CPOSC Backchannel IRC

Backchannel is the practice of using networked computers to maintain a real-time online conversation alongside live spoken remarks. The term was coined in the field of Linguistics to describe listeners' behaviours during verbal communication, Victor Yngve 1970.

The term “backchannel” generally refers to online conversation about the topic or the speaker. Occasionally backchannel provides audience members a chance to fact-check the presentation.

First growing in popularity at technology conferences, backchannel is increasingly a factor in education where WiFi connections and laptop computers allow students to use ordinary chat like IRC or AIM to actively communicate during class.

 Server: irc.cplug.net:6667 or irc.cplug.net:6697 (ssl)
 Channel: #cposc
 Web: http://www.cplug.net/irc/

Note for CPOSC 2009: Not sure if Harrisburg University blocks ports 6667 and/or 6697, so you might not be able to access the backchannel directly during the conference. The web interface should work. You can also tunnel over ssh if you are so inclined. :)