Along with their official launch, I had the chance to meet with Patrick Randolph of Talkwheel for an EDUKWEST. Talkwheel are based in SF and the platform allows its users to communicate and collaborate in a very visual way. Although not exclusively designed for education, it clearly makes sense in our context when you think of teachers maintaining thread with their students, seminar groups or student groups.
As you’ll see in the demo the Talkwheel screen is split into two parts, one being the classic thread structure, we all still remember from forums or other discussion groups. The other visualization option then is the eponymous Talkwheel when all members who take part in a discussion are arranged around sort of a round structure / table. Users have their picture and everybody has a different color for their threads, so that it’s clear who said what and when. In a teaching context, it is also nice to see who was the most active person in the conversation and Talkwheel built-in a system that also analyzes the quality of what’s being said according to standards set in the US by the department of education.
All in all, I would say as more and more of our conversations take place online, a tool that makes us feel at ease about who said what in a discussion and gives us structure , has the potential to be accepted and applied by a wide variety of people.
You should definitely check out the motivation behind Talkwheel and the demo part as a picture says more than a thousand words. I am as always interested in getting your feedback and whether you can imagine this to establish itself in education or what stands against an adoption.
Audio only:
EDUKWEST #64 with Patrick Randolph of Talkwheel
Additional Links:
| Homepage: | http://www.talkwheel.com |
| Talkwheel on Twitter: | @Talkwheel |
| Patrick Randolph on LinkedIn: | Patrick Randolph |
