More, Please

I know most people don't read on weekends, so I want to draw your attention to this query: I still want to know how "backchannel" communication affects your concentration, sense of participation, relationships to the speaker and to other listeners, and sense of satisfaction in a lecture, class, or presentation. Students, conference-goers, others, please write. Professors, what do you think about the fact that your students are chatting to one another via wi-fi during your lecture, and how do you structure your presentation so that the presence of the backchannel is acknowledged and will add value? Thanks to those who've already written.

Comments

[pjm]

Some good discussion by Dorothea back in April (mostly):

http://cavlec.yarinareth.net/archives/2003/07/29/backchanneling/
http://cavlec.yarinareth.net/archives/2004/04/03/confessions-of-a-frontchanneler/
http://cavlec.yarinareth.net/archives/2004/04/06/aha/

[Dave]

I agree with bt. We had wired ethernet in a few of my classrooms in law school. None of the conversations elaborated on the subject(s) being discussed by the professor. Although IM did save my tail a few times when my brain went on vacation.

In short, don't implement backchannels as a means to facilitate meaningful discussions on the spoken topic. Do implement them if you plan to invite boring speakers.

[Tung Yin]

We're a bit behind in the technology race, so wi-fi chatting is not yet an issue. More generally, I'm still a newbie at the law professor thing, so figuring out how to integrate backchannel discussions into the class is way way down there on the list of priorities, compared to how do I make the subject matter teachable . . . .