backchannel

More BB cut & paste ...

So are you considering as part of your research (and maybe I missed this point in your posting) whether the instructor uses the back channel as a way to modify the instructional methods/mannerisms to address issues found in the back channel?

One of my original research questions was whether the instructor could / should use the backchannel to modify his / her presentation? The term backchannel is used in the communication field to refer to what is termed acknowledgment or response tokens ... they are the "ums", "aahs", "ohs" ... that listeners utter when listening to a speaker. It has been found that, based on these common backchannel utterances and other non-verbal behaviors, the listener greatly impacts how a conversation progresses. I wonder if, as you note, the parallel text chat can offer a response token of sorts to the instructor which ultimately changes the tone / flow / content of the presentation.

The focus of this report is to review the literature for assessments of the effect of computer-mediated backchannel interaction during live instructional presentation. The goal is to consider the impact on the learner as both a receiver of instructional messages sent from the instructor, as well as an active participant within the learning process.