Using Ultranet Community Chat for Backchannel
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Using Chat for Backchannel
Backchannel allows students to communicate, collaborate and connect with one another through an online conversation, it can be an exciting place that promotes student voice and engagement (Burns, 2010). Whilst face to face communication is happening, students have the ability to respond, ask questions, post comments and contribute to both the teacher led discussion and to their peer’s responses, comments and contributions through a community chat room. It is this layering of conversation that is known as Backchannel, a media and information literacy of the 21st Century. Through using backchannel, students are learning not only from the speaker, but also the people in attendance which really makes for a true learning experience (Reuter, 2011). Backchannel allows all children in the class to participate, it creates a voice for all children. Morowski (2011) uses back channelling within her classroom of grade three students and finds that through back channelling, there is the ability for all students to respond without having to raise their hand, or fear talking in front of the class.
Backchannel is not new to many of us. Our students have been backchanneling for a long time. Every time they watch a program on TV and SMS their friends, discussing what they are watching, they are backchanneling. Whether it is through text messaging or instant chat, kids are utilizing this form of multi tasking communication on a daily basis about a topic on television, movie, or social event. (Reuter, 2011) Whilst participating in Elluminate sessions for professional development, there is a chat screen where the participants can ask questions to one another or add our thoughts to the session. This is known as backchanneling. Whilst at a conference, the key note speaker may create a hash tag (#) for people to add their twitter comments to. This is also backchanneling . We could even say that backchannel is commonplace for many students as well as adults in today’s world with the technology we have available, we have just never actually thought to give our multi tasking activity a name or to bring it to the classroom environment.
There are many activities that backchanneling could assist in the classroom environment:
- Note taking whilst viewing a video, a Skype discussion with an expert in a field, listening to a novel being read and during a classroom discussion students can create notes to use later for a discussion
- Sharing online resources links, websites and information with their peers
- Comments, questions, suggestions and reflections whilst a classroom discussion is taking place and reading their peers comments, questions, suggestions and reflections.
- Peer tutoring and instruction, being able to assist and work with one another, answer one another questions and help them to search for answers
Most importantly, students are reading, writing and having fun.
How to get started:
-Create a message board / chat room in a collaborative space. To begin with, have the students play with it, learn how to post a comment, read comments and learn how to read comments in order.
- Discuss the etiquette required, stay focused on the task, reply to someone using @username, be kind and respond to one another with respect.
- When using backchannel, always go through the log of chat with the grade. Praise the students who write thoughtful comments and ask the students to listen out for comments that are inappropriate or stray from the discussion.
Burns, R. (2010, September 27). Layering Classroom Conversation Through BackChanneling. Retrieved September 10, 2011, from HASTAC: http://hastac.org/blogs/becciwburns/layering-classroom-conversation-through-back-channeling
Morowski, L. (2011, March 15). Back-channeling in the Primary Classroom. Retrieved September 9, 2011, from Teaching in the 21st Century: http://teach21st.blogspot.com/2011/03/back-channelling-in-primary-classroom.html
Reuter, C. (2011, February 3). Back Channel. Retrieved September 9, 2011, from Forward Movement: http://forwardmovementreuter.blogspot.com/2011/02/back-channel.html
Backchannel is not new to many of us. Our students have been backchanneling for a long time. Every time they watch a program on TV and SMS their friends, discussing what they are watching, they are backchanneling. Whether it is through text messaging or instant chat, kids are utilizing this form of multi tasking communication on a daily basis about a topic on television, movie, or social event. (Reuter, 2011) Whilst participating in Elluminate sessions for professional development, there is a chat screen where the participants can ask questions to one another or add our thoughts to the session. This is known as backchanneling. Whilst at a conference, the key note speaker may create a hash tag (#) for people to add their twitter comments to. This is also backchanneling . We could even say that backchannel is commonplace for many students as well as adults in today’s world with the technology we have available, we have just never actually thought to give our multi tasking activity a name or to bring it to the classroom environment.
There are many activities that backchanneling could assist in the classroom environment:
- Note taking whilst viewing a video, a Skype discussion with an expert in a field, listening to a novel being read and during a classroom discussion students can create notes to use later for a discussion
- Sharing online resources links, websites and information with their peers
- Comments, questions, suggestions and reflections whilst a classroom discussion is taking place and reading their peers comments, questions, suggestions and reflections.
- Peer tutoring and instruction, being able to assist and work with one another, answer one another questions and help them to search for answers
Most importantly, students are reading, writing and having fun.
How to get started:
-Create a message board / chat room in a collaborative space. To begin with, have the students play with it, learn how to post a comment, read comments and learn how to read comments in order.
- Discuss the etiquette required, stay focused on the task, reply to someone using @username, be kind and respond to one another with respect.
- When using backchannel, always go through the log of chat with the grade. Praise the students who write thoughtful comments and ask the students to listen out for comments that are inappropriate or stray from the discussion.
Burns, R. (2010, September 27). Layering Classroom Conversation Through BackChanneling. Retrieved September 10, 2011, from HASTAC: http://hastac.org/blogs/becciwburns/layering-classroom-conversation-through-back-channeling
Morowski, L. (2011, March 15). Back-channeling in the Primary Classroom. Retrieved September 9, 2011, from Teaching in the 21st Century: http://teach21st.blogspot.com/2011/03/back-channelling-in-primary-classroom.html
Reuter, C. (2011, February 3). Back Channel. Retrieved September 9, 2011, from Forward Movement: http://forwardmovementreuter.blogspot.com/2011/02/back-channel.html