Professor OK with Students Passing Notes – As Long as It Is Via Twitter

There are times when I realize I simply graduated from school too soon.

Back in our day, passing notes was the surest way to get removed from class. I can only remember seeing it happen once in college and the results were not pretty.

Especially when the person found himself banned from attending the class he had already shelled out big bucks to attend.

Now, we are hearing cases of students instant messaging and checking their Facebook pages right under the professor’s nose. Without repercussions.

Still we could not believe that there would come a point where a professor actually encouraged students to pass notes in class. And certainly not via Twitter while he was lecturing.

An Invitation to Distraction
But such is the case with Cole W. Camplese, the director of education-technology services at Pennsylvania State University at University Park. According to published reports, Camplese teaches with two projection screens.

One of the screens features what one would always expect, the professor’s notes. But directly alongside of those slides, the professor provides a second screen featuring Twitter comments from students in the room. The theory is for students to enter into a discussion of the material as it is being presented.

But, to be honest, I cannot envision myself in such a setting. Which screen would I pay attention to? And how attentive could I be if I entered the Twitter discussion at any point?

Of course, whatever the students write is visible on the screen for all to see, including Camplese. So talking about the keg party at Bernie’s on Friday or that gorgeous young blond from Sweden who just enrolled second semester simply is not conceivable in such an environment.

So it is not the equivalent of passing notes from my day. And there were a good many lackluster lectures that could have been far more enticing if we had used the Camplese format. Certainly, the more tech-savvy, multi-tasking crowd would find this structure far more in keeping with their Facebook life style.

And while I was at first shocked by the concept, I was even more surprised to learn later that the process had a name: back channeling.

Most adults, myself included have expressed concern that the process will create nothing but chaos in the classroom. However, Professor Camplese insists that it is the first step towards new educational processes that feature the student more and the professor less.

Hmmmm.

Readers, what say you?