Interesting blog on "back channels" posted by Jeff Utecht, really food for thought. I really like the notion of a focused conversation outside of the presentation but I could see how that would be very distracting. I also was interested in his description of the process of learning how to use such a conversation. He talks about people first randomly commenting in a very unfocused and personal way then gradually figuring out how to use the conversation to understand the presentation. I could see how many educators would become frustrated if it was not focused immediately and deciding it was too distracting and not a good tool. His observations are some what different but I don't see many people taking the time to use and learn back channels. If you are curious and would like to know more here is the link to his blog. Take some time to read it, I was not a real fan of the idea until I had read a couple of his entries and then thought about it some. I think I can see why it might be a good way to explore a presentation more thoroughly and but would like to find an opportunity to try it out.