Have you noticed that your learners don’t use their mics, cameras, chat, or Q&A during your webinar sessions? Maybe they don’t want to have their comments, ideas, or experiences tied to their names in a public forum, or perhaps there is something else. Aren’t you intrigued by what they are not saying? Turns out there is immense value in what your learners can tell you if you give them the adequate channels and help build their psychological safety.

Backchanneling is the practice of providing attendees in a learning session with tools and techniques that allow for a conversation or information exchange while a live event or activity is taking place.  The potential gains of backchanneling are based on the rich feedback-gathering experience that can help instructional designers and instructors tailor content, activities, discourse, and dialogue in online learning environments. Also, backchanneling helps build confidence and psychological safety, which are ideal characteristics of a safe learning environment. This single strategy can make a significant difference between a self-directed course and a more engaging, instructor-led learning experience. 

In this session, we will explore available backchannels for synchronous learning and identify communication cues to spark curiosity and promote interaction among learners.  We will learn how to use the resulting feedback to adapt coursework and we will review guidelines to devise a successful backchanneling strategy.

In this session you will learn:

• How to apply backchanneling in online learning experiences
• To promote interaction and leverage the resulting feedback
• How to devise a successful backchanneling strategy
• Five ready-to-apply techniques for your webinar sessions

Technology discussed:

Virtual classroom tools