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January 27, 2005
Is the backchannel working?
Last semester our class started using a backchannel during lectures and speakers. We went thru several programs before settling on AIM. What would happen is the chat room would be projected on a wall or multiple screens while the lecturer was speaking.
While there are a few useful comments that do enhance the discussion and bring other things to the table, I've been finding it to be more of a distraction than anything else. I haven't found that it has been enhancing the discussion. Here's the log from last night's speaker Bing Gordon.
In fact, this past week a prof took us out on a field trip where the class discussion was held in the round, outside...yes that means a giant VOID for all WIFI computer access!!! The result, I thought was one of the most balanced conversations. Students who normally didn't speak did and those who are most often drawing from their computer weren't as vocal. humm....
Posted by shelby at 12:04 PM | Comments (13)