I call it a BackChannel- May we agree to disagree?

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This summer I am officially free! Yep- Not one single required professional development course lined up for me. I should be dancing in the rain.. singing “Schools Out For the Summer” and living it up, right? Well instead, I am sitting in front of my Mac – With a Tweetdeck full of hashtags to educational conferences around the world. Why in the world would I do such a thing? Didn’t I just prove my PD requirements were null and void this summer? Sure… but as a professional, continuous learning is important. I am not content doing things the way I have always done them, and I do want to grow and learn in regards to educational technology, curriculum, instruction, and professional development. Unfortunately I don’t have the opportunities to get to every conference out there… But I have a way to still learn and grow, all thanks to the BackChannel!

When I share the concept of BackChanneling with others, I get one of two responses. Either the educators think that is one neat way to learn, or they look at me with questionable eyes and pose the idea that BackChanneling is disrespectful to the speaker. It sends the message that one is not listening and has better things to do than participate in the lecture.

I tend to always err on the side of hopefulness, in that I hope I can illustrate enough knowledge on a matter to help someone who disagrees with me, see a potentially different view. While I am not always successful, I do attempt to bring about a different view on BackChanneling by sharing this.

1) A speaker who does not want you sharing what they have to say, might not be saying the right things.

2) A speaker can have a limited audience with just the attendees in the room, or could have a global reach with their words via a BackChannel.

3) With busy conferences and multiple speakers, why should I only be able to gain the knowledge of the speakers I go to see? BackChanneling lets me know what is happening in other sessions… which multiplies my learning exponentially.

4) Whether I can attend a conference or not has a lot of variables. Finances, travel, family or work responsibilities all weigh in on what I can and can not attend. Should I not be able to learn alongside my peers because I can’t afford to get to a conference, or I have a prior commitment? The BackChannel makes it possible for me to participate as the conference is taking place, or look back at the information shared at a more convenient time. Isn’t that a valuable learning opportunity for an educator?

So whether you are a proponent of the backchannel, or a skeptic in the wings… I hope  you take part in at least one BackChannel this summer and find that there is something to be said for a profession full of people who believe that sharing and growing together, is far better than competing and outdoing one another with a collection of held back knowledge. So I am proud to be a BackChanneling girl… and if perhaps I did not change your mind,  can we maybe just agree to disagree?

One thought on “I call it a BackChannel- May we agree to disagree?

  1. Cheryl Morris

    As someone following #flipcon12 virtually (while teaching summer school! Yay #flipclass methodology that allows students to be self-paced for a while!) I can absolutely say that using Twitter has been amazing. I feel like I have a good sense about what happened in the sessions I didn’t attend, so I can watch them on archive later. It also makes me feel like I am in the room.

    In the session I just finished, I tweeted to ask the presenter to keep the microphone closer to her mouth because the sound was intermittent. Someone asked her and it was MUCH better. That is powerful. Also, last night Brian Bennett (@bennettscience) took questions from Twitter for the student panel and I was able to hear the answers. Again – powerful stuff.

    Thanks for sharing this.

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