we have prom boards and used clickers last year in the same way – they could text in any questions.
the kids find the chat on our ning more natural. i can keep glancing at it – or one of them lets me know if i should stop and look at it.
it also helps after class – i can catch some thinking i missed.
either way – they feel they have more of a voice – and i feel i have more of an idea where they are in their thinking at any given moment.

i’m thinking it works better in small groups like the classroom. not so cafeteria-ish maybe.

i just think it’s another case of how they’re wired. and something we need to tap into if we want to grow with them.

it’s unsettling that they can be talking about you – or off task (there’s private chat option) – but only if the classroom has that tendency anyway.

i need to go read your student’s post.
thanks ben.

It reminds me of the promise of cooperative groups. I remember learning about this strategy in my pre-service days and even in my early years of teaching. It’s almost guaranteed that the first few times you try it, it fails miserably. Kids are off task, you feel out of control and you question the overall learning. You might try it another time with mixed results. It’s not until it becomes part of the culture of your classroom, does it begin to pay dividends.

As you say, there is something to it. We’re all just trying to get it right.