SEEDS: CMC Definitions

by Wendy Burton, UCFV

Computer mediated communication (CMC) is any communication using computers. This broad definition has been commonly refined to mean those communications that occur with the use of electronic media, such as:

Electronic Mail

Electronic mail (e-mail) is a system of sending and receiving messages, using a computer and a mail program. Most public postsecondary systems have a method to send and receive messages privately. Students can be encouraged to send messages to instructors. This immediate communication can eliminate what some see as the isolation of learning online.

Bulletin Boards

Bulletin boards are really the pre-cursors to much of what is available for communicating via computers. They are soft-ware supported meeting places, where the system operator (sysop) creates a space to share ideas, chat, discuss the issue of the day asynchronously, swap shareware, and smooze online. Many public postsecondary institutions support bulletin boards for student societies, special interest groups, class members, discipline specific groups, and so on.

Discussion Lists

Discussion lists or newsgroups are groups of people who subscribe to a central mailing list to share information, opinions, questions, answers, and so on. There are discussion lists for history, philosophy, English literature, Native education, knitting, karate, breast feeding ... and those are just the ones I know about. As Internet for Dummies points out "The point of a mailing list is quite simple. The list itself has a mail address, and anything (more or less) that someone sends to that address is sent to all the people on the list, who often respond to the messages. The result is a running conversation. Different lists have different styles. Some are fairly formal, hewing closely to the official topic of the list. Others tend to go flying off into outer space, topic-wise. You have to read them for a while to to be able to tell which list works which way."

The people who are interested in computer mediated communications in British Columbia have a discussion list. Interested? Send a message to Amanda Harby for information about joining this group.

Multi-User Domains (MUDs, MOOs)

Multi-user domains or MUDs are places where people can participate in synchronous chat with more than one person. The possibilities for instruction in a multi-user domain are intriguing, but I must admit that the few times I have tried to use them I felt as if I were invited to a party and when I arrived everyone was in another room, having a very good time. I could hear them, but I couldn't connect. Professor Lynn Davie, at University of Toronto, has used multi-user domain for a concluding exercise in a course he taught online.

Conferencing Software

These systems attempt to simulate the seminar, where each participant has an opportunity to respond to the comments of the instructor and other members of the class. Most conferencing systems are asynchronous, rely on 'threads' of conversation, and are text based. Here is an excerpt of a transcript from a course I took on computer mediated communication in 1994

3 "EDCMC RESEARCH94" (4)

"CMC RESEARCH94" by ROB HIGGINS, Jan. 17, 1994 at 9:24 est about A PREVIEW OF RESEARCH IN EDUCATIONAL CMC (43 notes)

40 (of 43) ALAN Jan. 21, 1994 at 15:59 est (326 characters)

Louise re#39 I'm not saying that learning does not take place in an VC environment, I mean that some sort of learning (writing skills, interpersonal skills, etc.) may take a life-time process to develop and thus, difficult to say whether a "short" semester course can improve these skills significantly! Do you agree?

Alan

41 (of 43) ALAN Jan. 21, 1994 at 16:00 est (818 characters)

Re: #22

I agree with Colleen that we should not presume that VC is equally as valid as the TC in evaluating this new medium. Rather, we need to think that it is unique and therefore try to explore the educational context that best fit it. As a matter of fact, Hiltz has already pointed out that each medium has advantages and disadvantages. And outcomes are related more to the particular implementation of an educational use of a medium than to the intrinsic characteristics of a medium (p.137).

Hiltz's findings indicated that the perceived superiority of VC over TC is "course-dependent" (Hypothesis 3: "VC students will percieve VC to be superior to TC on a number of dimensions ..." (p.166). That is, we should not think that the new medium is all "better" than the traditional face to face medium.

Alan

42 (of 43) ALAN Jan. 21, 1994 at 20:16 est (867 characters)

Re: #8, #38 "age" & "culture" issue for VC Heather and Tony's point is well taken. In fact, when one feels more comfortable in the learning environment, the perceived value of it will be higher. Need not to say, less frustration and anxiety will be experienced by the user who is familiar with the VC setting. Also, they will be more motivated (internally) to utilize the existing system and to explore for its new usage. For example, Internet users will not just subscribe for listserv but explore gopher and other usenet for information.

Well, another fundamental issue for VC seems to be unquestioned so far - "equity": i.e., Will VC further widen the gap between the GIFTED and those who even don't have a TV set at home? The technological advanced society and the agricultural society? The developed nation and the underdeveloped nation? ... -Alan

43 (of 43) ALEX KUSKIS Jan. 21, 1994 at 21:31 est (1846 characters)

RE: JAYNE,24; TONY,38; ALAN, 42: AGE & ACCESS Our brains get "hard-wired" during development by the external stimuli that we are exposed to; the richer the environmental stimuli we are exposed to, the more the connections that are made in the brain. The more connections made in the brain, the richer the capacity for certain kinds of intellectual and creative activities. I agree that older people do not take to new technologies as readily as young people, and I suspect it's precisely because their brains are "hard-wired" differently. After all, their formative years pre-dated TV, mass communications, paperback books, jet planes, etc. Marshall McLuhan has pointed out that new technolgies change us as we use them. Therefore, a Nintendo & TV generation is much more likely to adopt virtual communication and education, than is a generation raised with print and radio. Which is too bad really, because telecomputing could help older people overcome the isolation and loneliness that many experience. Better to have virtual relationships, than no relationships at all.

Yes, there is danger of inequalities in access to online information and communications; poverty is a barrier to all kinds of opportunities. However, mass adoption of technologies brings prices down; calculators not long ago cost hundreds of dollars, but now are cheap. I believe that computers & PDA's (personal digital communicators), like Apple's Newton, will within 5 years cost little more than today's calculators. And I believe that the growing FreeNet movement (the Toronto FreeNet goes online in March!), can offer almost free online access to those who want it. Therefore, far from causing greater inequality, I believe that network technology has the potential of being the most democratic and equalizing of all mass communications technologies...........ALEX

World Wide Web (WWW) & HyperNews

SEEDS is an example of a World Wide Web site which invites participants to enter into a computer mediated discussions on each of it's major topics. If you haven't had a chance to get into the HyperNews forums, why not do so now?!


last update: October 31, 1996