Week Five: Online Communication Tools

Another week and another great tool to add the ol' teacher's toolbox. It has been an informative journey thus far and I feel as if I am collecting everything that I need to have a thoroughly technologically up-to-date classroom.

This week's topic is online communication tools. There are several from which to choose.

Blogs are, well, you are obviously looking at one. Blogs are becoming increasingly popular after it was predicted they would pass on to the cyber-heap around approximately 2007. Never underestimate the human need to talk about himself, although blogs are used for many other reasons besides personal. Educational blogs are very popular as well.

Email is probably the most familiar of the online communication tools. If you haven't used email yet, I doubt you are looking at this blog and more likely rearranging rocks in a cave somewhere. Email is a basic and controlled asynchronous mode of online communcation. It is widely utilized in many different venues. Asynchronous modes of online communication are those which are different-time, same-place. Synchronous modes of online communication are those which are same-time, different-place.

Chat is very popular, especially with teenagers, who virtually thrive on chaos and are very adept at talking in hyper-speeds. Chat is executed in real-time and I have seen my daughter on chat with 31 other people at the same time. My head hurts just thinking about it, but it certainly explains classroom ambiance.

Web, audio, and video conferencing are same-time, different place modes of online communication. All allow the users to be different places at the same time and still communicate. These modes of communcation are frequently used in business and are becoming increasingly utilized in education. They provide opportunities for students to experience different views from different regions in the United States and all over the world. Very valuable tools for expanding sociocultural and educational experiences through seeing and hearing.

Of these, my favorite is the discussion board (another asynchronous tool) because it utilizes a couple of different modes of communication which are contained within the board, such as email, private messaging and real-time chat. Discussion boards are usually private and web-hosted. They allow a platform for discussion and education and are often used for hobbies and special interests, self-help and personal support, and education. For educational purposes, I can't help but believe this one would be a formidable tool for teachers for several reasons.

Since topics may be posted at any time and from anywhere, discussion boards would be quite useful for any time out of the physical classroom for both teachers and students. Boards are also handy for collaboration between general education teachers, special educators, and paraprofessionals as well as parent communication. Students can also collaborate to create projects within the board as well as participate in lively, moderated (of course) debates. It is also a great authentic venue to teach netiquette.

While there are some possible concerns regarding the use of a discussion board, I believe the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. I am looking forward to implementing the use of a discussion board (as well as other modes of online communication) into my classroom!