Establishing Internet/E-mail Conversations within a Group, such as a Class
Keith Donaldson (domfam@mediaone.net) 16 November 1998
As more and more schools connect to the "Information Superhighway," a question repeatedly asked by those with a stake in education is "How can students benefit from being on-line?" One benefit is undoubtedly the new option for communicating via the Internet -- Electronic mail (e-mail). This new form of communication may enrich the traditional learning communities established in schools via "online communities." Sending electronic mail, pictures and data files, either to the next class or to a school across the globe, has widened the opportunity to build learning communities. The widespread use of e-mail has created a broad range of educational possibilities for students and educators and has also put a new spin on some familiar activities. But the challenge is to cultivate and maintain these communities. It is through interaction that community develops.
The Internet offers a range of proven and reliable options for on-line communication. Messages can be sent privately to an individual, distributed to lists of individuals (via listservs), or posted to a "bulletin board" or newsgroups for public viewing. Each of these options in turn can be configured to provide useful avenues of support and different arenas for communication between and among participants. Billions of e-mail messages are sent across the Internet every year. This is due to its speed and broadcasting ability, it is fundamentally different from paper-based communications. However, in order to foster effective conversation it is important to complement on-line structures with supports that help build on-line communities where reflective conversation can take place and meaningful relationships can grow. The turnaround time can be so fast, e-mail is more conversational than traditional paper communications.
General Resources
Beyond the Browser: learn the basics of mailing lists, newsgroups, and the old-school but still relevant technologies FTP and Telnet. Get you up and running with chat, MUDs, and virtual communities. - http://www.cnet.com/Content/Features/Howto/Beyond/
Classroom CONNECT - http://www2.classroom.net
The K - 12 educators' practical guide to using the internet and commercial online services... including G.R.A.D.E.S. The Global Resources and Directory of Educational Sites designed to provide high quality, very focused searches specifically for K - 12 educators.
Distance Ed - http://pages.prodigy.com/PAUM88A/
Newsgroup FAQ Frequently asked questions from alt.education.distance.
Net Day - http://www.netday.org/
MiamiMOO - http://miamimoo.mcs.muohio.edu/
MiamiMOO is an interdisciplinary project that links a text-based virtual reality, a MOO, with the World-Wide Web. Students and instructors "build" virtual worlds and objects within the MOO that are viewable through the Web. These in turn may contain links to graphics, sound, and video. The MOO is thus navigable either with a traditional text-only interface, or with a web browser such as Netscape.
Asynchronous Learning Networks Web - http://www.aln.org
dedicated to the promulgation, organization, and creation of knowledge about asynchronous learning networks (ALNs).
a•syn•chro•nous (A•sing'kru•nus), —adj. 1. not occurring at the same time. 2. (of a computer or other electrical machine) having each operation started only after the preceding operation is completed. 3. Computers, Telecommunications.of or pertaining to operation without the use of fixed time intervals (opposed to synchronous)
Global Educator's Guide to the Internet - http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/triecken/
A guide for educators wishing to utilize the Internet to enhance global education themes in the elementary and middle level classroom.
Internet Primer for Teachers - http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4610/
introduction to basic questions about the internet.
WWW Tools for Instructors - http://edutools.cityu.edu.hk/wwwtools/
A collection of materials relating to how tools on the World Wide Web can improve the productivity and effectiveness of instructors.
The Character of Conversation
Computer-Mediated Communication in the Classroom: Asset or Liability? Derek R.Lane - http://www.uky.edu/~drlane/techno/cmcasset.htm
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to supplement the round table discussion regarding the use of computer-mediated communication in the classroom. Computer-mediated communication is defined, current research is presented and pragmatic issues of computer-mediated communication in the classroom are addressed. Benefits and disadvantages of the new technology are discussed and participants are encouraged to share perspectives and insights regarding the implications for extending the boundaries of the classroom through computer-mediated communication.
Function and Impact of Nonverbal Communication in a Computer Mediated Communication Context: An Investigation of Defining Issues - http://www.uky.edu/~drlane/techno/nvcmc.htm
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to examine nonverbal communication within the specific context of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and thereby illustrate the four defining issues by which nonverbal communication is differentiated from nonverbal behavior. Three major sections delineate the framework of this paper. The first section describes the theoretical and empirical bases of nonverbal communication which address the four defining issues: (a) intent and awareness, (b) issues of meaning, (c) sharedness, and (d) codification which distinguish nonverbal communication from nonverbal behavior. The second section will describe computer-mediated communication (CMC) as a metatheoretical framework for understanding a specific conceptualization (message orientation) of nonverbal communication. The final section will illustrate how nonverbal communication can been studied in a computer-mediated communication context.