I’d first like to comment on Danah Boyd’s experience, because I have also seen firsthand the ramifications of having a public feed working simultaneously with a speaker. A few years ago at a faculty retreat we had a guest technology speaker come to our school to discuss the future of technology. He used terms like disc jockey, iPads in the classroom, and social discussion forums in the classroom. The part that really struck the faculty as odd was that he mentioned that with 1 to 1 laptop technology at his school, he allowed his students to blog and create class discussions while he was teaching his class. These were high school students. He asked us all to bring our laptops to this session, and he taught us how to log into a particular discussion forum site and begin LIVE blogging his speech. He spoke for roughly 45 minutes after that, and I can honestly tell you that I have no idea to this day what he spoke of. On the screen behind him had had a google jockey on one side, and all of our live comments on the other. A faculty of over 80 teachers and staff were making jokes and comments back and forth, which overshadowed his performance. I was not sure whether his message was to NOT do this in school, but we all walked away completely concerned about what would happen if a group of 16-year-olds were given the opportunity. I can sympathize with Danah Boy’s article because she was the victim of a MOB mentality.
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Mike DiGennaro 
I understand and am fully sympathetic to the worry of students “wandering” on the internet and social media during a class. However, as a teacher in a 1:1 program as well, I find it hugely beneficial to have our class feed on Edmodo projected as we are discussing things. Recently, this week it came in handy for students as they could post any issues/questions they had while working in groups then we could come back and discuss as a whole class. For some, it is a huge distraction. Though, with a rigorous and well-planned lesson, teachers can learn to use a “back channel” to aid their practice.
That’s a very interesting presentation you sat through. Did you like it? If I were in your situation, I feel that I would be concentrating on the live feed as well. I probably would zone away from the speaker and focus on my classmates discussion… as most of you did. Do you think the presenter got the idea that everyone was focused on the feed? I also wonder about how teenagers would function in a setting like this.
The most interesting thing about Ms. Boyd’s blog, to me, was that the organizers didn’t tell her prior to her speech that the live feed would be going on behind her. That strikes me as unprofessional and inappropriate. I wonder if that was intentional or not…