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.

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!!!

HipChat

HipChat is a site I've known about for quite sometime but decided to give it a look.  This is a great site for creating a chat room.  These rooms can be set to public or private, are very user friendly, and has a nice polished look to it.  As w/ most chat rooms, people can send private messages to an individual user, attachments, and even do video and voice chatting.

I highly recommend checking out HipChat by clicking here!!

For a brief demo view below..



For my top 10 sites for creating a backchannel chat click here.

Top 10 Sites for Back Channeling

"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.



I'd like to thank Naomi Harm for her resources/help in compiling this list!!

1. Donut Chat - Quite simply the best most robust site for creating an easy to use chat room. A user has the ability to filter words, manage multiple rooms, and even embed it into their site!
2. Neat Chat - The easiest/best site for creating a fast/simple chat room to use as a back channel. Also, has the ability to print out chats and upload files!
3. Chatzy - Create a private room and invite via email or URL, includes advanced features such as the ability to use commands.
4. BackNoise - Very user friendly, w/ the ability to mute/hide a text
5. TodaysMeet - Is an excellent site similar to Twitter in that u can chat w/ up to 140 characters, great for printing out transcripts!
6. TinyChat - Create a room that integrates directly w/ Twitter, as well as the ability to do video/audio chatting.
7. 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.
8. Skrbl - An easy to use interactive whiteboard where people have the ability to chat/text/draw all in the space place.
9. PinDax - Is an innovative way for online note taking. Plus, it gives the user the ability to chat and post images in real-time.
10. Google Wave - Create "waves" for people to join and chat/upload files in real-time.
    

TodaysMeet

TodaysMeet is a great back channeling site that I found out about from the equally great blog, Educational Technology Guy. After experiencing the use of a back channel chat at the Wisconsin Educational Technology Association (WEMTA) first hand, I really started to love the way it could be used during professional development/presentations.

TodaysMeet is another great site that does this very thing. It will create a private room, that people can chat in, in real time, and even bring in posts from Twitter via a hashtag.



I highly recommend checking out TodaysMeet by clicking here.

Chatzy

I've never really written about back channel applications before until now. Chatzy is a great free site for creating a safe/secure chat room. This is ideal for an educator looking for a quick easy way to create a quick private room to host a chat. The one feature that I think would be nice is if they made it available to embed your chat into a site.

Give Chatzy a try by clicking here.