What's a backchannel?

Have you ever had that shy student who you knew was bright but lacked confidence to participate in class discussions? I am reading a book right now called "Empowered Schools, Empowered Students" and it opened my eyes to this very topic. I always gave students a voice in my classroom because I know it is a way to keep students engaged but never really thought about a backchannel. A backchannel is a way for students to engage in a digital conversation that runs concurrently with face-to-face instruction.

A great way to backchannel is by using TodaysMeet because it allows the entire class to participate on any given topic given by a teacher. I use to use this as a ticket out the door and asked students to post questions, comments, or to give me feedback about the day's lesson. I taught 9th, 11th, and 12th grade literature and this simple tool allowed me to see how well students had understood a topic, novel, or theme and helped me make lessons more interesting and engaging by listening to their feedback/project ideas. I like how in "The Backchannel: Giving Every Student a Voice in the Blended Mobile Classroom" Beth Holland says that, "Backchannels don't replace class discussions -- they extend them."

In my case, backchanneling also minimized interruptions and negative behavior because each student was engaged. At the beginning of the school year I asked students to confidentially give me a nickname they would use. This helped shy students participate without feeling judged if they gave the wrong answer.

Have you tried anything similar? If so, please share other tools and websites that serve the same purpose.

How do you give students a voice in the classroom?

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