Shout Reel is a free service that allows you to create a private or public chat area or message system. When you create a Shout Reel account you can post messages to any public “reel” (they’re term for a message community). You can also create your own private or public reel. If you make the reels you create private, you have to assign a password and give that password to anyone that you want to be able to post messages in your reel. Shout Reel messages can include text, links, and file attachments. You can also post a video message to a reel by using your laptop’s web cam.

Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo for his post about Shout Reel earlier this week.

Applications for Education
Shout Reel, like a lot of free chat and messaging systems, could be useful for hosting backchannel discussions with your students. The nice thing about Shout Reel is that if you or your students want to do more than just exchange written messages, Shout Reel gives you those options. You could post a discussion question in a reel you create for your class then have students respond by sharing their thoughts via typed messages or, for students who are more comfortable talking than they are writing, through video messages to the class.

Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
Five Platforms for Classroom Back-channel Chat
Back-channeling During a Class Viewing of Glory
Two Examples of Backchannels in Elementary School