It is very similar to Twitter in that my students can only type a 140 character statement. We can chat back and forth and they can tell me what they think. What makes it unique and different from Twitter is that it is a private chat room. Only the students you invite can enter the "meet" and chat with you. Your room stays up for 2 hours, 8 hours, a day, a week. a month or even a year. I usually just set mine for a week in case my lesson gets off and I have to adjust my plans. I don't have to go back and re create the link.You might ask, "How could I use this in my classroom?" I used the room as a place for students to post questions about the lesson. Some students are real shy and do not want to ask out loud. This format allowed them to ask questions in the room and I could respond during the lesson without embarrassment to the student. It's like back channeling. Other students can even help out with the questions and you can really see what they are understanding from the lesson. I have three iPads and some laptops for use in my room. I like to set up a review game and instead of having the students yell out their answer, the first group to type in their answer in our chat room and get it right, is the winner. It's great because there is no argument over who got in first. The students love to review this way. I have not done this yet, but lets say you know the topic you taught was a struggle in class. You could have your chat room open from 6-7 pm for students to ask you questions from home. Or you could be on for review right before a test. Keep in mind that you will have to let students know how to properly respond to post and that this is for educational use only.
If you haven't had a chance to try out TodaysMeet, just simply click on the link above, set up your first room and give it a try. It's free and simple. Hope to post again real soon. Have a great 2nd 6-weeks, and try something new to engage your students!
