By David - Jan 2013

Still looking for some creative uses of an online classroom discussion? How about a good game of who am I?

First up, create yourself a free backchannel, make sure your display name is something like 'Who?'.

Then put the room code up on the blackboard or email the direct link to the room. Students don’t need to give away any personal details, just a display name, preferably just their first name.

Once everyone is in the room, it’s time to start. Here are a couple of transcripts:

Teacher: I was born on 4th August 1961.

Teacher: I was born in Hawaii.

Teacher: I attended Harvard Law School.

Teacher: I worked as a lawyer in Chicago.

Teacher: Then I became a politician.

Teacher: I became a senator from Illinois.

Teacher: In 2008 I did something special.

Teacher: I won that something special in 2008 and attended a special event in January 2009.

Teacher: I did the same thing in 2012 and the same event in 2013.

Each of the clues above can be used for deeper reflection or have the students try and research each of the facts.

At the end of the discussion, paste in a Wikipedia link into the message field: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

BackChannel Chat will expand a summary out for the Wikipedia article with it's embedded media feature:

How about another one:

Teacher: I was born 21st July 1899 in America

Teacher: My favorite childhood sport was boxing.

Teacher: I became an ambulance driver in Italy during world war 1

Teacher: After the war I came back to America and became a journalist at the Toronto Star.

Teacher: I moved to Paris, still working for the Toronto Star.

Teacher: I became a renowned war reporter, covering aspects of the second world war.

Teacher: I wrote a novel in 1929 that its pretty famous. Its about my wartime experiences.

Teacher: In 1959 I moved to Cuba.

Teacher: I am a famous writer.

Again at the end, be sure to past in the URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway to get the embedded Wikipedia article.

We hope you find this interesting and useful.