|
3. Communications technologies
by Gilly Salmon
Distributed learning environments optimally incorporate technologies to enhance communication
among students and between the students and the instructor. These technologies
include email, online discussion groups, and videoconferencing.
Online discussions are typically described as being either "synchronous"
or "asynchronous." What do these terms mean?
Synchronous technologies facilitate real-time interaction. This means
that students from a variety of locations communicate online during the
same period of time. This type conferencing session may be a simple "chat"
session in which participants communicate via a series of text-based messages.
Synchronous sessions can also involve participants meeting online at a
specified time to watch presentations or share software applications.
Commonly used synchronous technologies are audio conferencing by phone
and teleconferencing.
The communications technologies related to synchronous discussion groups
are evolving rapidly and will afford many exciting opportunities in the
future. For example, the instructor might take students on a tour of selected
Web sites. Or, students and the instructor might collectively work on
a project while sharing an application such as Excel. During this session,
participants also can communicate by typing text messages, or through
live audio transmissions. Another possibility is using online streaming
video to communicate with a group of participants.
In contrast, asynchronous discussions are unbounded by both time and place.
That is students can be on or off campus and participate online at a time
that is convenient to them. In education settings, an asynchronous discussion
on a topic might take place over a number of weeks. For example, an instructor
might set up a discussion group as part of a course Web site. Students
are assigned to one or more discussion groups. Typically a discussion
question or topic is posed to guide the discussion. Students post text-based
messages related to the topic over a number of days. Through a series
of typed messages, students can debate issues, answer questions, interview
guests, and even participate in role plays.
The instructional design for the learning activities and the moderation
techniques used by the instructor is a function of the type of communications
technology used. Below a number of online resources about teaching with
communications technologies have been listed.
© 2002 Academic Technologies
for Learning, University of Alberta.
|
