Another YackPack Post

My previous post was about a new efriendly tool for communicating with technology called YackPack. BJ Fogg, the creator of YackPack, recently emailed me to tell me how he uses the software with college students at Stanford University. I wanted to add it to my list of ways teachers could use the tool with students. Here is what BJ does using YackPack for providing feedback to students on assessments.

>>The big insight: YackPack makes grading papers so much easier. I just begin a message and start commenting as I read the paper. When I'm done, I type in a grade and send the message.And I'm on to the next paper. So easy!I thought I was doing my student wrong with this fast method. But they loved it. They could hear the reaction in my voice; they said it was the best feedback they've ever gotten on their work. So a paper that would have taken 30 minutes to evaluate with paper and notes now takes about 7 minutes. And I'm doing better work.<< Thanks BJ!

Since YackPack is just an emerging tool, we are just beginning to hear about what is going on. It has been used in an interactive museum exhibit @ Tech Museum of Innnovations. A year from now it will be interesting to see how many teachers and students are using this efriendlylearning tool! A new YackPack project is being created for teachers who would like to take the power of this tool and communicate with other students in classrooms around the world. Become part of the beta-testing and try it out!