Technology in the Classroom

In today's traditional classroom there is a lot of technology present. From laptops to promethium boards. The laptops can serve many purposes such as an interactive backchannel. I was introduced to this in my Ed Tech and Design lecture this past semester. Students were able to comment, discuss, and ask questions to the professor's in the back of the classroom and classmates about the topic that was being presented. My first thoughts of this idea were not all that positive. I believe it served as a distraction to the students and the presenter. As time went on I saw the benefits of the backchannel first hand and changed my thoughts about it. Now I believe that the backchannel is a tool for additional learning. Students can keep listening to the presenter while asking questions to others without distracting the audience or the presenter. It also enhances their learning because they discuss with each other the particular topic and get excited and interested about it. I believe if it was required by the professors that students comment frequently throughout the lecture that there would be more development and learning going on. I believe that in a college lecture setting that the backchannel served as a beneficial technological learning tool. I'm not sure how well it would work with younger students but found a blog about a teacher's thought on it. Check it out at Cool Cat Teacher Blog: http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2007/09/installing-backchannel-in-my-classroom.htmlhttp://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2007/09/installing-backchannel-in-my-classroom.html

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