I swear to God, I will be royally pissed if I get scooped on this proposal, but here is the first seed of what I have been kicking around … this is the first time I have felt nervous for sharing an idea for fear I will be scooped. Maybe my good buddy Dave C will start the Backchannel Project 🙂
This proposed study explores the effect of web conferencing backchannel text chat interactions on learners’ feelings of immediacy and social presence in the distance learning classroom, focusing on the text based backchannel communication that occurs as parallel communication with live main channel instructional presentation. Most current distance learning web conferencing interfaces include options for voice, audio, and text based interactions. While voice and audio interactions tend to facilitate the main channel instructional presentation in the web conferencing environment, the text chat feature often supports spontaneous and unfacilitated backchannel (sidebar or side-talk) exchanges among participants. Little previous research has incorporated these unfacilitated conversations and exchanges which occur as parallel communication during the instructional presentation. This lack of research leaves nagging unanswered questions for distance learning practitioners. Overall, what effect does this parallel communication channel have on the learners within the learning environment? Does the backchannel interaction make the learners feel more or less connected to what is occurring in the main communication channel? Do the conversations tend to be “on point” and supportive of what is occurring in the main channel? If not, should an instructor consider an unstructured and unfacilitated backchannel conversation a disruptive virtual note passing distraction that should be discouraged? Or, from different vantage point, should the backchannel, whether on topic with the main channel or not, be used as a tool to gauge and foster the learners’ presence with the main channel communication?
You can’t think that you are the only one to have thought of studying the effects of backchannels, right? No doubt there are other studies and papers already in production. Backchannels have been around for a while – I’ve been using them for more than a year – and by not some people will certainly have thought of studying them (not me, though – I build these things, see whether they work, and move on).
In any case, living in fear of being scooped is not a very good way to live, in my view. You should be happy that the work is being done, not upset that someone is getting their results before you. It’s not a race. And in many cases, the first person to do something is not credited – what I’ve seen is that people in places like MIT or Harvard or Stanford can come in 18th and still be called ‘first’ by the wider society.
Do good work, stay true to your values, and don’t be watching over your shoulder all the time. Life’s too short, and you can’t have an impact if you’re always worried about getting credit.
Very much typed / posted as an inside joke to my buddy, Dave.