Computer-mediated

Communication
 Enduring Understanding
What is Computer Mediated Communication?
 Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) is any form of
communication between two or more individual people who interact
and/or influence each other via separate computers through the
Internet or a network connection - using social software.
 CMC does not include the methods by which two computers
communicate, but rather how people communicate via computers.
 CMC promotes self-discipline and requires one to take more
responsibility for their own learning.
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 Enduring Understanding
 CMC, includes everything from structured projects to open projects in
which students are free to work on "messy"--but authentic--problem
solving.
 Traditional classroom interaction places the teacher at the center of all
activities as transmitter of knowledge and orchestrator of student
interaction.
 Even if students engage in collaborative small group tasks, the teacher is
usually around and monitors students’ progress while providing input
on how to solve a particular task—a condition which may hinder
“reflection and facilitative interaction”.
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 Enduring Understanding

 Computer mediated technology provides tools that are

useful in promoting collaborative learning activities that can
mediate communication between learners.
 Furthermore, it allows students, in groups, to collaborate
with each other in an exchange of opinions, experiences, and
interpretations of course content.

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 Enduring Understanding
Examples of CMC can include:
 emails
 mailboxes
 shared network group folders
 discussion boards (or fora/forums)
 frequently updated hyperlinked webpages.

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 Enduring Understanding
Types of Computer Mediated Communication
A. Asynchronous Communication
- Asynchronous activities are independent of real-time and are
comprised of activities, such as, viewing a web page, composing an
Electronic Mail (e-mail), watching a video clip, or dowloading a file.
 CMC can include anything that is text -based, uses ICT as a
technological base can be used for two way transmission of ideas.

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 Enduring Understanding
Benefit:
 Opportunities to think about course content
 To address a diverse set of topics in more depth than can be done in
class or in asynchronous environment
o Thus, allowing students to conceptualize a topic from multiple
viewpoints and to contribute to each other’s understanding
(Weasenforth et al., 2002).

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 Enduring Understanding
B. Synchronous Communication
- Synchronous activities occur concurrently between two or more users
including such real-time applications as chat rooms or instant
messaging which allow users to interact simultaneously through text,
audio, and video with other users located anywhere in the world.

Synchronous CMC includes:

• Chat; and
• Instant messaging
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 Enduring Understanding
Problems encountered in Asynchronous CMC
1. The levels of participation are usually very poor with CMC for the
following reasons.

2. Posts to the discussion boards need to be frequent for people to

maintain an interest in the boards, and so if the level participation
drops below a certain degree, no further postings take place.

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 Enduring Understanding

3. Checking the discussion board for posts requires learning to

incorporate an additional activity to one's routine, which often
means people don’t take part.

4. The asynchronous nature encourages people to give

participation a lower priority.

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 Enduring Understanding
How can we solve these problems?
1. Raise the profile of postings by using discussion board software that
also sends emails to the users' email account (and so is a
combination discussion board and mailbase).

2. Make the discussion time -dependent, so that participants cannot

procrastinate.

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 Enduring Understanding
3. Regularly structure the discussion threads using some of the
following actions:
4. Cut and paste discussion threads that diverge or are
repeating discussions elsewhere, so that each thread
corresponds to one topic.
5. Identify specific points within the threads to prompt
particular discussions, eliciting answers to specific
questions.
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 Enduring Understanding
Problems encountered in Synchronous CMC
1. Multiple threads of discussion are created which become too difficult
to follow for some students, particularly true of those students who
are communicating in another language other than their first
language.
2. Students on a slow connection always lag slightly behind in the
discussion.
3. The discussion tends to lose focus because of many side discussions.

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 Enduring Understanding

4. Some students cannot jump in because they are slow

typists.
5. Responses get out of sequence.
6. Failing to provide a platform for all students to participate
equally implicitly censors some of the participants

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 Enduring Understanding
How can we solve these problems?
1. The solution to this is to have a prepared set of questions, subjects to
discuss, etc. and have a fixed order for the students to respond in.
2. Allow a certain “open time” for students to chat with each other. This
allows the students who are less familiar with the technology to
practice.
3. Also, it provides an opportunity for students who are more familiar
with the technology to introduce some of the abbreviation and
emoticons used in chat to their less experienced peers.
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 Enduring Understanding

4. Explain the procedure for participation: i.e. that comments

or responses have to be done in a sequence.
5. Impose order on the discussion when required. The
lecturer’s role in a chat also includes that of moderator.
Whereas in face-to-face one’s authority can be underlined
by raising one’s voice, in chat you can use upper case to
make your point more forcefully.
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 Enduring Understanding
Which CMC should we use?
The major factor in selecting a CMC medium is “should the
communication be synchronous or asynchronous?” This decision
should be based on the following criteria:
 Can all of the participants meet at the same time?
 Is the activity time -dependent (i.e. to fit in with a teaching
program)? If so, then a synchronous medium is most appropriate.
 Are the participants part-time students/spread across time zones?
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 Enduring Understanding
 Is the subject matter one which requires in-depth analysis and
response? If so, then an asynchronous medium is most appropriate.
 The use of CMC
 Educators often categorize the use of instructional CMC in three ways:
For conferencing
Informatics
Computer-assisted instruction (CAI)

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 Enduring Understanding
 Informatics (repositories or maintainers of organized
information) include library online public access catalogs
(OPACs), interactive access to remote databases,
program/data archive sites (e.g., archives of files for pictures,
sound, text, movies), campus-wide information systems,
wide-area information systems, and information managers.

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