Dialogic is a web-based tool to support those overseeing discussions. The tool visually tracks participants’ dialogue, collects data, and allows facilitators (i.e. teachers, managers, secretaries, etc.) to submit qualitative and quantitative information. Dialogic was originally made by a teacher for teachers. It’s now used in classrooms and beyond.

Yes, Dialogic is free! Facilitators are encouraged to use it to see if it might improve their practice and participants’ experience.

Dialogic can be used on both laptops and tablets. It is encouraged for devices at or greater than 11-inches.

Dialogic is best used with laptop and tablet devices that include a keyboard, so that facilitators can take notes as well. Dialogic can also be used as a touch-screen web tool.

Facilitators are encouraged to use Dialogic for sustained whole-group discussions. That way, they can track individual- and whole-group dynamics that might invite facilitators to discern participants’ strengths and improvement areas.

If refreshing doesn’t work, log off and log back in. Simple as that!

In short, Dialogic collects minimum necessary personal information from facilitators when they create an account. That information is used for account authentication and communication purposes. Dialogic allows facilitators to input rosters, track discussion order, and take general notes during seminars. The data generated within the tool is considered simple, raw, continuous variable data, and does not include any personally identifiable participant information. Participant data is de-identified and anonymized when or if any data analysis is conducted for research purposes. Any personally identifiable information about participants is removed before systems analysis.

For additional information, please review the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Dialogic uses multi-factor authentication to prevent any breaches of users accounts. Should any breach occur, Dialogic will inform facilitators and general users with the email they provided them.

On the dashboard, facilitators can distinguish sections by selecting “Create New Section.” Once a section is created, Dialogic will create a section card on the main dashboard page, whereupon facilitators can then create and edit rosters that match the rosters they have for their sections.

To delete section data, Dialogic layers the deletion process to protect facilitators from accidental deletion. To do so, facilitators must first archive by clicking the “Archive section” button on the section card drop-down; then, in the archived section tab on the left side of the Dialogic page, facilitators can delete the section by selecting the appropriate drop down.

Participants cannot be removed from a roster. Instead, they can be labeled “active” and “inactive.” In “Edit Roster,” facilitators may select or deselect participants’ active status.

To distinguish participants with the same name, enter their respective email addresses in the roster page. Emails can be used to distinguish two participants with the same name.

This suggestion was made by facilitators from the Pacific Islands and city schools. Some facilitators might want to track general tendencies based on participants’ gender or race/ethnicity. The summary pages will show facilitators any trends.

Select the plus (+) and minus (-) radio buttons to determine the number of desks necessary to begin a discussion. Assign participants to seats by selecting the participant first and then clicking a corresponding seat. Should facilitators make a mistake, they can adjust seats when the seminar begins by clicking the “Adjust Seats” button.

Yes, with Dialogic’s most recent update, facilitators can select the “Restore Seat Positions” button on the preparation page. If it does not appear to work, it is mostly likely because users have cleared their browser history/cookies/caches or because users are trying to restore seating based on a section that was run before the most recent coding update. If you run a discussion now, it will restore seating for future discussions.

Facilitators who have large sections can still use Dialogic to suit their ends. For one, they can organize their discussion about an inner and outer circle (like a fishbowl), in which the inner circle is in discussion, and the outer circle is observing or tasked to do something specific in the midst of their inner circle observation (i.e. tracking specifics that take place in the discussion). Another possibility is to have multiple discussion circles in which one participant per circle can run Dialogic on their own laptop or tablet. In other words, run Dialogic on multiple tablets via the same or multiple accounts.

Facilitators can track annotations by clicking the “Annotations” button.

Facilitators can identify what types of contributions participants make by selecting whether they have made a material reference; have asked question(s); have challenged someone else’s idea(s); have provided outside information; and have affirmed someone else by saying their name.

Facilitators can type notes into the dialogue box if they wish to type more qualitative notes.

Facilitators can customize their annotations by clicking the “Edit Annotations” button in their section page.

For tracking, click the “Undo” button. For seating, click “Adjust Seats.” Neither action will affect the seminar program itself.

Facilitators might be averse to scoring or grading a discussion. For now, however, Dialogic looks to collect this data to understand any correlative relationships between facilitators’ perceptions of the quality of participant discussion and the data those discussions bring to bear. In the future, Dialogic may very well remove this qualitative question from the software.

Some facilitators have shared that they wish to be present with participants during discussion, which has meant making meaningful eye contact and engaging in ways that feel natural and organic; sometimes, even having a laptop open or tablet propped up can get in the way of being present. At the same time, facilitators have appreciated Dialogic for the general information it can collect because it supplants the analog experience of furiously writing down what is discussed.

To potentially use Dialogic in such a way as to "unprop" the tablet, lay it down on a table as if it were a legal pad or piece of paper, run the discussion, and be present with students, Dialogic now has an optional transcription feature. With transcription, facilitators can (1) activate and deactivate it, and they can (2) attach the transcript to students or de-identify so that the output is generalized. That way, all facilitators have to do is diagram the discussion, while Dialogic does the rest!

Above all else, facilitators ought to comply with their respective state's laws regarding consent.

In short, some states permit “one-party consent,” which means someone can enter a space, consent with himself or herself, and record without other people consenting, without legal ramifications.

Some states, however, are “all-party consent,” which means all involved parties must consent before transcription can be used.

One-party consent states comprise Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

All-party consents comprise California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana (requires notification only), New Hampshire, Oregon (One party consent for electronic conversations; two-party consent for in-person conversations), Pennsylvania, Washington, and Connecticut (Two party consent for electronic conversations; one-party consent for in-person conversations).

Please consult your state's consent laws for further information, and check with administrators or relevant personnel in case you are uncertain about education law and your respective school.

See Dialogic’s Privacy Policy and Terms for additional information

Facilitators can review individual discussion data, average individual discussion data, whole-section discussion data, and average whole section discussion data. They can also make use of feedback forms, rubrics, and reports. To see demos on how they work, click here.