Monday, February 6, 2006

Managing The Digital Classroom - Using A Backchannel

In my starting fourth dimension postal service inward this serial - Getting students' attention - I mentioned the utilization of backchannels. This postal service should give yous to a greater extent than information nearly the utilization of backchannels inside the classroom.

If yous are working inward a classroom where your students direct hold cyberspace connected devices, either through wifi or their mobile phone, using a backchannel tin ship away direct hold a transformative touching on on the means yous tin ship away utilization technology with your students.

“Backchannel is the practise of using networked computers to keep a real-time online conversation amongst the primary grouping activity or alive spoken remarks.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backchannel


Most backchannels are text based together with many-to-many, pregnant that anyone tin ship away type inward a message together with it is seen past times everyone who has access to the chatroom.



Back channels are especially useful if yous are working inward a aspect upwardly to aspect upwardly surround where all or pairs/groups of students are working at a figurer or if yous are delivering alive online classes using about cast or spider web conferencing or webinar platform.

Backchannels assist to solve a pose out of mutual classroom problems

Distraction
  • I ofttimes depict a backchannel equally the communication that happens betwixt your students inward the classroom every fourth dimension to plow your dorsum on them. The wages of using a backchannel tool is that yous tin ship away capture the intercommunication, live on locomote of it together with expire far a constructive rather than a distracting locomote of the class.
Democratisation of learning
  • Backchannels democratise the classroom or lecture room, at to the lowest degree for periods of time, together with enable everyone to contribute what they know nearly the bespeak or theme existence discussed.
Giving students links to online resources
  • If yous desire students to investigate a website, do an online task, lookout a video or consummate a digital worksheet, yous only utilization the dorsum channel, glue inward the link together with they tin ship away access the materials only past times clicking the link together with opening it inward a novel tab. This saves a lot of fourth dimension together with gets students straight to the sites yous desire them to access rather than leaving them struggling to write downwards long URLs together with type them into the browser address bar.
Getting all students to response to questions
  • You tin ship away type inward questions together with acquire students to response through the backchannel. Using this method all students are able to participate together with response to questions rather than the starting fourth dimension i to pose upwardly their hand. This also gives less outspoken students the chance to respond.
Setting together with reinforcing clear task
  • When yous laid tasks for students to do yous tin ship away dorsum them upwardly past times also typing your instructions into the backchannel. This gives them something to refer dorsum to together with also helps to reinforce your verbal instructions. This tin ship away trim back wasted fourth dimension going circular the cast helping weaker students acquire on task.
Brainstorming
  • You tin ship away acquire students brainstorming ideas, suggestions, vocabulary, opinions or anything else through the dorsum channel. This means everyone's contribution tin ship away live on collected, shared together with acknowledged.
Enabling students to percentage knowledge
  • Students acquire percentage what they know nearly whatever theme or inquire a query at whatever bespeak during lesson, fifty-fifty when yous are presenting, without disrupting the stream of the class.
Socialisation with students
  • Students tin ship away socialise together with yous tin ship away socialise with students inside the dorsum channel. Just spending a few minutes at the start of the lesson quest questions together with finding out what students are upwardly to tin ship away actually assist to engage with your students.
Developing written fluency
  • Interacting with students inward a chatroom also gives students an chance to educate their written fluency through genuine communication.
Saving notes from the class
  • The script from a backchannel tin ship away live on saved together with downloaded, thus this is a cracking cast of collaborative authorities annotation taking. At the destination of the cast each educatee tin ship away edit their ain version of the text to ensure they continue the parts that they experience are relevant.

Some problems with dorsum channels

Safety
  • As ever nosotros should direct hold our students' online security real seriously  when using whatever cast of figurer mediated communication that allows students or others to communicate with our students.  Some dorsum channel tools require registration together with this adds a greater chemical component of security to the platform equally users are to a greater extent than traceable, though educatee registration tin ship away add together an extra layer of fourth dimension management together with friction to the setup process.
  • If yous determine to utilization a dorsum channel that doesn't require registration together with then it's ameliorate to brand certain yous do a novel i each lesson together with exclusively acquire out it alive for exclusively a curt time.
Behaviour
  • When yous starting fourth dimension start to utilization a dorsum channel yous may direct hold about initial demeanour problems, especially with younger less mature students. Try to remain grade headed when yous bargain with this. As the utilization of the dorsum channel becomes to a greater extent than mutual house your students volition acquire used to using it inward a to a greater extent than responsible way, especially if they realise their comments tin ship away live on traced dorsum to them.

Class size
  • If yous direct hold actually large classes together with lots of students are contributing comments it may acquire difficult to continue upwardly with all the interaction. Having a to a greater extent than complex backchannel tool similar Backchannel Chat tin ship away assist yous to cope this to a greater extent than effectively.
Chaos
  • Reading dorsum through the text from a dorsum channel tin ship away seem similar reading through chaos to someone who wasn’t at that topographic point at the time. Backchannel records volition demand to live on edited to live on useful, but  this is a skilful review activity for students.

Backchannel tools

Here are a pose out of tools yous tin ship away utilization to do a backchannel inward your classroom.
  
TodaysMeet: https://todaysmeet.com/
TodaysMeet is i of the simplest together with easiest to utilization tools, together with also i that’s gratis together with real reliable. It doesn’t require registration past times yous or the students thus it’s actually quick to laid together with acquire students into, but if yous desire that extra security yous tin ship away register for a gratis account, which volition also enable yous to salve your chat transcripts.
You tin ship away acquire inward an event room here: https://todaysmeet.com/exampleroom1

Backchannel Chat: http://www.backchannelchat.com/
Backchannel Chat is a flake to a greater extent than sophisticated together with enables students to pick out avatars for the chat together with to a greater extent than importantly it enables yous the instructor to pivot a query or message to the locomote past times of the chatroom current thus that it doesn’t disappear equally students respond. There is both a gratis version (which is express to thirty students) equally good equally paid versions which direct hold larger limits together with other features similar file adding attachments together with personalising avatars with students’ ain picture.

You tin ship away acquire inward an event room here: http://backchannelchat.com/chat/7x82l

Chatzy: http://www.chatzy.com/
Chatzy offers 2 options; Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 quick chat room which yous tin ship away laid quite rapidly together with only (more similar TodaysMeet, or a to a greater extent than complex virtual classroom which yous tin ship away configure to let students to add together diverse types of online media too, such equally images together with videos.



You tin ship away acquire inward an event room here: http://us21.chatzy.com/55961595316533

Find to a greater extent than tools to utilization inward the digitally connected classroom past times downloading my ebook - Digital Tools for Teachers

Check it out

I promise yous discovery backchannels useful with your students together with that they assist yous to integrate technology into your classroom inward a to a greater extent than meaningful way.

Related links:
Best
Nik Peachey

No comments:

Post a Comment