2. DEFINITION OF
BACKCHANNELING
On usingenglish.com, backchanneling is defined as "a
way of showing a speaker that you are following what
they are saying and understand , often through
interjections like “I see”, “yes”, “ok”.
This is a very old fashioned definition.
3. Wikipedia.com defines it as “the practice of
using networked computers to maintain a real-
time online conversation along live spoken
remarks”. It is a relatively new term not found
in most common dictionaries.
5. FOR TEACHERS:
*It increases participation
*Can be used as an informal assessment
*Teacher controls all aspects of the chat
*Teacher can change topic or direction of the
chat
6. FOR STUDENTS:
*No pressure to raise hand in class
*Student doesn’t have to speak to a whole class
*No waiting for a turn to speak
*Dominant students can’t hog the floor
*It’s collaborative-students can ask as well as answer
questions
7. OVERALL BENEFITS:
*The discussion is in real time
*Can be used for homework assignments
*Builds community
*Usable in all disciplines
*Each contribution is name/date/time stamped
8. Backchanneling is like using
Twitter or hashtags and
therefore it is often more
positively accepted by students.
They are also very good at
multi-tasking, and backchanneling
is just that! Reading, viewing,
thinking, responding, all at the
same time!
9. A FEW REPUTABLE SCHOOL-BASED SITES
INCLUDE:
*Backchannel Chat
*Chatwing
*Edmodo
*Todays Meet
10. I will show you how to use Today’s Meet, easy to sign up for and so easy to use!
Log into todaysmeet.com
11. USING TODAYS MEET
*Create an account and a title
for your room
*Select Signed-in users
*Have your students sign in using
the name of the room to access the
chat.
*Open the room and start chatting!
12. YOUR HOME PAGE
Managing the chat is easy!
Your home page gives you
the ability to see all of your
previous chat information.
The icons can help you open
and close a room, select who
has access to the chat, and
it even creates and prints
a transcript of the session.
15. CLICK THE ICON SHOWN BELOW TO CREATE A
TRANSCRIPT OF THE CHAT
16. THIS IS A COPY OF
A TRANSCRIPT
The name of the students and the
times they posted their comments
are stamped right below their
contribution.
It can be printed out for further
perusal and grading.
17. In the library, backchanneling can be used when a class is brought in to work
on research. A room can be opened and the students can ask the teacher and
each other questions about sources, citing, requirements for the paper etc.
They can share information if they have topics that overlap. A whole class can
be busily working and sharing with very little out-loud conversation, allowing
other activities to go on in the library simultaneously without disruption.
18. Using a backchanneling website like Todays Meet is an easy
fun way to engage your students! It focuses them on a question
or topic, while allowing them to use their multi-tasking capabilities. T
Students can ask each other questions and help each other
Answer those questions instead of relying on the teacher and
therefore it is a collaborative tool that helps develop community
in the classroom.
I hope that you found this tutorial easy and helpful.
Thanks for watching!
