Keeping students' attention during lectures is not a new problem. However, the combination of portable computing devices, wireless networking, and instant communication software have potential to add a new twist to lectures and conference presentations. In "Perspective: Speaking and Attention: It All Depends?" (CITES & INSIGHTS: CRAWFORD AT
LARGE, vol. 4, no. 6, May 2004, p. 6; at the above URL. Walt Crawford recounts his and others' reactions to people at a conference session who engaged in real-time text conversations, backchanneling or backchatting, so they could comment on a speaker's talk during the talk. Some argue that carrying on these side conversations is rude, disrupts the flow of the talk, and takes the audience's focus away from the person at the podium. Others see this multitrack communication as a way to be more engaged in the topic presented and believe that it just shifts the post-lecture chatter forward in time.
posted by Marcus Zillman |
4:05 AM
