlet has been on a roll with new updates over the last year. The latest feature added to Padlet makes it easier than ever to share your Padlet walls with your students and colleagues. Now when you’re using Padlet on your Android or iOS device you can broadcast your wall to be discovered by other […]
Providing Every Student in Your Class With a Voice
I was the quiet student who always sought out the back row. I never willingly participated in class discussions, not because I didn’t have anything to contribute, but because I preferred to communicate my thoughts in writing. Many of our students sit in class quietly as their peers dominate the discussions, wishing they could add […]
Benefits of Using Backchannels In Your Classroom
Over the years I’ve introduced a lot of teachers to using tools like Padlet, TodaysMeet, and Socrative in their classrooms. All three of these tools can be used as backchannel and informal assessment tools. I’ve written about various ways to use each of these tools in the past. (Click here for TodaysMeet, here for Padlet, […]
How to Create PDFs of Padlet Walls
Padlet has always had an option for saving the contents of the walls that you make with students. The trouble with doing that has always been that the formatting was kind of wacky when you printed contents of the wall. Recently, that changed when Padlet introduced new options for formatting PDF versions of your Padlet […]
All of my #GaETC16 Slides
This week I had the privilege to give six presentations at GaETC16 in Atlanta. Earlier today I shared my slides from the Best of the Web presentation that I gave there. The slides from my five other presentations are embedded below.
Great Tools for Creating Backchannels & Informal Assessments
Yesterday at the NCTIES 2016 conference I hosted a three hour workshop on creating and using backchannels and informal assessments in the classroom. The tools that we used are featured in the slides below. Videos and the group’s discussion posts are available on this Practical Ed Tech page.
11 Backchannel & Informal Assessment Tools Compared in One Chart
Last winter I made a series of charts in which I compared popular ed tech tools. I’m now going through those charts and removing some tools and adding some new ones. The chart embedded below is the updated version of my chart comparing 11 backchannel and informal assessment tools. At the bottom of the chart […]