Virtual Parking Lots!

Have you ever been leading either a face to face or online professional development session or teaching a group of students, only to look out into the crowd and see hands raised?  Perhaps you're in the middle of a thought or are in the middle of the concept and can't call on that particular individual at just that moment....Back channels are the answer for you....

There are 3 back channels that I'm partial to, but I'm sure there are a ton more out there.  Back channels are virtual parking lots, if you will.  Think about that large sticky poster paper that you used to have hanging back in the day and when someone had something to add to the conversation, something rolling around in their heads as you were presenting, or something of that nature, either they or you would write it on the paper to address it later at the end of the session.  Back channels provide a virtual place for this to occur and there are several things that I love about them!

First, back channels provide a transcript that can be accessed for as long as you need!  In the past, I've used them to create conversation during presentations that I was leading and was able to take the questions, feedback and general contributions that were located on the back channel and not only address them at the end of the session, but also in follow up emails and trainings as well.

Another thing I love about back channels is the collaboration that occurs behind the scenes!  Someone may type a question into the back channel and before you can even get to it to address it, someone else has already chimed in "behind the scenes" and answered it for you!  It sparks little mini collaborative conversations and a community among your audience!

Instead of stopping a training or teaching of a class to address concerns or hear a suggestion that someone has, I can pause throughout my delivery to address a group of things at one time, spark conversation around them and then continue.  No more "squirrel" moments during your presentation. You know what those are, right?  When someone raises their hand to ask you to clarify something you said and the next thing you know, you're talking about your kids, or your dog, or the pizza that you're going to order for dinner that night!  It's happened to all of us!  I've been known to engage in "squirrel" moments often!  Back channels help!
So now that you know why I love a good back channel, let's dive into a few!


www.todaysmeet.com
This is an oldie but goodie! Today's Meet allows you to create a "room" that you can keep open anywhere from 1 hour to 1 year!  You are also able to create a transcript that can be saved or printed off for future reference.  Once you create your room, you will provide a link to your room to your audience.  Participants do not have to log in, but will just go to the link that you provide and enter in a nickname.  I often use "Beyonce" as my go to!  LOL....seriously.....Then, each response that they type gets 140 characters...think Twitter.  This tool is SUPER user friendly and easy.  This is the one that I use as my "go-to" back channel because it's easy.


www.padlet.com 
A few years ago I was at ISTE (International Society of Technology Ecuators) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and ran into the creator of this amazing tool.  He was probably 18 at the time...not really, but looked like he could have been.  I could have stayed around him all day and soaked in his brilliance.  Instead, we talked about the awesomeness of the tool and he gave me a laptop sticker and a t-shirt!  LOL  Padlet was originally used in the instructional technology space as a type of virtual bulletin board but I love to use it as a back channel.  This tool has had some AMAZING updates over the years and it's easy to see why people love it so much!  People also use it to create mood boards, house their bookmarks in a visually appealing way, a to-do board, for KWL charts, story boards, org charts, and video playlists to name a few.  This tool could literally organize your life!  As a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, some of our resources have been housed in a padlet for easy access and use.  As a back channel, participants are able to simply click on the padlet that you create, which is essentially a blank canvas, and they are able to add whatever they want from text, to videos, to pictures, etc!  You give your padlet a title and can provide a description and it's then ready for your participants to be creative in what they post!  There is also a premium feature, however I take advantage of the free version.


https://answergarden.ch/
This tool is one of the newer ones that I've come across but I love it just the same!  Answer Garden is a simple tool to use in that you pull up the site, give your "garden" a title and then choose if you want to create a brainstorm garden, classroom garden, moderator or locked garden.  Moderator could be an option, however you will have to approve each of the posts before they go live.  For the purposes of a back channel, I would select brainstorm garden.  In brainstorm mode, the responders are able to submit an unlimited number of answers.  Answer garden only allows for 20 or 40 character responses, so one would have to definitely be creative with their posts, however it can be done!  One thing that I do love about this tool is that as a response is entered in more than once, that word or phrase will appear larger on your garden wall.  I'm a visual learner, what can I say?

So there you go!  Three ideas for back channels that you can check out and utilize!  I'd love to hear about how you use these tools or about others that you know and love!  Are there other creative ways that you utilize tools like these?  Let me know!