Video Back Channels with Google Documents

Google Apps is a great tool for student use. On one hand, it's simpler to use and learn than the Microsoft Office Suite. On the other hand, its collaboration tools are amazing, and almost impossible to mimic with traditional Word or Excel.

One creative way to use Google's sharing capabilities is through what is called a "back channel."  A back channel is, in essence, a secondary conversation that is occurring in the background of a lesson or presentation, usually via some form of computer technology.  For example, many large-audience presentors use a back channel to field questions from a 2000-member audience.

Example

Ms. Google has a great video for her Intro to Law class, the about the OJ Simpson trial (on VHS of course, so she has to go find a VCR).  The video is challenging, and in the past, Ms. Google would often pause the video to make comments or ask questions.  Today, she is using Google Apps as a video "back channel" discussion.
  1. Before class, Ms. Google creates a Google Document called "Video Back Channel" and shares it with her class.  How do I share a document?
  2. During the video, students open the shared document and leave it open on their device while watching the video.
  3. When an important point is mentioned in the video, Ms. Google can type it into the document.  All of her students will see it.
  4. When students have a question about the video, they can type their questions into the document for Ms. Google and the other students to see.  Anything they type should appear in real time on everyone's screen, with the student's name attached.  Ms. Google or the students can type responses right away without interrupting the video.
  5. The document can be saved so that students can use it to study for a video quiz tomorrow. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Google Drawings! 12 Days of Techmas, Day 10

Image
To celebrate the holiday season, I'll be sending out  12   Days  of easy classroom tech ideas you can use right away!   Weekend Edition! Day  10: Google Drawing A little used feature of the Google Apps system is  Google Drawings . I think this is because of its name: it  seems to imply free-hand drawing  on a computer, which may seem of limited use to most teachers. A Barely-Educational Example  (Keep reading for better examples!) However, free-hand is the  least  useful tool in Google Drawings. Where it really shines is in  free-layout text and shape drawing .  Google Drawings is  perfect for making concept maps and graphic organizers . You can make an organizer and share it with your students, or they make make their own.   Maybe these examples I whipped up might seem more educational: Concept Map about Fine Arts [Ironically, the example concept map of Fine Arts above is an  ugly color-tastrophe , but st
Read more

17 Classroom Tricks for your Whiteboard, Projector, and Doc Camera

Image
The combination of whiteboards, projectors, and document cameras is more powerful than many teachers realize. In the hectic rush of our everyday teaching, it's too easy to fall back on using these powerhouse tools as little more than digital overhead projectors.  So, here's what I call some "mini-tricks" to get more out of your whiteboard setup! Take a picture!  Your document camera is great for taking a snapshot of that worksheet you are projecting.  Many have a snapshot button right on the case; others use a little software program (ELMOs use ImageMate). Take lots of pictures! Are you presenting your notes via the document camera?  Take a quick picture for every page.  You can upload the pictures to Google Drive, DropBox, or Moodle, and share them with your students. Take video!  Most document cameras have an adjustable lens that can face horizontally.  It is a snap to record snapshots or videos of your students with the camera's software. Draw on m
Read more

Take Your Google Docs With You Before You Graduate

Image
Taking Your Google Data With You Before You Graduate:   Google Takeout Students who use Google Apps in school can amass a large number of docs, presentations, etc, representing a huge amount of academic work. Because these docs are stored in the cloud, you could lose them when your school deactivates your account after you graduate.  Fear not! Google Takeout lets you download and save all of the Google Drive and Gmail data that your created when you were in school. Go to https://www.google.com/settings/takeout . If prompted, sign in with your school Google Account. . Scroll down and turn OFF the data that you do NOT need to save. This is up to you. You know best which services you used and need to archive. NOTE: There are limits to the number of times you can archive your data, so choose wisely the first time. Click Next . Leave “File type” and “Delivery method” unchanged and click “ Create archive .” When archiving is done, you will see a screen like the one
Read more