Twitter Chat

I participated in my first Twitter Chat last night with #moedchat... It was incredible! The discussion topic of the chat was GAFE (Google Apps for Education). Initially, I did not realize how beneficial the chat would be, as we are already using many GAFEs, but my theory was quickly disproven! Among many other things, including networking, the experience itself, and my new contacts, I learned so much about GAFE.  There are many features within the applications that I had no idea about, for example, Goobric, Doctopus, and the voice add on features within Docs.  I am eager to play and learn more about each feature.  Here is the link to the archive of the chat: #moedchat.

Aside from the technical aspect and learning about new tools, participating in a Twitter Chat has given me a larger network of people to learn from...this is probably my biggest take away!  There are so many educators and administrators that we can learn from and Twitter is an excellent resource for this activity. After the chat, I discovered that I have 15 new followers... all people who were involved in the #moedchat!

It truly is an amazing resource... I had NO IDEA how beneficial it would be.  I am already looking forward to my next chat session. I am considering many others... do you have any recommendations?

Blog 5: Backchanneling?

Recently, I was introduced to a concept called "backchanneling." At first, I had no idea what this term meant or where in education it could fit. According to Back Channel Chat, backchanneling is "a conversation that takes place alongside an activity or an event." Backchanneling is very common in meetings, classrooms, and conferences.  

In the classroom, backchanneling provides a voice for everyone.  A classroom employing a backchannel gives students the opportunity to share concerns, ask questions, or voice opinions.  This collaborative concept provides a safe and private domain that works as a discussion board.  Teachers can use this method at various times in the learning process, for example, during student presentations, teacher lectures, group projects, etc.  This tool allows users to express thoughts or questions without interrupting the entire class.  Additionally, this tool provides a voice to users who do not feel comfortable speaking out in class.

This link provided by Free Technology for Teachers, explains five benefits for using backchanneling in the classroom.  

Today's Meet is a collaborative, backchannel tool that I really like using.  Here is quick screencast that I created that will walk you through the Today's Meet process: