I was looking around the internet for a tool that could very quickly identify learning gaps. I like the idea of running a backchannel when it can be beneficial, but I can see how a backchannel could become a distraction. I stumbled upon AnswerGarden, which seems to fit what I was looking for!

AnswerGarden is an online tool that allows the instructor to post a comment or question, and very quickly build a word cloud based on the feedback from the students. This is potentially a more active approach to gauging students understanding than a backchannel because you are taking a quick pause from a lesson to have students participate in building this word cloud with their peers, with the added bonus of anonymity.

One way I see myself using this tool is to ensure students are on the right track. For example, after introducing the fundamentals of electrical math to students, I could pose a question like “In a 12V system, what happens to current when resistance goes up?”. Give the students a minute to think and answer and then take a look at the results. If I see a lot of “down” “current goes down” “decreases” in the word cloud – great! If I get a lot of the opposite, or answers that aren’t entirely relevant to the question, I’ll know I better back track a bit and review the fundamentals of electrical math.

Check it out, and create your own AnswerGarden!