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26 Jan 07

Computer-Mediated Communication and the Online Classroom in Distance Learning

www.ibiblio.org/...berge.html - Preview

Technology enables us to implement these new visions in
distance learning. Berge (in press) points out that:
"[T]echnology makes it possible that these investigations are not
limited to students from one classroom, school, grade, or country
necessarily-nor to exclude experts in the field of inquiry from
the collaboration. Effective learning hinges on active engagement
by the student and the construction of knowledge on their own
leads to understanding (Sheingold, 1991). This learning is not a
solitary process. Rather, it occurs in a larger world of people
and technology."
Computer-mediated communication (CMC) promotes a type of
interaction that is often lacking in the traditional teacher-
based classroom. It allows learners the freedom to explore
alternative pathways-to find and develop their own style of
learning. What if content could be delivered in the form of
graphics, text, and/or full-motion video, whenever and wherever
in the world it is requested? How do we, as teachers and
educators, responsibly participate in and make use of the
inevitable technological changes at hand?
13 more annotations...
- What we have been discussing is a reengineering of education, not
  only in the sense of rethinking the organization of site-based
  schools, but also in the sense of finding ways to unite computers
  and telecommunications and bring down the schoolhouse walls; to
  deliver instructional content when and where it is needed-whether
  in the home, the workplace, or the school.
- Distance educators are now beginning to focus on a related
  set of notions: (a) there are different learning styles, (b)
  students create their own meaning when learning new things, and
  (c) what makes a difference in content retention and transfer is
  not so much what is done by teachers, but what students as
  learners can be encouraged to do themselves.
- Although there are some
  differences between distance education and classroom education,
  the significant issues concerning the use of computer networking
  and other emerging technologies to promote learning in both are
  similar.
- For many years, educators have been exploring ways to
  combine theories of differing learning styles and student-
  constructed knowledge with the theory of practice-centered
  learning. Instead of being passive recipients of knowledge, we
  now consider students capable of constructing their own knowledge
  with guidance from the teacher. We can offer part of this
  tutorial guidance by setting up an environment that will provide
  students with the resources necessary for independent
  exploration. In using emerging computer-based technology as a
  resource, students are encouraged to explore their own interests
  and to become active educational workers, with opportunities to
  solve some authentic problems.
- For communications to take place, at a bare minimum, there must
  be a sender, a receiver, and a message. If this message is
  intended as instruction, then besides student, teacher, and
  content, we must also consider the environment in which this
  educational communication occurs -- an environment that benefits the
  educational system in some ways and constrains it in others. Part
  of this learning environment can include various technologies and
  media. If "the medium is the message," that is, if technology
  changes what we can do and how we think about it, then the
  various media enabled by
  instructional technology also change
  both what we can do in education and how we conceive of it.
- In the sixth chapter, Morton Cotlar and James N. Shimabukuro
  describe their use of electronic guest lectures to stimulate
  thinking and interaction among students. This technique, like
  other applications of CMC in education, shows promise. However,
  the degree to which students interact in meaningful ways with the
  guest lecturers seems to be related to the style of the lecture.
  Three different lecturers addressed a graduate course (through
  text documents posted to the class discussion group, with the
  invitation for follow-up questions and discussion) and evoked
  markedly different degrees and types of responses. The authors
  analyzed the style of each lecture to explore the relationship
  between style and responsiveness. Extraordinary findings showed
  that the extent of personalization and readability in the
  lectures strongly influenced responsiveness. Cotlar and
  Shimabukuro invite others to replicate this kind of study to
  validate their findings.
- Rachelle Heller and Greg Kearsley (Chapter 7) describe their
  experiences using a combination of instructional television and a
  computer bulletin board system (BBS) to teach graduate students
  in computer science and education. The television component
  provided a medium for lectures, guest interviews, and software
  demonstrations, whereas the bulletin board was used to stimulate
  interaction among students and the instructors. Heller and
  Kearsley used a variety of different strategies to encourage
  interaction on the BBS, including assignments, discussion
  questions, and team activities. Based on the evaluations
  completed by the students in their courses, the authors concluded
  that the combination of media works very effectively.
- Rae Wahl Rohfeld and Roger Hiemstra (Chapter 5) draw on their
  experience teaching in the Syracuse University Distance Education
  Program to examine the experiences of both course facilitators
  and students in courses delivered via CMC. They found that
  effective courses via CMC are based on a learner-centered
  approach to education in which facilitators and students share
  responsibility and participation in learning and teaching. To
  initiate such a process, facilitators must make sure they and
  their students have adequate training and support on the
  electronic system. They must also do a great deal of advance
  planning to teach a course via the new medium. By initiating a
  variety of activities, both on and off-line, facilitators can
  encourage an active, challenging learning environment. As the
  class conference progressed, Rohfeld and Hiemstra found that
  different strategies were necessary to keep energy high.
  
  Those involved in the Syracuse University Distance Education
  Program were highly satisfied with this mode of learning once
  they got past initial difficulties with technology. Because the
  courses were delivered by CMC, students were able to take
  considerable control over their learning in terms of how they
  scheduled both personal study time and group-interaction time,
  how much personal contact they had with the instructor and other
  learners, and how they contributed to the class. Rohfeld and
  Hiemstra are confident that courses delivered via CMC can meet
  immediate learning needs as well as help learners increase self-
  direction in their ongoing learning.
- Morten Paulsen's second chapter (Chapter 4) presents a
  review and analysis of the literature relevant to moderating
  educational conferences on computer networks. He suggests that
  moderators should identify their preferred pedagogical styles,
  based on their philosophical orientation, their chosen moderator
  roles, and their preferred facilitation techniques. The author
  assigns the moderator role three functions: the organizational,
  the social, and the intellectual. To help moderators improve
  their moderating skills, Paulsen organizes facilitation
  techniques recommended in the literature according to these three
  role functions. Finally, the author assists moderators in finding
  their pedagogical style by identifying some possible
  philosophies, roles, and facilitation techniques discussed in the
  literature.
- Effective design is essential to the success of an online
  course, and the next chapter focuses on design. Using their
  recent experience designing an online adult education graduate
  seminar as an example, Dan Eastmond and Linda Ziegahn (Chapter 3)
  outline essential issues, considerations, and tasks for
  instructional development with CMC to which the course designer
  must attend. These considerations include overall course design
  issues, resource allocation, syllabus creation, activity
  selection, online structure production, and evaluation planning.
  Appropriate attention to these items during the design phase
  informs the development and delivery phases of the online course,
  thereby creating a "good learning experience" for adult college
  students.
- In combination with other media, computers can utilize an
  instructional design that teaches to the multiple intelligences
  that Gardner (1983) speaks of in Frames of Mind (linguistic,
  logico-mathematical, intrapersonal, spatial, musical, bodily
  kinesthetic, and interpersonal). The idea behind this
  instructional design is to use as many methods and formats for
  instruction (e.g., small group discussion, graphics, lecture,
  hands-on labs, writing/reflection, sound, CMC, and conferencing)
  as possible, provided that instructional goals and design dictate
  their use.
- Computer-mediated communication (CMC) promotes a type of
  interaction that is often lacking in the traditional teacher-
  based classroom. It allows learners the freedom to explore
  alternative pathways-to find and develop their own style of
  learning. What if content could be delivered in the form of
  graphics, text, and/or full-motion video, whenever and wherever
  in the world it is requested? How do we, as teachers and
  educators, responsibly participate in and make use of the
  inevitable technological changes at hand?
  
  Computers are not a threat to the teacher (although the role
  of the teacher must change when using them), but computers may
  threaten the chalkboard. Computer technologies allow
  professionals to share with students tools that we use daily.
  Further, as educators, we can provide guidance to help students
  develop meaningful ways to construct their own knowledge, much as
  we ourselves do.
- As new
  technology enables shifts at the level of delivery, old
  technologies are augmented, not totally replaced. Even though
  many of us have computers at our disposal, we still use books,
  speech, and pen or pencil writing in education.

10 Jan 07

Computer-mediated communication - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/...omputer-mediated_communication - Preview

Communication occurring within a computer-mediated format has an effect on many different aspects of an interaction. Some of these that have received attention in the scholarly literature include impression formation, deception and lying behavior, group dynamics, disinhibition and especially relationship formation.

CMC is examined and compared to other communication media through a number of aspects thought to be universal to all forms of communication, including (but not limited to) synchronicity, persistence or "recordability", and anonymity. The association of these aspects with different forms of communication varies widely. For example, instant messaging is prototypically synchronous, but rarely persistent since one loses all the content when one closes the dialog box unless one has a message log set up or has manually copy-pasted the conversation. E-mail and message boards are similar; both are prototypically low in synchronicity since response time varies, but high in persistence since messages sent and received are saved.

Anonymity and in part privacy and security depends more on the context and particular program being used or web page being visited. However, most researchers in the field acknowledge the importance of considering the psychological and social implications of these factors alongside the technical "limitations."
The way humans communicate in professional, social, and educational settings varies widely, depending upon not only the environment but also the method of communication in which the communication occurs (which, in this case, is through computers or other ICTs). The study of communication to achieve collaboration - common work products - is termed computer-supported collaboration and includes only some of the concerns of other forms of CMC research.

Popular forms of CMC include e-mail, video, audio or text chat (text conferencing including "instant messaging"), bulletin boards, list-servs and MMOs. These settings are changing rapidly with the development of new technologies. Weblogs (blogs) have also become popular, and the exchange of RSS data has better enabled users to each "become their own publisher." Additionally, the wiki has come to provide interesting alternatives for communication.
2 more annotations...
- Scholars from a variety of fields study phenomena that can be described under the umbrella term of CMC (see also Internet studies). For example, many take a sociopsychological approach to CMC by examining how humans use "computers" (or digital media) to form, support and maintain relationships with others (social uses), regulate information flow (instructional uses), and make decisions (including major financial and political ones).
  
  Researchers in communication studies, sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology and similar fields look at CMC to observe how language is used in computer-mediated contexts (online discourse environments). These studies have often focused on the distinct differences that exist between online and offline interactions, though contemporary research is moving towards the view that CMC should be studied as a unique interactive medium in its own right. The focus of this research includes the use of paralinguistic features such as emoticons; pragmatic rules such as turn-taking and the sequential organization of talk; and the various sociolects, styles, registers or sets of terminology specific to these environments (see Leet). The study of language in these contexts is typically based on text-based forms of CMC, and is often referred to as "computer-mediated discourse analysis" by many contemporary researchers.
- Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) can be defined broadly as any form of data exchange across two or more networked computers. More frequently, the term is narrowed to include only those communications that occur via computer-mediated formats (i.e. instant messages, e-mails, chat rooms) between two or more individuals. Research on CMC focuses largely on the social effects of different computer-supported communication technologies. Many recent studies involve internet-based social networking supported by social software.

Computer Mediated Communication

www.tcw.utwente.nl/...ed%20Communication%20(CMC).doc - Preview

Computer-Mediated Communication has become a part of everyday life. Research has suggested that CMC is not neutral: it can cause many changes in the way people communicate with one another, and it can influence communication patterns and social networks (e.g., Fulk & Collins-Jarvis, 2001). In other words, CMC leads to social effects. Rice & Gattiker (2001) state that CMC differs from face-to-face communication. CMC limits the level of synchronicity of interaction, which may cause a reduction of interactivity. Furthermore, CMC can overcome time- and space dependencies. Together with these arguments the overall use of using CMC results in multiple differences with face-to-face communication.

04 Jan 07

Distance Learning: Step by Step

scholar.google.com/scholar - Preview

For instance, there may be limited face-to-face contact. The learner can feel

more isolated. This step can succeed if a true learning community is built (Paloff & Pratt, 1999). To cre-

ate the learning community requires work on the part of the instructor and the students. Easy and fre-

quent communication must be an integral part of the system (Dringus, 2000; Hara & Kling, 1999; Leo-

nard & Guha, 2001).
On the other hand, some apparent changes to an online methodology allow instructor and students to:

• Use technology for more convenience (more flexible time schedule),

• Emphasize content and not be distracted by personal issues,

• Communicate more frequently through email and chat rooms,

• Receive team and individual progress reports via email and chats,

• Be free from a classroom-intensive schedule,

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Manning, Cohen, & DeMichiell

117

• Use the lost classroom time to conduct more research and project work,

• Place more of a burden on the student to comprehend the material, and,

• Place a burden on the instructor to prepare a more structured course.

ET&S [3(2)] - Dorothy Fuller et al. - Internet Teaching By Style: Profiling the On-line Professor

ifets.ieee.org/...pearce.html - Preview

Managing Time and Technique
>
. Of all the issues surrounding Internet-based instruction, the one that usually rises to the top of faculty concerns is the amount of time these courses require. The time required for reading and responding to individual responses to discussion forums and to private e-mail is piled on top of the time required to read and respond to written assignments and class projects that are part of both on-line and face-to-face instruction. Additionally, many faculty find that the lack of an assigned time and place for class time creates a structural void in their schedules that is too easily filled by other work. For those who prefer to shun formal structure, this can mean that meeting an on-line course falls into a sporadic, helter-skelter pattern that may leave students feeling abandoned and discouraged. If faculty understand their preferred informal interaction styles, they can plan for providing some necessary structure by formally placing a specific time for meeting their classes on line and posting it along with their office hours and face-to-face schedules. They can close their office doors and hang a sign that says "In Class. Do Not Disturb." These schedules can quickly become as inviolable as traditional classroom meeting times.
>

In regard to the many faculty who find all of their time eaten away by the seemingly endless stream of student e-mail, we offer one final example of how knowledge of preferred interaction and work styles can be the springboard to a solution. When one of our on-line teachers complained about the amount of time required to answer each e-mail or bulletin board question, he was asked how he normally tackled his student feedback. Being a strongly sequential person, he would open each e-mail, read it and answer it, file it, then move on to the next. Upon further questioning, he revealed that it never occurred to him to review the entire list of e-mails before answering any; he said that was too disorderly. Knowing his need for order and sequential activity, the instructional designer worked with him to find an alternative approach that provided a new sequential structure that was more efficient for the task. Rather than answering each e-mail, he read all e-mails and sorted them according to type of response needed. Then he provided comprehensive responses that answered all similar questions once. Then he addressed those single questions that required a more individual response last. Finally, he re-examined his assumption that all e-mails must be answered immediately and provided his students with a specific time schedule of when he would read his e-mail each day and when they could expect feedback. The time spent reading student contributions remained the same, but the time spent in responding was reduced significantly, and by providing a clear time structure for responding, he was able to free himself to complete other duties and still meet his students' need for timely feedback.
5 more annotations...
- Managing Time and Technique. Of all the issues surrounding Internet-based instruction, the one that usually rises to the top of faculty concerns is the amount of time these courses require. The time required for reading and responding to individual responses to discussion forums and to private e-mail is piled on top of the time required to read and respond to written assignments and class projects that are part of both on-line and face-to-face instruction. Additionally, many faculty find that the lack of an assigned time and place for class time creates a structural void in their schedules that is too easily filled by other work. For those who prefer to shun formal structure, this can mean that meeting an on-line course falls into a sporadic, helter-skelter pattern that may leave students feeling abandoned and discouraged. If faculty understand their preferred informal interaction styles, they can plan for providing some necessary structure by formally placing a specific time for meeting their classes on line and posting it along with their office hours and face-to-face schedules. They can close their office doors and hang a sign that says "In Class. Do Not Disturb." These schedules can quickly become as inviolable as traditional classroom meeting times.
- Adapting to a Student-centered Teaching Approach. The Internet and World Wide Web alter many of the control dynamics of a traditional classroom. Control of class time or class pacing are now in the hands of students who log on to the course at all hours of the day and night and work at their own pace. For those who feel more comfortable in an environment of predictable routine where they can maintain structure and control, on-line instruction may not be a pleasant prospect. Consideration of the faculty need for structure in addition to the learners' needs may ease the transition for those teachers with sequential styles of interaction. One professor found that by using the calendar tool in WebCT she could create a course structure with established deadlines and scheduled events that resembled the structure she was used to on campus. For another faculty member, one who traditionally does not enjoy or use a lot of structure in her classes, using the Gregorc Transaction Ability Inventory made her aware of others' need for structure. As a result, she began adding more structure to her Internet supported instruction, much to the relief of some of her students.
- Overcoming the Faceless Classroom. For those extraverts who rely heavily on the verbal and nonverbal feedback of their face-to-face students, on-line communications can be frustrating and unrewarding. Additionally, many of the students may have the same difficulty in making connections in a faceless, asynchronous environment. Planning class discussion assignments that include sharing of some level of personal information early in the course may help faculty and students alike in constructing mental models of each other and in beginning to understand the personal tone of each participant's electronic writing style. One professor at Black Hills State University was extremely frustrated with this lack of personal connection with his students, and in desperation, challenged his students to go to his personal web page, read his curriculum vita and, based on the information they found, guess his favorite football team. The students responded quickly and enthusiastically, and their electronic responses took on an entirely different tone. The instructor responded to the students with his own style of informal banter, and the students responded back to him and to each other. He reported that this exercise, begun in frustration, proved to be such a good way of establishing an on-line rapport that he plans to use something similar in all of his future on-line classes.
- Faculty development has often taken on the role of assisting in making the change from the traditional classroom to computer assisted educational environments, but faculty development professionals have had to create their own path in doing so. Experience with computer environments from outside academia may provide some insights into the problems that may be encountered and suggest solutions to the problems. Kiesler, Siegel & McGuire (Oct. 1984) found problems in making the change to computer mediated communication came from pressures of time, an absence of regulating feedback, the absence of nonverbal behavior weakening social influence, the absence of status and position cues, social anonymity leading to depersonalization, and lack of established norms and etiquette leading to a breakdown of established boundaries. However, Pfaffenberger (1986) found that these new communication environments, such as electronic mail, bulletin boards, and computer conferencing, have the potential to "democratize" the educational space because they obliterate social barriers and status distinctions. Kerr (1986) suggests effective leadership styles and skills necessary for moderating on-line meetings and facilitating electronic groups include sensitivity to the needs of participants, knowledge, persistence, willingness to spend the time and effort, enthusiasm, creativity, and flexibility.
- These changes in the educational environment have caused a rethinking of the role of the teacher. Cooper & Selfe (Dec. 1990) found that computer conferences created non-traditional discourse forums for students to resist teacher-centered pedagogy, creating new teacher/student dynamics which some instructors may find unsettling. Berge (1995) states that the online instructor must be clear, flexible, encouraging, non-authoritarian, objective, accepting, facilitative, informal, responsive, and patient.

Teaching and Persuasive Communication: Class Presentation Skills

www.brown.edu/...class-pres-skills.shtml - Preview

Both facts and opinions are used to support arguments; the selection of the mix between fact and opinion depends on what your intent is. Research has indicated that facts alone will not alter an audience's opinions (Ilardo, 1982); therefore, the evidence used to support a particular argument must be selected with the intended audience's current informational and belief state in mind. Evidence that is consistent with the audience's current beliefs is more likely to be accepted, particularly if the sources of that evidence are also acceptable to the audience (Ilardo, 1982). The evidence selected must also be understandable to the audience: use of extremely complicated or technical evidence can bore or even anger an audience. If the use of complicated evidence is necess
Develop an introduction that sparks the audience's curiosity and gives them a reason to listen why is this topic important to them?
3 more annotations...
- A presentation can be considered a form of formalized conversation. In order for you to get your point across to your audience, you must have a clear picture of the nature of your audience and its relationship to your topic. To transmit your message efficiently, you must have a listener or audience focus. What is the audience's attitude toward the topic? What is the relevancy of this topic to the audience? What is the state of audience's current knowledge of the topic? Is the audience homogeneous or heterogeneous in terms of attitude and knowledge, and how will this impact the receipt of your message? Is there only one opportunity to speak in front of this audience or will there be multiple opportunities? These are the types of questions you must ask yourself when you are organizing and developing your talk.
- WALK THE WALK: NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
  
  Contrary to intuition, the brunt of the impact of a speaker's presentation is through nonverbal communication; it has been estimated that the meaning received by the audience is derived from approximately 1/3 verbal reception and 2/3 nonverbal reception. When the verbal and nonverbal messages are contradictory, most people will believe the nonverbal message they are receiving, not the verbal one. Hence, the nonverbal messages, conscious or unconscious, that are being sent by the speaker through appearance, attitude, gesture, and dress, are crucial to the communication of ideas. In addition, the speaker's ability to read the audience and change speaking strategies accordingly will also impact the effectiveness of the transmission of the message.
- Pat Hamm's handbook introduces the novice teacher and reminds the expert of some key areas of rhetorical choice. If one thinks of teaching as an attempt to influence (in the broadest sense of the term, including the production of knowledge among listeners), then the choices we make about what to say (e.g. how ideas are supported and developed) and how to say it (the dozens of selections of language, structure, nonverbal cues, delivery styles, and so forth) become means of influence, strategies that we can manipulate in an attempt to achieve our teaching goals.

Moderators Homepage - Paulsen's report on pedagogical techniques for CMC

www.emoderators.com/...cmcped.html - Preview

9. Informal socializing: the online cafe. Since social communication
is an essential component of educational activity, online educational environments
should provide opportunities for informal discourse. An online cafe can contribute
to a sense of community among the users, forging a social bond that may offer
motivational and cognitive benefits.

Barriers To The Uptake Of Web-based Technology By University Teachers

cade.athabascau.ca/...pajoetal.html - Preview

The only exceptions were e-mail communications with students, which more than 90% of participants used, and remote access of the library’s electronic databases, which more than 70% incorporated into their distance education courses. Chat rooms (10.8%), video- or audioconferencing (10.1%), and Web-based tests (6.5%) were the technologies least likely to be used by staff in their teaching.
Moreover, the quality of the learning experience for distance students is also thought to be enhanced by the greater range of presentation forms available and the interactivity with the material that is now possible.

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