30 Days of Web tools: #12: Use Today’sMeet for useful backchannel discussions

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_rraN6MHpAzTHWYqv2L1LB-kRAWE_BaGlrAnBVqQDKK42Y0NkjgSx570X3yB2k7wguT-vlvwD1RXwsHjRZ6QdsvHiLLaK18mmJRzVrzkXZwKaCwqtjIdpH_i_I2-sTtlhyphenhyphencqVCX0Fe0/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwPY20eumdhAeLCP9KEpRr6IrP1f4yUZH0f0V1h3x076Pfw4OypM7UXbTZsJlB6roD21QA3Zb8FeOHp_W0iGipBEg1g6KhWBQluCf8jZ4j7IBAIk2qY4JpBCKrvfzfz1Y2yiceIIhQZPY/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Often when you are watching a presentation and you have computer access you want to make a comment on what the presenter is saying. Twitter is most often used for this. But often, if one wishes the responses to be more private a backchanneling programme like Today’s Meet is used.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>What is Today’sMeet?</b></span></div><b> </b> <br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Today’s meet is a simple way to set up an instant live chat room. It allows participants to ‘backchannel’. This means they can get fully involved by adding their comments and thoughts for everyone to read as the presentation is being delivered. In a backchannel participants can ask questions, discuss what is being presented, share links and reflect on their learning. A backchannel is a great way to enable peer support and the beautiy of it is that you can look through it afterwards to see what to comment on or clarify. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">How to create a backchannel using Today"sMeet</span> </b></div><h5 style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">1. This isa web-based tool so can only be used online. Open it at </span><span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://todaysmeet.com/">http://todaysmeet.com</a></span></h5><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">2. Create a ‘room’ (this is the lingo when creating a backchannel). The following graphic is taken from <a href="http://quickshout.blogspot.com/2009/06/tap-into-backchannel-in-your.html">Nik Peachy’s blog</a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlqA-YPuC3smlYhmghtfswrm3GJe8dG-tzjuuru4EvSn9hpBY0Gc4NKKwIunb1ld3i5j8xEp4DIIMobhtnZ2_Jn4MlpmyQTZBTaIy06keYBkTbfHXu9ys2hksziFe5akyYWhyphenhyphenih6U1-Pc/s1600-h/image%25255B12%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGa0qhadjFmiTRytJ3cxVA-BiJ0L8nQe3ovGQoq9BYdzZ5LYxxwNUdQBmrtDOi76Q5jv5aOK7_U6N4xKwJ9xjsw8mmZLuRef1Dbfb1kinpkwr29uG_aKHtfSib5gQuDJ1o3oJjjyn9lE4/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="405" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you look at the image above you’ll notice that there is place to:</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">a) Name<b> </b>your room: This might be the name of the presentation, teacher, subject or whatever you choose. You’ll see that a green tick appears if the name is available. If not available, make another choice.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">b) Choose when to delete your roo<b>m</b> and all the data. The time range can be anything up to one year.  </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">c) Set a password if you wish to. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">d) Click on “Create your Room”. You can now give out the URL to others. The URL will have a specific format starting with <a href="http://xn--todaysmeet-ow6e.com/name">http://today’smeet.com/name</a>. </span><b><br /><br />How does a participant join a backchannel?</b></span></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1. If you are joining a backchannel that has been creating simply type the URL into your browser. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">2. You will be asked to type your name in the blue box and to click join. The following two graphics come from the <a href="http://www.teachgennow.com.au/">Teaching Generation Now</a> blog</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3AwlLb6GZANRjYWKXgNBFBiDV8GEnBFUo7t_7IetGuhZmEeccejHwsllZqmAlyDQ7EPxQZucTPgcDEc40nGqLXDpmTJNt7SLsjKoIgQ62dbSca9Fy-Ev7joTiT0AD8bBqV06ePAU5U0/s1600-h/image%25255B16%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRqVD5cl26W2ldYFZdVaV3gqoJpOnrgWQ33vrqFfT2JLfJ5e2aJl8ohZUSkc1HZmeh3-JWomsPKq2V1YpAMTz_vqylv4eU2u4NnFVNzNC7IvGti0tuZ6lZr6orGidXmGBvNIEFB4QY1wM/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">3. Thereafter you will type your message in the blue box and click on ‘Say’. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCQKwuk11r1_AGTqJcuxSrzw6T3J8xGXUjm-zLJOtDrTLXEzFtrNmctK1OuqacAilEmW3xVqz6aqd65yesUvn8rUDj7QbXusGlmdaTR__aU3KjmT-bQqa55CjuOUo7xNHjt8jDN9qiYE/s1600-h/image%25255B20%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixPsodOTHnTAKcQLZMFwqj798geLdyXKHMUUaZEFKyCuWNMEBr82G6U0D1J_b3BBfuP0tu7Lu69S075nFoHXYDBjTjiMJbJQxX0u0MijwFet1iSuCQFXKKVpzvFx7tAcS53NgzQ3Ko1oY/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">If you are using a data projector the backchannel will be displayed. At the bottom of the screen you will see the words ‘<i>Transcript</i>’. When you click on this you will be able to see the whole conversation. </span><b> </b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>When would one use a backchannel in the classroom?</b></span></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Students would need access to computers. The backchannel could be used:</span></div><ul style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">for Skype calls </span></li><li><span style="font-size: small;">for listening to audio podcasts or watching educational videos </span></li><li><span style="font-size: small;">for revision classes </span></li><li><span style="font-size: small;">during debates </span></li><li><span style="font-size: small;">when listening to guest speakers </span></li><li><span style="font-size: small;">for oral presentations</span></li><li><span style="font-size: small;">when learning new skills</span></li><li><span style="font-size: small;">to teach students about online etiquette</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Further reading</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">1. <a href="http://langwitches.org/blog/2011/01/09/backchanneling-movie-watching-note-taking-information-scribes/">Backchanneling-Movie Watching-Note Taking- Information Scribes</a></span><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">2. <a href="http://judyarztblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/todaysmeet-super-tool-for-discussions.html">lTry TodaysMeet for backchannel chat without distraction</a><br />3. <a href="http://judyarztblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/todaysmeet-super-tool-for-discussions.html">TodaysMeet: Perfect Tool for On-the-Spot, Total Student Engagement</a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">3. </span><a href="http://www.teachgennow.com.au/2011/04/35-todaysmeet/">http://www.teachgennow.com.au/2011/04/35-todaysmeet/</a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">4. <a href="http://quickshout.blogspot.com/2009/06/tap-into-backchannel-in-your.html">http://quickshout.blogspot.com/2009/06/tap-into-backchannel-in-your.html</a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div></div>

30 days of web tools TodaysMeet Tutorials Web tools 30 Days of Web tools: #12: Use Today’sMeet for useful backchannel discussions

Often when you are watching a presentation and you have computer access you want to make a comment on what the presenter is saying. Twitter is most often used for this. But often, if one wishes the responses to be more private a backchanneling progra…

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