One of the great things about using Chromebooks or iPads in the classroom is that they can give every student a voice. There are times when you want to elicit responses from everyone in the class but it’s usually the outspoken extrovert that participates more than the introverted shy student.

Technology has made classroom discussions easier for shy students to participate. A few apps that can give every student a voice include…

1. Verso: Verso is completely anonymous. Student responses to teacher discussion topics are anonymous to their classmates, only the teacher can see student names. The teacher can solicit responses by posting a link to a site, a video of themseleves asking the students to consider a question, or add something via their Google Drive or One Drive account. Verso also gives the teacher an option to reflect on the lesson. Click on the “My Stats” tab and click “Reflect Now.” The reflection includes a few questions about how you feel the lesson went and a free response questions allowing for deeper reflection.

2. Recap: Engage your class through a question led dialogue. Recap allows the teacher to introduce a written question. Students can respond with not only a written reply, but they can respond with a video response. Use Recap to check for understanding during a lesson, as a warm-up review of the previous days material, or introduce a discussion question.

3. Padlet: Create a discussion board with Padlet! Pose a question and allow your students to post to the board. A great layout allows all of the students to see their classmates posts and respond to them. Use Padlet to start a discussion, generate questions from the class, or take a poll.

4. Google Sheets/Google Docs: Addicted to Google Apps for Education? Easily incorporate Google Sheet or Docs into a real-time class discussion. Share a Google Sheet with your class with a question posed at the top (first row). Ask students to respond in one of the cells. And, you can use the same sheet for multiple discussions by creating multiple sheets with the tabs located at the bottom for easy access.

5. Edmodo: Not only is Edmodo a good alternative to Google Classroom where you can assign and grade class work, but it’s great to use for discussions with your class. Have our class sign up for you Edmodo class and your off and running. Edmodo allows you to send messages to the class at once or individual students. Pose different questions to various students and ask them to present their findings.

6. Google Classroom: Google Classroom allows the teacher to create a question in the Stream, allowing students to respond. Create questions on the fly during a lesson or check for understanding at the end of class. The Stream is a great place to create a warm-up question for students to address or ask the students to discuss a certain topic while the teacher monitors.