Backchannels

In trying to find technologies that are actually useful and meaningful in a theatre classroom, I had to ask myself what are some things that we do with great frequency in my class that could be enhanced by the use of technology.   In my class, what we do most often is view and critique scenes/monologues/plays.  In the past, I have toyed with having the students write notes during each performance (given to me to grade), write notes during each performance (given to the performers to guide), having students give oral critiques at the end of performances, or some complicated combination of these. A technological solution to this is a backchannel (click for a full explanation).

In a nutshell, a backchannel allows users to post comments and questions during a presentation. My favorite backchannel site is TodaysMeet. The beauty of this site is that it lets you create your own room and usernames without any sign-up providing the privacy often desired for student internet use. You also have control of how long the room will stay in existence. So if you want students to have access to it for a while, you can set it to save for two weeks, or if you want it erased immediately after you are finished, you can set it for one hour. You can also create a transcript of the entire event, which can be printed or saved for reference offline.

Of course a backchannel can be used in other ways as well. In many college classrooms students backchannel with questions and comments during a lecture and the professor can address the questions at his/her leisure. Students could record thoughts during a class movie and converse about it, silently.

Feel free to comment on other uses for backchannels in the classroom, the theatre classroom specifically, or other sites that you like to use.

Below is a screenshot of a backchannel conversation (that I fabricated for illustrative purposes).

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