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6 January, 2009

blue dots  Backchannel options for USC IMD Speakers

Each Wednesday night for the Spring of 2005, we will be having visiting speakers present their research. These speakers are also invited to participate in "backchannel" experiments, using social software to extend the learning environment of a lecture.

We have three primary areas of backchannel work. Speakers, participants, feel free to review these various scenarios and let us know what you think. We have fourteen screens up on the walls of the lab, so these various functions typically share visual space with a speaker's own supporting visual materials.

Backchannel
During a speaker's presentation, students with laptops will chat about the topics at hand. Typically, we post the thread of comments on two-to-three of the fourteen screens.

Frontchannel
We can provide a special area just for questions for the speaker. Then, during the talk, if someone has a clarification they'd like, or a question they want to ask, the speaker can see that question pop up on a small monitor at the front of the room. The speaker can answer it when they feel ready!

Sideshow
We have several students who are trained expert Google Jockeys. If a speaker would like to have their own presentation supplemented by a stream of images, statistics, background articles, as they talk, they should let us know and we will arrange for students to run the sideshow presentation on their research.

These various areas represent experiments in collaborative multimedia-internet enhanced learning. We welcome your suggestions! And if you feel that these might be too distracting, we're happy to reign in some of our participation during the presentation. The intent is to involve students in the lecture and to allow people to use the tools at their disposal to engage a speaker's research in real time.

Posted by justin at January 18, 2005 9:33 AM

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Comments

You know Mark's rocking laptop with even more rocking multi-screen control? I think the best GJs will need to learn how to use a system like that...deluging the senses with media artfully being placed and replace in our 270+ degrees of viewable area.

Even without such a control mechanism, though, count one vote for GJing combined with backchannel. Google as performance art, man! I'm all about performance art.

Posted by: vincent [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 19, 2005 1:36 AM

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