Using a Back Channel in In Person Synchronous Classes
July 01, 2021 / Bill Reynolds, PhD / Tags: back channel, engagement, hybrid, participation, remote, synchronous
As we prepare for a return to in-person teaching in the fall, many of you have probably been thinking and talking with colleagues about what methods, applications, strategies, and other approaches you used in remote and hybrid courses will be viable and effective for in-person teaching and learning. At the Lucas Center we heard from many faculty that one unanticipated benefit of remote instruction was that many students who did not participate regularly during in-person classes seemed more engaged and willing to contribute when a chat or other text-based (i.e., “back channel”) application was available to them. However, when teaching synchronously, whether in-person or online (or both simultaneously), teachers found it difficult to facilitate a traditional (i.e., verbal) discussion while simultaneously monitoring the chat.