Instructify

August 13, 2010

Maybe it’s just my imagination, but I’ve seen a lot of posts in the blogosphere recently about classroom responder services (such as PollEverywhere and PollDaddy). These tools provide a lot of value in the classroom, but there are a few big things they can’t do. While they can ask a question and get an answer, they can’t facilitate a discussion about the question. A solution has arisen from the depths of Google Labs, Google Moderator.

Google Moderator allows for discussion around a single topic. Designed for meetings, this tool facilitates real-time feedback in meetings (like classrooms), or crowdsourcing the development of new ideas.

When you first log in to Google Moderator you can create a new discussion question or prompt for people to submit new ideas. Once the question is out there, you get a URL that participants in your meeting can visit and submit replies to. They can also “vote” on a topic, using a check mark or an X to either like or dislike a question or response.

If your school district is using Google Apps for Education, your administrator can enable Google Moderator in the Control Panel. If you have a Google account, you can access Google Moderator online and allow anonymous postings if your students do not have Google accounts. Students can access Google Moderator using a laptop or mobile web-enabled device.

Ideas for implementation

Novel discussions: Students can discuss a novel virtually using Google Moderator — the teacher can post questions and concepts about the book, and the students can discuss them.
Chalk talks: Silent discussions within the classroom. Ask a series of questions to which students add responses to their questions (and respond to one other).
Warm-ups: Google Moderator is a great tool for teachers to ask short questions to be used as a warm-up or discussion starter.
Collaborative notes: Have students add components of a set of notes to create a study guide for a test.
Homework help: Have Moderator questions available for students as they complete their homework. Teachers or other students can answer these questions.