My First Chat!

I had no idea synchronous communication tools were so . . . synchronous!

While I was typing a response to a comment, three other comments would pop up.  And those comments are in response to . . . what?  For my brain, it was a bit like listening to four radios playing different stations.  Less like a conversation, and more like everyone talking at once.  My first chat!

When I first started teaching online, I had some concerns about communicating using text in asynchronous discussion boards.  I was afraid that conversation would be diminished because it would lack the non-verbal cues that we rely on so much.  I thought that the time-delay would mean that a discussion would lose the energy it gets from immediate responses.   Since I’ve had more experience – both as teacher and student – I’ve come to appreciate threaded asynchronous discussions for promoting thoughtful exchange within the class.

I’m aware, though, that my students are more accustomed to synchronous communication (chat).  My experience has been very limited – I’ve had chat rooms in my courses that students could use for group work, and I’ve chatted with one student at a time to clear up questions about the course.  I have found that my students have not made a lot of use of the chat room – they seem to have even more problems than we do, trying to be online at the same time! 

Thank you to our group!  Last night’s chat session, besides being very productive and helping to propel our work, was my first real experience with synchronous communication.  It gave me so much to think about.  Chat really isn’t about thoughtful exchange – it’s more about making decisions as a group.

There is a skill to using these communication tools – both as a teacher and as a student.  As a teacher, or course designer, we have to be aware of the strengths of each form of communication.  We have to know what we want to accomplish, and choose the appropriate tool.  Students need to know how to use the tools – the type of response that works in a chat doesn’t work on an asynchronous discussion board.  As a secondary teacher, I need to teach my students how to use each of the communication tools appropriately, so they make the best use of them.  I’m going to revisit The Tools for Successful Online Teaching [1] for ideas about using synchronous and asynchronous communication in my courses.  In the past, I have found this an excellent source of ideas for using course tools effectively.

[1] Dawley, L. (2007).  The Tools for Successful Online Teaching.  Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing.