I've been meaning to catch up here and write about my experiences trying edmoto in my documentary film class. . . I had just come back from last month's MILI meeting where we talked about Twitter and played a little with Today's Meet and edmoto. Although I was really skeptical about all the multitasking and whether it would be all that useful or just another technology distraction for the kids, I decided to give it a try. I had just introduced a writing assignment to my students - a personal essay based on the "This I Believe" essays which I discovered on Minnesota Public Radio. It seemed like the on line group chat might be a fun way to help students generate and share personal beliefs to get them rolling for their essays. I tried Today's Meet but couldn't get the thing to even set up meeting for me, so I switched to edmoto which was really simple to use. 

When the students got to class we talked a little bit about the activity and they jumped right in. I had them REALLY multitasking for this little experiment of mine. First, they had to access a brainstorming assignment on our class wiki. Then they had to start a list of their own ideas on paper. When they were ready, they were to start posting some of their best ideas from the written list onto the group chat. They started tentatively - with pretty shallow comments - but as they got going, the comments really did become more thoughtful, and I could tell students were learning from each other. They not only contributed their own  ideas, they also read and responded to the postings of their classmates, and I could tell new ideas were generated because of the interaction that was talking place. 

Students sat at their desks working on laptops and I had the edmoto screen projected at the front of the room. After the first few minutes of trouble shooting and getting everyone logged on, I was able to observe and participate in the brainstorming session myself. It was completely silent in the room for the whole hour, except for the click of computer keys and the occasional brief outburst of laughter. Everyone was on task and they really enjoyed it. At one point, the dean walked by my classroom, did a double take and came back to say, "This is what it looks like when people are in the FLOW!" When the bell rang at the end of class, no one got up to leave. When they finally did start putting away the laptops, several students commented on their own ideas for ways we could use edmoto again. 

I think I really tested the kids by asking them to juggle reading directions on one web window, writing on paper, and keeping track of the group activity happening in another window. They seemed able to manage it all and it appeared to be a meaningful experience. I later picked out some of the best comments and put them in my "locker" on edmoto. The next day, we went through them and tried another activity in which I read a series of inspirational quotes out loud, and the students listened and commented on each quote. Again, they  were completely focused and generated some great ideas. Kids who often sit shyly in class discussions added some very personal comments and were able to have their voices heard for once. 

I can think of many ways to use this tool in my classes. I wouldn't want to overdo it, but it seemed to be a good way to get the students to focus, "listen" to each other's ideas, and generate ideas together.