It can be intimidating to have a back channel going while you are talking or teaching. But as the last almost-two years have shown, chat boxes, or any kind of back channel, can feel like a safer and easier way for participants to ask questions or make comments. It can support a sense of community among a class and provide a place for learners to help each other and answer each other’s questions. It can also be an easy way to collect feedback about how the class is going and things that may need to be clarified. A class-sanctioned back channel can help everyone in the class, not just class friends who may have a group chat going.
We encourage you to try using a back channel for your in-person talks or classes. Give your students or audience the option of a chat box even when you are physically in the same room.
One option for this is Poll Everywhere. SMHS licences Poll Everywhere so faculty and staff have access to accounts with unlimited questions and responses. Many faculty use it for “clicker questions” in slides, but Poll Everywhere has a wide variety of types of polls or questions and does not need to be used on slides.
Try using the Q&A or Open Ended poll types for a back channel.
If you will be using other Poll Everywhere activities during the session you can Pin the backchannel so that it remains available to students to ask questions even while you are asking the other Poll Everywhere questions.
Need a Poll Everywhere account? Email Laurie Lyons at lbl@gwu.edu.
