Unhangout

Unhangout is an interesting new site from MIT for creating events/backchannel chats, that I just found out about from Larry Ferlazzo's blog.  This is a great way for educators to host a backchannel that can be used in any number of ways in education, from assessing learning to professional development.  There are lots of options to like such as: nice user interface, hosting videos, private invites, breakout sessions, and more.

Below is a brief demo video...



I highly recommend checking out Unhangout by clicking here!!!

Backchannel Chat

Backchannel Chat is an amazing site/mobile (iOS/Google Play) app for creating backchannel chats.  Backchannels are a great way to increase student participation and facilitate discussions on any number of topics.  Educators are using it for assessing student learning, brainstorming, introduce new topics, and more.  Best of all, Backchannel chat has an easy to use interface w/ an abundance of tools to help teachers integrate into their classroom, such as: moderation, profanity filters, private messaging, and more.

I highly recommend checking out Backchannel Chat by clicking here!!!

Check out my Top 10 Tools for Creating a Backchannel Chat by clicking here!!!

10 Sites for creating a Backchannel

"Backchannel is the practice of using networked computers to maintain a real-time online conversation alongside live spoken remarks. (Wikipedia)" It is a term that has been around for awhile but not something I really looked into until I had the chance to use it at the WEMTA tech conference. This is such a useful way to collaborate w/ educators/students when introducing a new idea, presenting in front of a large crowd, or even when watching a video and you want to engage the students.



*This list is in alphabetical order

10 Sites for Creating a Backchannel

1. Answer Garden - A nice little free solution for education to poll students and and gather feedback via a chat.
2. Back Channel - A great solution for education to create a chat and increase participation while assessing student's learning.
3. Chatzy - Create a private room and invite via email or URL, includes advanced features such as the ability to use commands.
4. Google Classroom - Probably one of the most popular ways for an educator to create a back channel chat using the "stream" feature which allows educators to chat w/ students in a safe environment.
5. Padlet - One of the most popular online bulletin boards where users can create digital post-it notes in real-time to create a chat.
6. SoapBox - Create a virtual room where students can interact through polls, Q/A, discussions, and more.
7. TinyChat - Create a room that integrates directly w/ Twitter, as well as the ability to do video/audio chatting.
8. Twiddla - One of the best collaborative whiteboards for commenting/drawing in your own "sandbox". Users also have the ability to chat via text/audio in real time.
9. Unhangout - An interesting new site from MIT for creating back channel chats w/ the ability to host videos and have breakout sessions, and more.
10. Yo Teach - One of my favorite sites around for creating a back channel back w/ lots of features for educators.

I highly recommend checking out Monica Burn's excellent blog post on how to get started w/ Back Channel chats by clicking here.

Unhangout

Unhangout is an interesting new site from MIT for creating events/backchannel chats, that I just found out about from Larry Ferlazzo's blog.  This is a great way for educators to host a backchannel that can be used in any number of ways in education, from assessing learning to professional development.  There are lots of options to like such as: nice user interface, hosting videos, private invites, breakout sessions, and more.

Below is a brief demo video...



I highly recommend checking out Unhangout by clicking here!!!

YO Teach!

YO Teach is a fantastic new site for creating a backchannel chat that I just found out about from the amazing Richard Byrne.  YO Teach is a very user-friendly tool to use to create a backchannel chat by simply creating a room and then setting a password.  Students can then join via a URL, and the admin feature allows educators to set privacy settings and moderate users.  Finally, students are even able to draw on a "scratchboard" and have that show up in the backchannel.  Backchannels are a great way for educators to encourage discussion and can use it in a number of ways (i.e. discussing a educational video in real-time, note taking, etc.).

I highly recommend checking out YO Teach by clicking here!!!

SoapBox

SoapBox is an excellent website I found out about from Free Technology 4 Teachers. This site acts as a backchannel chat for audiences/students. A teacher can use this to go along w/ a lecture and get instant/real-time feedback. Best of all, there is a filter that blocks out inappropriate language.

I highly recommend checking out SoapBox by clicking here!!

Caffein

Caffein is one of my favorite new sites for creating a chat room. This is really easy to use and also allows for video chatting. A user can then invite others via a URL or link it directly to FB or Twitter.

I highly recommend checking out Caffein by clicking here!!

Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo for the tip!!

For other sites to create a backchannel chat, click here.

Mister Thread

Mister Thread is a new (beta) site that is one of many for creating a back channel chat. It is very easy to do an creates a unique URL (that you can password protect) to share w/ others who want to invite into your chat. What makes this a nice site to use is that no registration is required.

Click here to give MisterThread a try!!

Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo's blog for the tip!!

For my list of top 10 Back Channel Chat sites click here.

Convore

Convore is one of many nice new sites for creating a backchannel chat such as backchan.nl. Also, what makes Convore so appealing is that it is ideal for creating chats for groups that are real time.

I recommend checking out Convore by clicking here.

Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo's blog for the tip!!

Here is my list of top 10 sites for creating a backchannel chat.

Backchan.nl

Backchan.nl is a great online tool for creating a back channel chat. This is ideal for presenting in front of large groups for professional development or engaging an audience such as a classroom. Another nice feature of Backchan.nl is the ability to create a poll for voting as well.



I highly recommend giving Backchan.nl a try by clicking here!!

For a much more detailed review check out Richard Byrne's award winning blog.

For other back channel sites click here.