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What is Backchanneling?

First growing in popularity at technology conferences, backchannel is increasingly a factor in education where WiFi connections and laptop computers allow students to use ordinary chat like IM or AIM to actively communicate during class.

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Trial Run Right Now …

Why Backchannel?Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody (2009)

It changed interrupt logic.Note to Self became Note to World. High-quality text annotation.Less whispering, more \whispering.Alleviated boredom.

Vicky Davis (Cool Cat Teacher/WOW)Group note takingLink sharingQuick quizArchivable recordInvolvement of quieter students

Backchannel Basics

Tips & TermsGoogle Jockey (provides links, answers Qs)Backchannel Moderator (communicates with

teacher/speaker RE: Qs, issues)Backchannel Netiquette (answer questions with @)Get a Room (and a moderator)Be a link dropper

Backchannel PlatformsIMAIMMEEBOCHATZY*SKYPETWITTERFACEBOOK

Why CHATZY?

How We Used It …English FISHBOWL Discussions

Inner CircleOuter Circle

Spanish IV DiscussionsSmall Group ChatzyWhole Class Interludes

Create, Share, ConsumeThink wikipediaThink fan fictionThink online newspaper blog postsThink iTouch applications buildingThink MMOG (World of Warcraft)Think Second LifeTweetingTexting

Bottom Line?… look at every place that a reader or

a listener or a viewer or a user has been locked out, has been served up passive or a fixed or a canned experience, and ask ourselves, “If we carve out a little bit of the cognitive surplus and deploy it here, could we make a good thing happen? And I'm betting the answer is yes.”

--Clay Shirky, 2008

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kmcless@ilstu.edu