Civility

"Every Action done in Company, ought to be with Some Sign of Respect, to those that are Present." -George Washington, Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior


In my last posting, The Prevailing Common Sense of the Field, I addressed the topic of "tweckling," or heckling on a Twitter backchannel. I concluded with a question: "Are there 'rules' - should there be?"

Evidently the answer to my query is a definite "yes."

While I was visualizing bored captives of a Death by PowerPoint presentation trying to stay awake (and maybe extracting a measure of revenge by wandering far off topic via undercover conversations), a much different scenario was being played out in a very public venue.

Academic, researcher and blogger, danah boyd, was recently invited to speak at Web 2.o Expo in New York City. During Dr. boyd's discussion of social media, a pointless, inappropriate, even vicious stream of comments was projected on a screen positioned behind her back. When event personnel told her that the audience was initially upset because she was "talking too fast," boyd tried to adjust her presentation style, to no avail. The crowd responded with outbursts and laughter.

Dr. boyd later wrote in her blog, "when I walk off a stage not feeling invigorated, all I get is the raw drain, the gut-wrenching, nauseating feeling of pure misery. 20 minutes of being punched in the face, kicked in the stomach, and the shameful sensations one gets when one is forced to watch a Lars von Trier film. That's how I felt at Web2.0 Expo."



danah boyd gave one of the keynotes at AASL's Rev Up Learning conference in Charlotte, just a few weeks ago. She was a compelling and knowledgeable speaker. It's inconceivable to me that she would be unprofessional in any public speaking engagement. Unfortunately, the audience at Web 2.0 Expo was much less than professional in their response to Dr. boyd's perceived flaws.

We teach our students to be good digital citizens, we preach the evils of bullying, whether in real life or online. If professionals cannot model civility, then how do we expect children and teenagers to display it in their own lives?

There are many positive aspects to backchannel conversations, but there should be some ground rules. Chief among these is civility.




"In a time of social fragmentation, vulgarity becomes a way of life. To be shocking becomes more important—and often more profitable—than to be civil or creative or truly original." -Al Gore, politician and former U.S. vice president





"Civility" by divinenephron

The Prevailing Common Sense of the Field

Tweckle - to heckle on a Twitter backchannel
Harshtag - a hashtag that has been given over to tweckling -broadstuff

This tweet caught my eye today:

librarybeth Conference Humiliation: They're Tweeting Behind Your Backs (Chronicle) http://bit.ly/RmPWE

and led me to Marc Parry's posting about "twecklers."

At the recent AASL Conference, Rev Up Learning, participants tweeted non-stop during the keynotes and sessions. Most of us were too busy recording salient points to engage in idle chit chat. I know that I used these streams of tagged comments as a virtual notebook, a way to capture key concepts for later evaluation.

But what if...the presentation were more of a Death by PowerPoint...say, in a mandated professional development workshop or a faculty meeting? Is engaging in backchannel exchanges rude, inappropriate, counterproductive?

One of the commenters on Parry's posting defends Tweeters, suggesting that

"The speaker did not respect the experience/knowledge of his audience (or, arguably, the prevailing common sense of the field itself), and thus the audience did not respect the speaker's time or message."

Another, sees tweckling as a positive force:

"The pressure is on conference organizers and keynote speakers - choose the speakers wisely and the speakers had better be prepared (and engaging as well). This is part of a quality improvement movement, and I'm all for it."

There were those who disagreed:

"I read the transcript of the back-channel talk. Sure the presentation may have been dated and generally awful, but I can't see that all the twittering added anything constructive. It was childish. Another thing that twitterers might want to consider is that when you defame someone via twitter you are doing so publicly, and could be opening yourself up to a lawsuit."

A study done by the University of Leicester, Twittering the student experience, highlights some of the positive educational uses of Twitter. No mention is made, however, of tweeting in the lecture hall.

In our connected world, we're frequently making things up as we go, trying to reconcile new tools and old protocol. What are the rights and responsibilities of attendees at workshops, conferences, lectures, and meetings who choose to engage in backchannel discussions?

Are there "rules" - should there be?






"Megafon" by Matti Kolu

Passing Notes in Class: Rude or Required?

"What once were vices are manners now." –Seneca

When I was a girl...passing notes or whispering while an instructor spoke was considered not only rude but also disrespectful. These days, such activity is encouraged, at least at many edtech conferences and workshops.

Of course, the best gatherings tend to eschew the terms "teacher" or "instructor" in favor of the more interactive/collaborative "facilitator" or even "co-learner".

The modern equivalent of note-passing might be backchanneling.

This term has wildly varying definitions. Merriam-Webster dates it to 1975: "a secret, unofficial, or irregular means of communication". Since the backchanneling I've observed is hardly secret and often quasi-official, other explanations seem in order.

Wikipedia supplies a number of variations. In telecommunications, backchannel "is typically a low-speed, or less-than-optimal, transmission channel in the opposite direction to the main channel." In business and medicine, it represents "inappropriate organizational practice that involves bypassing recognized or official communication processes." The linguistics version of backchanneling consists of "giving positive comments, such as 'uh-huh' or 'yes' to the other speaker, to encourage further talk or to confirm that one is listening."

But the definition which comes closest to what I've observed is the diplomacy model, "an unofficial channel of communication between states or other political entities used to supplement official channels."

At the recent EduCon, workshop leaders actively solicited input from both real life and virtual attendees. Participants could DM comments and questions (via Twitter), or take part in a backchannel chat set up on the conference site. This method of interaction required that someone monitor incoming messages and relay them to the speaker. Presenters frequently answered queries, clarified points or introduced new discussion threads based on the backchannel conversations. This interactivity served to enhance the experience rather than detract from it.

Backchannel still presents a few problems for me. I find myself unable to equitably divide my attention: either I engage in the chat or focus on the presenter. Competing text, images, and sound are also a challenge. Often, I make a conscious decision to follow the backchannel in real time, then go back to view the UStream of the session (which is usually, though not always, available later) without distraction.

A less frequently mentioned application of backchannel is as an alternative activity when one is forced to endure an uninspiring or irrelevant lecture [which is probably why we passed notes or whispered in class back in the olden days].

I'm beginning to understand the promise of backchannel. So my answer to

DinaE @dmcordell @techicebreaker @garageflowers ok-- now the moral question: is backchanneling rude? or useless? :) :)

is that backchanneling can be both mannerly and useful, depending on when and how it's employed.

To paraphrase John Holt,

"No use to shout at them to pay attention. If the situations, the materials, the problems before the group do not interest them, their attention will slip off to what does interest them, and no amount of exhortation of threats will bring it back."

"Passing Notes" by parislemon