Wiffiti is quickly becoming one of my favorite apps for using cell phones in the classroom. It has a clean interface and the time for text to screen takes only seconds. What this gives teachers is a platform for instant feedback that can also be seen by the entire class. I did a little searching this morning to see how others are using Wiffiti. Actually, I was surprised that more people haven’t written about using the tool in their classrooms. Information was sparse, but here’s a few good ideas that I came across:
1. The Traveling with Technology Blog shows using Wiffiti in a Spanish class to learn the subjunctive by having students write their examples on the Wiffiti board.
2. Liz Kolb, one of the pioneers on using cell phones in the classroom, has a great blog post showing how to use Wiffiti as a brainstorming tool.
3. The Teacher Tech Blog mentions that Wiffiti could be used for backchannel chat during a lecture or lesson.
4. Mrs. Montgomery at Technically Speaking gives a great idea. She suggests using Wiffiti as a point for collecting answers to a question that students may be doing research on. The cool thing about this is that students can be using either computers or their phones, and if the Wiffiti screen is projected on the wall, all students in the classroom can see what has been posted.
5. The History Tech Blog suggests that teachers could use Wiffiti as a collection point for answers to homework questions. This is interesting because students could text in their answers when they think of them, instead of trying to get to a computer. This one really makes sense to me.
I would appreciate any other suggestions or ideas on how to use Wiffiti as a tool for teaching.
I’ve never heard of Wifitti before. I just checked it out and am excited to use it on another level. I run a lot of professional development sessions. It would be great to have a Wifitti up on one board while I present on another. As teachers have questions or thoughts, they could immediately post them to the Wifitti. That way, I could be sure to address everyone’s issues during the presentation without having to wait for a Q&A.
Thanks for posting about this tool!
I really like using Wiffiti. I don’t think that you will be disappointed, and I am sure that your audience will be impressed as well. Another option that is not quite as clean but also useful is textthemob.com. I had to use it the other day when Wiffiti wasn’t working. It’s a good backup.
A really good resource from what I can see. How about using it in a primary school? I was thinking maybe including it in a debate session with year six on a particular subject? As those less confident will for more inclined to join in, what are your thoughts? How could it be of benefit do you think?
Wiffiti would work good. The good thing about it is that students can use a phone or a computer to participate, and it really does get those shy students to participate.
If 30 students posted, do the post cycle and repeat? Can a list of all post be seen and reviewed? Would one have to approve the post one at a time to go through everyone’s post?
Yes, the posts do repeat. The teacher can, as the moderator, see a list of all posts in the order that they were received. This comes in handy when there are inappropriate posts. There is no approval option (as far as I know). All posts are made immediately public. However, the moderator can always delete them, and this can be done quite quickly. I always have two computers set up. One projects the screen, and then I have a laptop set up in timeline mode so I can see what is going on. Honestly, I haven’t had much trouble with stray comments.
I can see how to project the SMS link; however, how do you show the url in the screen for those doing web posts?
Wiffiti’s primarily used projected on a wall or board. Both SMS number and the text code (wif#####) are posted on the “board.” If you are still confused, let me know.
I am trying to get wifitti unblocked at my school. Thus I am collecting ways it could be used to ‘defend’ my position. Therefore I am very thankful for the ideas presented here. In addition to them, as a portion of an emergency plan, I think wifitti would be an excellent way to communicate status updates to faculty during lock-downs as well as for faculty to communicate students who are MIA in a safe and secure fashion.
I have never thought of using it in that fashion before. That is an interesting idea. It certainly would allow students with a mobile device to tell where they were.
I’m the CEO of LocaModa, the company behind Wiffiti. We put the “freemium” version out there to see how a light version of our platform would be used. We were pleasantly surprised to find teachers leveraging it to connect to their pupils as it was originally intended for conferences or venues such cafes, bars, clubs, restaurants etc. We’re delighted to see a passionate debate about Wiffiti. Thanks for your support and interest!
I use wiffiti when my class does a socratic Circle discussion group.
Since we divide the class in half, and only half can actively participate at a time the “observers” can text a question for the participants to discuss.
I just wish there was a way to limit in class boards to approved user names so I can monitor which students are posting.
Just learned about this at a tech conference. Very excited to find ways to integrate it into my classroom, thanks for the good ideas!
I have used wiffiti at least once a week since Oct 2010 in my English Lit classes as a sponge activity while I take attendance. I require students to work in pairs on the question(s) and because the time-line feature shows responses in the order received, I can later give points for the responses. My students like it and my principal came in one day and saw my students texting in class and was taken aback, but now uses it himself for icebreakers in PD sessions. It is a great web2.0 tool.
Thanks for the great idea.
*really* great idea. love this. Have you had parents/students worried about txt charges?
No, I have never had worried parents because it is totally free. Maybe there were some worried parents, but they never voiced their concerns to me.
As for inappropriate comments, I have a strong talk with student before the activity begins. This is usually enough. However, if there is a comment I don’t like, I can go in and delete it by looking at the board in timeline mode. This will show you comments in the order they are sent, and there is an option to delete them. Sometimes, I will set up a board and use two computers. One to run the projector, and another to monitor the board in timeline mode.
How do you handle students posting off-topic or inappropriate comments? (I know my classes….
Have you had any students or parents express concerns about the cost of sending texts?
Does this sight cost anything to use? I wonder what they do with student numbers that access the site. Great idea, just cautious about $ and privacy.
The site doesn’t cost anything to use for you or the students. They just text in their answers and are randomly given a name. If they register, they can choose their name. I guess I have never worried about security in a situation like this because our numbers are floating all over the place anyway. Actually, this is big business for this company that hosts the site, so I am sure they have pretty good security. Try it. It is a blast with students.
Reblogged this on Technology Tools for the 21st Century Educator/Learner.
Hi!, I have an account, but the only thing that appears on the board is my email. How do I obtain a number to receive texts messages? Thank you!
The number for your page should be at the bottom of the page.
Hi! The four númbers that appear at the bottom are part of my board URL and when I try to used it to text did not work. What else I am missing? Thanks