Communication Tools

Lecture for 3/9

The lecture today was about the different types of communication tools. There are the basic patterns of communication including one to one, one to many, and many to many communication. One to one is achieved when there are only two people engaged in a conversation. One to many is a lecture style discussion and many to many is a forum, like in a chat room.
We discussed the interaction level for these three different styles. Asychronous is when only one person is in the conversation. For example, a voicemail is when only one person is speaking. Wikis, blogs and emails are also examples of asychronous communication. Sychronous is when both or all people are in the conversation or lesson. A lecture is an example. Other examples include cell phone conversations or Skype webcam.
We then learned so of the different communication tools that are avaliable on the web. My favorite from the lecture was Gaggle. Gaggle is an email site that is safe for students and teachers. That will be great for my elementary school kids. I will be able to send them a group email and they can check it on the schools computer. Google spreadsheets is an interactive way for students to work together on a school project at the same time but be in different places.
All of these tools will help when I am teaching my class.