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Great article about students using backchannels in schools. It discusses successes such as shy students speaking up more and students viewing their peers as more intelligent.

I agree that it allows shy students an opportunity to participate in way that gives them time to think through a response or in a less intense way

I'm not sure that smartphones are the best for backchannel. I think I would like an actual keyboard for something like that. Just saying. I'm thinking of T561 in this case. I would not have like to comment via smartphone on the T561 backchannel.

There's some interesting research implying that students with dyslexia prefer reading novels on smartphones (Jenny Thomson from HGSE is involved). The smaller window isolates smaller chunks of info, waking it easier to focus - seems difficult to me too, but goes to she you never know what could work...

article coming out of the Innosight Institute, a think-tank based in San Francisco linked to Clay Christensen's work on disruptive innovation, on how RTTT has "the potential to reset American schools' relationship with technology by encouraging a transformation from a  one-size-fits all schooling model to one that can customize affordably for each student's unique learning needs." linked to the backchannel discussion on 9/4 on possible ways to facilitate positive and effective integration/implementation of edtech

Building digital citizenship - especially relevant with regard to the backchannel discussion in Monday's class.

If you start watching at the 30-minute mark, you can get a peek at how he uses technology in the design of his course and to shape participation during class. At the 34:00 minute mark he is describing a jigsaw reading activity, similar to the study groups we are often encouraged to form. You won't believe where he and his students go with this. I love his statement, "There are no natives here." So true. I can't find the other video where he shows his collaborative notetaking platform that he uses in a 200-student class, but it's very cool. That's where I got the idea for some kind of wiki or google doc that might allow us to manage lecture notes and the backchannel.