Engage Students with a Digital Turn and Talk

One way I love to engage learners during discussions or question and answer sessions in my classroom is with the Kagan Structure Think, Pair, Share. While I was still a full-time classroom teacher, I would ask a question, instruct students to discuss the question with their shoulder partner, during which 

each partner gave and explained their answer.  I did this so that every student in the classroom  had an opportunity to think about and engage in discussion around the content.  This was a great way to break up a class period and get students talking and thinking.  ​​​

In my current role as my district’s Instructional Technology Coordinator, I have converted this activity to a digital one that I like to call the digital turn and talk. The digital turn and talk activity gives students an opportunity to collaborate with a small group while simultaneously sharing their thinking with the class utilizing a highly structured, shared Google document. One reason I LOVE this activity is because it gives students in a 1:1 

Sample digital turn and talk activity

computer setting the opportunity to get out from behind their devices and interact with their classmates and have quality discussions about the content of the class. Additionally, it engages all students, including our introverted students, in class discussions. ​

​Here’s how to set up a digital turn and talk:

1. Create a Google document with a table.  The table should have two columns and two rows for each group.  The first row will be the group name and the second will be space for the group’s assigned recorder to type their thinking.

Assign in Classroom as Students can Edit File

​2. In Google Classroom, assign the document as Students can Edit so that all groups can edit the same document.

​3. Split students into small groups, ideally 3-5 students per group.

4. Ensure that each group only has ONE device at their station.  Each group should focus on discussing the prompt, with only the assigned recorder typing in the document.

5. Assign each group to a specific cell to record their thoughts in the document.

6. Remind students that the focus of this activity is high quality discussion.

7. Once all groups have finished their discussion, assign each group to read a different group’s thoughts and leave feedback using the comments feature in Google Docs.

Content area uses for digital turn and talk

This activity is a great way to get students thinking about and explaining their learning to the class.  Here are a few examples of ways to utilize this in each core content area. ​

​Math: Students explain the thinking behind how they solved a problem

Science: Students discuss and share their hypothesis for an experiment

ELA: Students discuss and explain the meanings of examples of figurative language

Social Studies: Students discuss and share differences between historical figures

How else can you use the digital turn and talk to engage students? Share your ideas in the comments section below.