This workshop and accompanying handout are the intellectual property of:

Katy Campbell, PhD

Assistant Professor/Instructional Designer

Academic Technologies for Learning

University of Alberta

katy.campbell@ualberta.ca

Terri Murzyn

Curriculum Coordinator

Faculty of Pharmacy

University of Alberta

terri.murzyn@ualberta.ca

Through the merging of computer technology and telecommunications, you can now communicate with groups of people independent of time or place. A conferencing system is organized so that your messages are stored and placed in sequence with related messages from other classmates. Often, these stored messages are categorized by a theme or topic. This feature makes it much easier to organize your work so that you can quickly find and respond only to those messages relevant to you. CMC is really a sustained conversation with others, but it takes place asynchronously, over time and/or distance.

Neil Randall, the author of Teach Yourself the Internet: Around the World in 21 Days, tells the story of his commitment of electronic communications:

...A few more things, like mailing lists.

But well-designed computer conferencing can do a few things e-mail can't do. E-mail is a freewheeling process in which a lot of people, sometimes thousands, post short notes to a global community. CMC is usually self-contained or restricted to a small, selected group, and organizes the dialogue into folders or sub-conferences to make it easily retrievable. E-mail does not distinguish themes or topics but merely provides a chronological list of messages, whereas computer conferencing is based on conversational 'threads'. Users of e-mail remain essentially 'anonymous' to each other, but members of a conference have come together for a specific instructional purpose in which the social environment is carefully mediated. That is, computer conferences are based on collaborative learning networks and are primarily designed to enhance the learning process. E-mail speeds up the rate and increases the volume of communications but does not mediate the content in any way. And e-mail is always asynchronous, while computer conferencing can take place either asynchronously OR as a real-time 'chat'.

Learning is, essentially, a social activity. Traditionally, this has meant real-time, face-to-face instruction - students and instructor meeting more or less regularly at a fixed time and in a fixed place.

Computer mediated conferencing enhances face-to-face instruction by providing a way to discuss new ideas over a more extended period of time than is usually available in class. In addition, CMC encourages the linking or weaving of ideas, by bringing together a community of learners. Research tells us that CMC is superior to time-limited classroom discussion because it provides an environment in which new (and higher quality) ideas are more frequently generated (Bates, 1995)

CMC changes the structure of work. Because it is time-independent, work groups do not need to find a common time to meet face-to-face. Instead, work can be accomplished anytime during the day. Work products (papers, reports, etc.) are always available on-line for participants to view and contribute to. As well, decisions can be more thoughtful, as they can emerge over time and be discussed with all group members having opportunities to participate.

Reflection, a key aspect of critical thinking and learning, is difficult to support in a face-to-face classroom. CMC gives participants time and space to reflect and respond, and the responses can be revised before posting. This is an advantage for learners who are reluctant to speak up in class.

For students that are separated from the instructor by distance, time, or other factors such as full-time employment, the social interaction necessary for learning must take place in another mode. Technologies that have facilitated this include phones (audio-conferencing), fax, snail-mail, and video-conferencing; and, perhaps most efficiently and reliably, electronic mediums - e-mail and the Internet.

As Linda Harasim at Simon Fraser University points out, computer conferencing provides a cooperative, common writing space for groups of participants to work. At the same time, computer conferencing creates a safe environment where even the most reticent student can participate in intellectual discussion without risking his or her self-esteem; and where feelings can be shared and relationships built with people you might never meet face-to-face.

There are a number of other advantages to computer conferencing. A few are listed here:

Computer conferencing requires different kinds of skills than those developed as a full-time student in face-to-face. lecture-oriented classrooms.. For one thing, you are now a student at a virtual campus, where, if you’re separated by distance, you might never meet the individuals with whom you are working on a project.

One key to success as a learner is organization. The following list suggests some strategies for using conferencing effectively:

The decision to use computer conferencing as a learning strategy in this course is a commitment to the positive social experience that will be created within it. Since computer conferencing is a collaborative environment, all participants are responsible for creating and maintaining the supportive climate essential to building good online relationships. This process is often guided by rules of considerate behavior, or Netiquette.

The main thing to keep in mind about on-line communication is the complete lack of non-verbal clues. So, although a remark may seem humorous to you, its recipient has not been able to see the warm smile accompanying it and may feel that he or she has been ridiculed. Although far from exhaustive, the following suggestions will help you and your group avoid these kinds of misunderstandings:

Because on-line communication is written, and exists apart from the usual communicative cues (such as facial expression, variation in tone, etc.), care and attention to the tone and content of your message is even more important than in verbal communication.

In addition, there can be an overwhelming volume of communication, and no one wants to weed through 10 “Me too” messages. Therefore, resist posting unless you are 1) checking in to your group, or 2) your response is meaningful and substantive to the discussion.

Human beings are social animals, and appreciate opportunities to socialize and “just talk” - make plans, share a joke, circulate a party invitation, and so on. In CMC, this type of communication should be restricted to a separate conference specifically designed for social interaction.

Here are a number of examples of appropriate and inappropriate responses. Examine each carefully, trying to distinguish acceptable tone, content, and language use.

WebBoard is linked here, under the Conference icon.

This is the first screen of the WebBoard conference. In this system, you register yourself as a user.

If you have not yet entered the conference, at this page choose New User.

The next time you log in, you will enter your name and password in the boxes provided.

2. Clicking on New User brings up this page.

To register for the first time, fill in the information on the lines marked with a red dot.

Before you do this, choose a short log-in name (this can be your own name), and a password. Since you have to remember your password each time, choose a short, easily spelled word that means something to do, e.g. the name of a pet. Don’t choose a word with spaces, other symbols, or a combination of letters and numbers, because they are difficult to type accurately.

As you type in your password, it will be encrypted. Be sure to enter it twice.

This is how the log-in page looks after you have registered yourself.

The second screen in the conference.

WebBoard has three working areas:

Menu bar & More...

This is the menu bar for WebBoard.

We suggest you thoroughly read the Help section this section before starting your conference.

Select More, to see some options.

CMC is a pull technology (E-mail is a push technology).

This means that you have to make a point of checking the WebBoard regularly to see if you have any new messages.

It is much more convenient to be reminded when you have a new message.

Choosing this option will set your e-mail account to alert you to

a new message.

On this screen, you can indicate for which conferences you want to be alerted to a new message.

The conference page.

On this page, all the conferences available to you are listed in the right-hand frame. You may participate in any conference shown here. The conference name is marked with a +.

Basic Web Development, for example, has 29 messages in it.

To open a conference, click on the line. The messages in the conference appear in a list under the conference name. New messages are indicated.

Note that once a conference is opened, the + changes to a -

Clicking on a message reveals the frame on the right.

In this frame, all the messages, the message author, and his/her email are shown.

Use the email address to respond to an individual privately.

Use the Reply button to respond to the entire group.

You may also post a new topic, view another thread, and so on.

Conferences are organized visually and semantically by threads. It is important that you learn how to use this attribute of CMC.

The name of the thread is always the subject line.

Whenever you want to keep the same subject, you Reply to a message.

However, if you want to change the topic or theme, you must Post a new message. For more on threading, read the Help section on replying to messages.

You may indicate reply options by clicking on the small box beside the option.

Options chosen here include converting line breaks to HTML,

Spell Check, and Attach File. A document of some type will be sent

Once the message is typed in, click on the Post button. You will get an opportunity to correct any typos or other problems with the message.

You will have to click Post again to attach the file.

The file you wish to attach must reside on your hard drive.

Choose the file by clicking on Browse. Your usual dialogue box will appear so that you can highlight the file to attach. More than one file can be attached, by clicking on Upload another.

Provide a brief explanation of the attachment on the File description line.

Once the attachment is made, click on Post again (not shown here) to enter the message in the conference.

This is how the message looks when posted.

Note that a URL is indicated as a hot link inside the text of the message. To do this, remember to include http.

The attachment appears at the bottom of the message and it, too, is hot. In other words, the reader need only click on the blue line and the attachment should open.

By choosing Chat on the menu bar, you may enter into a synchronous (real time) chat room. This is usually used as a social space, in which you can talk to other class members about non-course related matters.

In this example, the amtec conference was entered.