Answer Garden

Answer Garden is a really nice way to tap into what students already know about a subject or to measure what they have learned.  One perk is that there is NO REGISTRATION.  How fun!  Answers are limited to 20 characters and can easily be embedded in a blog or other website.  Answers generate a graphic word cloud.

The great thing about this is that it is able to quantify feedback from a group.  This allows the classroom to work collaboratively.  It also provides for the opportunity to foster the "classroom community" we all love to talk about.

One draw back is that there is not a really concrete way to prevent bullying or foul language.  One deterent suggested is to remind students that we are looking for serious answers, not childish behavior.  The idea that this is deterrent enough.  Otherwise, teachers can moderate answers from seperate computers, have an administrative password, or have a smart filter for foul language.  To me, this is all Greek and requires further investigation.  Here's what I like about this resource:

• The page outlines how this tool keeps up with the next generation's style of learning
• It provides a few ideas on how to use it with specific content fields (math, social studies, etc)
• Students can use it to brainstorm ideas
• It engages students by letting them see each other's responses
• It acts as a great visual because if there are frequent student responses on the same word, the word becomes larger
• As a teacher, it is useful to be able to rest your cursor over a response to see how many respondents there were.  This can be helpful to guide you in how you should gauge how you are meeting your instruction goals as a teacher.  It lets you know where students truly are with the knowledge.
• The site provides a reference to which Core Standard this specific tool addresses
• THERE IS A VIDEO TUTORIAL!!!
• As mentioned before, there is an acknowledges safety concern and suggestion on how to address aforementioned student tomfoolery.

This is a very interesting way to engage as well as to gauge students.  As an aspiring teacher, I think this is a very useful tool worthy of investigation.