Trip Gabriel’s recent New York Times article, “Speaking Up in Class, Silently, Using Social Media,” explores the uses of backchannels (real-time online dialogue about a speaker or topic) in the classroom.
While backchannels are being utilized at all levels of education – from elementary schools to graduate degree programs – the overall adoption rates are low. Those who leverage this new interactive supplement to the learning experience employ a variety of means including Twitter, Google Moderator, TodaysMeet, and Hotseat.
So What?
One of the primary attractions to backchannels is increased student engagement. In classrooms where students are already using smart phones, tablets and laptops to have digital conversations, instructors must be proactive in offering focused outlets relevant to the class lecture or discussion.
Does your church use backchannels as a means of encouraging increased engagement in its traditional face-to-face youth and adult classes? If so, share examples. If not, how might you create a pilot project to get a better sense of how this type of real-time interaction would be received?
For more about this topic, check out Bringing Twitter into the Classroom.