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We are sharing ideas and having conversations right here on Padlet. I think with some guidance and sentence starters this is something students could do.

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Use google docs and have students share with one another, They can add comments to each other's work and then meet afterwords to explain the changes. 

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Use google docs and have students share with one another, They can add comments to each other's work and then meet afterwords to explain the changes. 

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One idea I really like that will also include coding would be to have the students use code.org and assign each student a game.  Allow them to play it for a block and take notes on it.  Then they will meet with a partner and discuss with the partner what level they got to and explain using correct terminology what they did to get here. (Algorithm discussion)

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You can make posts on google classroom and have students respond to one another on it like we do on blackboard.

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You could give each student a topic, or they could choose their own, and present a digital media project on it.  After the project is made they can be the "expert" in that topic and you can direct students his/her way to reteach whatever the topic may be. 

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You could give each student a topic, or they could choose their own, and present a digital media project on it.  After the project is made they can be the "expert" in that topic and you can direct students his/her way to reteach whatever the topic may be. 

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Having a debate is a GREAT way to bring productive conversation to the classroom. The students will need a guide of proper sentence starters to use, and a reminder of how to disagree respectfully, but then they will blow you away! I gave my students a topic and then had them research it, they then took sides and debated with their research and proper debate vocabulary.

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Encourage students that thinking about something is more important than knowing the right answer. Often, there is no right answer, but the thinking about contrary ideas helps us get closer to our own beliefs. Give quieter students time to think (and perhaps write) before having to share aloud with the class. Get rid of put downs that make sharing feel unsafe.

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Invite families in or do google hangouts with local community businesses/experts. Prepare relevant questions for guests. Practice with students being the guest speaker.

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Frame conversations around they type of interactions that are happening.  Look at the 4 types of conversations. Is the real problem that we don't listen when others speak?

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The Four Types of Conversations

When talking with someone, it is helpful to know what type of conversation you are in. You can do so based on a conversation's direction of communication (a one-way or two-way street) and its tone/purpose (competitive or cooperative).

If you are in a one-way conversation, you are talking at someone, rather than with someone. If you are in a two-way conversation, participants are both listening and talking. In a competitive conversation, people are more concerned about their own perspective, whereas in a cooperative conversation participants are interested in the perspective of everyone involved.

Based on direction and tone, I grouped conversations into four types: debate, dialogue, discourse, and diatribe.

Debate is a competitive, two-way conversation. The goal is to win an argument or convince someone, such as the other participant or third-party observers.

Dialogue is a cooperative, two-way conversation. The goal is for participants to exchange information and build relationships with one another.

Discourse is a cooperative, one-way conversation. The goal to deliver information from the speaker/writer to the listeners/readers.

Diatribe is a competitive, one-way conversation. The goal is to express emotions, browbeat those that disagree with you, and/or inspires those that share the same perspective.

To highlight the differences between these types of conversations, let's use politics as an example:

Debate: two family members from opposite sides of the political spectrum arguing over politics.

Dialogue: two undecided voters talking to each other about the candidates, trying to figure out who they want to vote for.

Discourse: a professor giving a lecture on international affairs.

Diatribe: a disgruntled voter venting about the election's outcome.

It is important to know which type of conversation you are in, because that determines the purpose of that conversation. If you can identify the purpose, you can better speak to the heart of that conversation. But, if you misidentify the conversation you are in, you can fall into conversational pitfalls.

Here are a few examples of conversational pitfalls I've written about:

If someone appears to be in a conversational pitfall, you can help them climb back out. Regardless of how one climbs back out, the solution always starts with identifying which hole you are in. You must first know the problem before you can find the solution. And, sometimes, just identifying the pitfall itself is enough to draw attention to the problem and correct the conversation.

When you are in a conversation, take a moment to think about which conversation you are actually in. Each of the types of conversation are meaningless on their own; you give them meaning in their use. And, ultimately, it is up to you to decide what type of conversation you want to be part of.

While this article is a discourse (I've been writing, you've been reading) it doesn't have to remain that way. Feel free to like, comment, or share before you leave. For more, check out davidwangel.com.

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The Four Types of Conversations: Debate, Dialogue, Discourse, and Diatribe

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When talking with someone, it is helpful to know what type of conversation you are in. You can do so based on a conversation's direction of communication (a one-way or two-way street) and its tone/purpose (competitive or cooperative). If you are in a one-way conversation, you are talking at someone, rather than with someone.

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I love the blog Cult of Pedagogy. She has an idea for active, novel, and flexible "chat stations." Students move around the room and talk about different questions until they come back for the whole group discussion.

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You've probably heard of-and maybe used-learning stations in your classroom. With stations, teachers set up activities around their rooms, then have students rotate from station to station, performing each task. They are a wonderful way to provide variety and engagement in your classroom.

There's only one real downside to stations-they take a LOT of time to set up. And because we're all short on time, we may not use stations as often as we could.

So today I'm proposing a watered-down version of stations that keeps the movement, interactivity and variety while minimizing the prep work. I'm calling these "Chat Stations," discussion prompts that students visit just like stations, but instead of performing a complex task, they just have a quick discussion. Chat Stations are incredibly flexible: They can be used for test reviews, ethical debates, exploring new material, even analyzing literature.

On top of their flexibility as a cooperative learning tool, Chat Stations can also dramatically improve whole-class discussions. Because students have fully explored each issue in the less-threatening Chat Station setting, they will be better prepared to participate in a larger class discussion next. And as we explored in a previous post, we need to do more to engage our less talkative students. Chat Stations offer another way to get them more involved.

Here's a video demonstrating how Chat Stations work:

The more traditional kinds of stations-where students perform more complex or hands-on work-are still the gold standard for student engagement, but Chat Stations can be a great strategy for those times when you haven't been able to prepare a "real" station. They still get students up and moving and breathe new life into your content. And there's really no limit to how challenging your questions can be.

I'm pretty sure I haven't invented anything new here, so if you're doing something like this and have a tip or suggestion to add, please comment below. If you try this for the first time, please share your experiences with us. ♦

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Students Sitting Around Too Much? Try Chat Stations.

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Your new favorite teaching strategy: This pared-down version of learning stations keeps the movement, interactivity and variety while minimizing the prep work.

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Create a structure for conversation to happen. Practice! Make it fun or silly.

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Create a structure for conversation to happen. Practice! Make it fun or silly.

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So many families don't have much time together at the end of the day. Role play and create a structure for simple conversation. Give students situations to act out or explore.

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Using an app like flipgrid allows students to connect and comment digitally, but we are still able to see their face.

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Flip is a video discussion and sharing app, free from Microsoft.

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Flip (formerly Flipgrid) is a video discussion and video sharing app, free from Microsoft, built for classrooms and beyond. Learn more.

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I was looking at trying this with another teacher I met through Lesley. Another music teacher and I wanted to try to do a collaboration digitally. I love this idea and it would incorporate technology and communication! I think it would also show students how easy it is to communicate with each other in and out of the classroom.

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This article describes how a teacher uses Desmos math app but balance personalized learning with student learning through conversation by pausing and having classroom discussion.

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Ron Nickel/Design Pics/Thinkstock

Last year, an ed tech startup called Desmos faced a curious conundrum: Classrooms using its math app grew quiet, too quiet.

Teachers use the Desmos Activity Builder tool to create a series of self-paced math challenges using an online graphing calculator. There was just one problem, said Dan Meyer, Desmos' chief academic officer: With each student deeply engaged in a different part of the lesson, "Teachers were having trouble starting class discussions."

The hush was troubling, because students learn a lot from debating ideas, sharing feedback, and collectively exploring big questions. So, this fall, the company added three new features, dubbed the Classroom Conversation Toolset, to let teachers pause the app classroomwide, snap every computer to a particular screen, and cloak student identity to anonymously share answers with the entire class. In doing so, Desmos joined a handful of other startups using tech to boost student interaction and class discussion, so that in the rush to personalize learning we don't lose the benefits of learning together.

It can be tricky to find the right mix, admits Heather Kohn, a high school math teacher in Marlborough, Massachusetts, who uses the Desmos app a few times a month. "I want to give my students the freedom to explore on their own," she said-except of course, when she wants their undivided attention.

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Before the Conversation Toolset, when Kohn wanted students to take a break from individual work for a class discussion, she had to make them close their laptops-far enough that they could no longer see the screen, but not so far as to shut down the program. Kohn called the maneuver "Pac-Man-ing," because the frequent laptop closings and reopenings evoked the video game creature. "Now, I just click pause," she said.

One recent morning, Kohn used the Desmos app to teach a ninth-grade algebra class about graphing simple functions. Working in pairs, the students tackled progressively more challenging problems in the app. Kohn monitored everybody's work from a dashboard on her tablet computer as she circulated around the room, helping those who struggled and checking to make sure the high fliers weren't missing anything by moving too fast.

"I like to focus on the outliers," Kohn said. She soon noticed that several students were making the same mistake on multiple challenges. So she clicked pause, which elicited good-natured moaning and groaning. "I know," she said. "Can I have all eyes on me for a minute?"

Kohn then snapped every computer to one of the early challenges, where the tricky concept first appeared. She projected that screen on a whiteboard and displayed every student's answer-but only after clicking the anonymizer, which swapped student names with the names of famous mathematicians.

"What do you notice about these graphs?" Kohn asked. "Are they exactly the same shape? What is different about them?"

After a five-minute discussion about shifting functions by tweaking equations, and after jotting a few examples on the whiteboard, Kohn unpaused the app and let the students return to self-paced work.

In the rush to personalize learning, we don't want to lose the benefits of learning together.

Although personalized-learning software can generate rapid, individualized feedback, reaching students who are truly struggling requires a human connection that no algorithm can replicate, according to Andrew Rowland, co-founder and CEO of Classkick, another ed tech startup geared to social learning.

"Teaching will be one of the last jobs taken away by the robots," said Rowland, "because software will never be the same as a human who is thinking about what you're thinking and can use that understanding to say, 'Here, let me unlock this for you.' "

Launched in 2013, Classkick's app lets teachers with iPads or Chromebooks create lessons for any subject. When students log on, they can submit answers by typing, writing on touch screens, snapping photographs, or making voice recordings based on the instructions. Teachers see every screen from their computers and can send students quick feedback using a messaging function. And when a student has a hard time, he can click a button to virtually and anonymously raise his hand, creating a classwide prompt that can be answered by a peer or by the teacher. The basic version of the app is free, while the pro version with a few more bells and whistles costs $11.99 a month.

Amy Roediger, a high-school chemistry teacher in Mentor, Ohio, outside Cleveland, uses the Classkick app and said she was "pleasantly shocked" by how readily students helped one another.

"It's like a team-building exercise in the context of a chemistry lesson," said Roediger.

Another Classkick user, Douglas Ragan, who teaches chemistry in Hudsonville, Michigan, said students are far more comfortable showing their work when he projects their screens, compared with doing the same task at the chalkboard.

"It's a different dynamic when they don't have get up in front of the whole class," he said. "A whole level of nervousness is just eliminated."

Sharing answers and the thinking behind them is also the goal of a third social-learning tool, called Pear Deck, launched in 2014 by former teachers in Iowa City. Teachers put questions about any subject onto Pear Deck slides, accessed with a class login code. (Cost ranges from $99 for a class account to $1,499 to sign up an entire school.) When students respond-by typing, drawing, dragging markers around a map or graph, or multiple choice-their answers appear collectively, and anonymously, on the teacher's projected screen.

It isn't always about finding the right answer, noted Michal Eynon-Lynch, Pear Deck's co-founder and chief operating officer; it's also about, "seeing other people's ideas, understanding that there are different ways of thinking that have value, and learning how to talk about those differences in a respectful way."

That said, Pear Deck is now working on more options to personalize lessons in the app. Earlier this fall, for instance, user feedback led it to add a student-paced mode that teachers can toggle to as they see fit.

"A teacher might decide in the moment to help students who are really stuck while letting other students move ahead," said Eynon-Lynch. "We want to give teachers that flexibility, without going completely down the rabbit hole of personalized learning where everybody is just doing their own thing. We're still trying to find that balance."

As Kohn's algebra students understand, learning isn't a race to the finish line. Two students who sped through more challenges than their peers-Ian Minier and Harrison Paul-said the first class discussion led them back to a function they'd already shifted along the Y-axis, to experiment with moving it along the X-axis as well.

"When she hits pause, maybe we're on a roll, and so at first we're like, 'Ah man!' " said Minier. "But, it kind of forces everyone to pay attention, and we always learn something different."
This story was produced by the Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.

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Technology Can Limit Classroom Discussion. But It Doesn't Have To.

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Last year, an ed tech startup called Desmos faced a curious conundrum: Classrooms using its math app grew quiet, too quiet. Teachers use the Desmos Activity Builder tool to create a series of self-paced math challenges using an online graphing calculator.

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How about technology, like ClassKick, that helps students speak up for themselves and ask for help by raising their hand virtually? This gets around the problem of students hesitating to ask for help when they think they're interrupting.

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I recently heard about this and want to try it out. You can connect with a classroom anywhere - even outside of your district or across the world. Check out this link with information on how it works and how to connect with another classroom - https://psolarz.weebly.com/how-to-set-up-and-run-a-mystery-skype-session.html

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How about having students create a video or voice-over picture at home that relates to a subject. These can be linked to a QR code and posted on classroom walls for a tour. My thought is that doing something at home brings relevance to the student and may help motivate the shy ones or those that need that home connection in order to be willing to share. Also, getting them moving and touring around might get them talking :-)

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There seems to be more and more AR apps available for education. This is such a fun and engaging technology to use for Ed and,  because of this, spawns conversation. I've used Aurasma but I just found these classroom ideas using Metaverse (such as breakouts, scavenger hunts and storytelling): https://medium.com/metaverseapp/you-can-create-magic-in-the-classroom-951d068f365c

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Teachers, you and your students can create Augmented Reality Experiences without needing to write any code. Metaverse is a FREE Augmented Reality Platform that is being used by thousands of teachers to build all kinds of interactive learning experiences for their classrooms.

Creating AR Experiences is easy, takes minutes, and anyone can do it.

Experiences are built in Metaverse Studio by arranging components on a "Storyboard" and linking them together. Hundreds of components can be combined to create almost anything.

Experiences are instantly shareable via a unique link or a QR code, sent via email, embedded in web sites etc.

Students can tap the link or scan the code with the Metaverse App to interact with AR Experiences.

Some things teachers and students are building

Teachers and students augmenting all kings of Interactive Learning Experiences including: Breakouts, games, scavenger hunts, quizzes, choose your own adventure stories, science fair projects, book reports, presentations and MUCH more.

AR Breakouts/Escape Rooms

These Experiences require that students crack the code based on the clues provided. Here are some to try:

Survive the American Revolution (7th grade)

Break up and Make up Earth Science (5th grade)

Periodic Table Cipher (11th grade)

Help the Mountain Lion find his home (6th grade math)
Here's how to build a Breakout: Crowdsourcing Educational Breakouts
We are constantly getting requests for more Breakouts, across subjects and grade levels. Teachers are helping us create a comprehensive library of educational Breakouts for K-12.

Here's a spreadsheet of all the educational Breakouts that were made by teachers. If you would like to submit a Breakout for other teachers to use, please use this form.

Trivia Experiences

Teachers and students are creating HQ Trivia style Metaverse Experiences. Students typically have 5 seconds to answer each question correctly.

Field Trips and Scavenger Hunts

Teachers are creating their own scavenger hunts and augmenting field trips.

Experiences can be placed at specific geographical locations, requiring students to be near the Experience in order to interact with it (much like Pokemon Go).

Since every Experience has a unique QR code, teachers are also creating scavenger hunts in their classrooms or in multi-story buildings by placing QR codes in various areas.

Heroes, Castles, Legends, used augmented Nafplio castle in Greece. Students wore medieval clothing and roamed the castle solving AR puzzles about a classic tale that took place at the castle.
Learn how to create a scavenger hunt in Metaverse:
Interactive Stories

Teachers are creating sophisticated, short or long-form, AR stories (across all subjects) to supplement books and topics covered in class. By linking various components together, teachers can create sophisticated "choose your own adventure" stories, that enthrall their students.

Students Are Creating Their Own Experiences

Students love creating Experiences with Metaverse. It's a lot of fun, and great at teaching the logic behind computer programming, allowing students to build things they can see, use, and play with immediately.

Denise L. Sedlacek, an Assistant Superintendent Baldwin-Whitehall School District in PA, posted this video on Twitter. Denise visited Baldwin high school to see what students were up to in gaming class.

In this video, a freshman students gives a demo of a Metaverse tour that he built for incoming freshman. The tour leads students through the school by directing them to various QR codes. When a student scans the code an AR Experiences gives information about the particular location, and in some cases quizzes or asks the student to take a selfie.

Augment Science Fair Projects, Book Reports, etc.

Instead of printing articles, images and charts for a science fair projects, teachers are encouraging their students to build AR Experiences and paste QR codes on poster board. The results will surely wow the judges!

Metaverse Taught in Universities

Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts is teaching an "Augmented Reality Storytelling" class using Metaverse.

San Diego State is teaching Metaverse in three classes: Learning Design & Technology, Journalism & Media Studies and Design Thinking.

San Diego State ZIP Idea Lab is also using Metaverse to build client projects.

AR Education Pioneers help spread the magic

Educators from around the world are evangelizing the power of using AR in education.

Teachers are Teaching Other Teachers at Conferences

Teachers are Sharing Metaverse In Their Professional Development

Teachers Are Hosting Twitter Chats and Webinars

Teacher Spotlight Series

Teacher Spotlight Series highlights teachers that are doing interesting things with Metaverse.

I've been creating my own Google Expeditions with Metaverse. Jamie Averbeck. Instructional Technology Coordinator, Ashwaubenon School District @Averbecktech

Interactive Review Games with Metaverse. Dan Koslakiewicz. Science teacher. Greendale, Wisconsin @DanKos3

Bring Education to Life with Metaverse. Blake Johns. Instructional Technology Specialist, Ware County, Georgia @Blake_Johns

Common Sense Education

Common Sense Education is the nation's leading nonprofit organization that reviews various apps, websites, games for education. Common Sense Education gave Metaverse 4 out of 5 for students grade 4-12. Read the review

Robert Petitto, an EdTech Specialist at Woodward Academy, in College park GA, independently reviewed Metaverse for education. Read Rob's review

EdTech Influencers are Raving About Metaverse

Richard Bryne, the author of Free Tech for Teachers, has given talks about Metaverse to other teachers, written articles about Metaverse on his blog, and hosts Metaverse Webinars.

Monica Burns, the author of Class Tech Tips, says:

"I was definitely surprised by just how easy it is to create classroom augmented reality experiences." Read the full article

Vicki Davis, the author of Cool Cat Teacher, exclaims:

"This is much bigger than Pokemon Go. Metaverse is a fantastic way to teach programming and augmented reality." Read the full article

Educators are Augmenting Events and Conferences

Rob McTaggart helped Sydney Olympic Park augment its inaugural Innovation Games.

"This sort of activity is taking us where we want to be in education here at the park, right on the edge of where innovation meets learning." Mike Bartlett, Manager of Education at Sydney Olympic Park

Danny Kim, who works in the office of Strengths and Vocation (OSV) at Point Loma Nazarene University, built an augmented reality experience welcoming new students.

Help us get this in the hands of more teachers

Share How You use Metaverse
Show us how you use Metaverse by sharing photos to @MetaverseApp on Twitter or posting in the Metaverse Teacher Facebook Group. Post photos and Experiences to your own social feeds to encourage other teachers to try Metaverse.

Review us on the App Store
If you're enjoying Metaverse, please give us a review on the iOS or Android store.

We love hearing about your experience (pun intended) with Metaverse, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us at support at gometa dot io.
Check out our other stories on to see how others have used Metaverse.

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Create Magic in your Classroom - MetaverseApp - Medium

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Teachers, you and your students can create Augmented Reality Experiences without needing to write any code. Metaverse is a FREE Augmented Reality Platform that is being used by thousands of teachers to build all kinds of interactive learning experiences for their classrooms. Experiences are built in Metaverse Studio by arranging components on a "Storyboard" and linking them together.

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My school just started using these kits in grade 3/4 and they proved to spark a lot of collaboration and communication. For more info: https://www.breakoutedu.com/getstarted

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Attach your solutions to this note. If you right click on your note and click connect to a post you can pick this note to attach.

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Attach your solutions to this note. If you right click on your note and click connect to a post you can pick this note to attach.

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Attach your solutions to this note. If you right click on your note and click connect to a post you can pick this note to attach.

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Communication barriers seem to happen more and more within the classroom. Why have we stepped away from basic conversation? How can we bring human to human conversation back and use it to improve students' understanding of subject matter and build their confidence as they grow?