The Benefits of CMC

In my own experience with CMC both as a teacher and student, I have found that when used appropriately, technologies such as online chat and discussion boards encourage discussion and dialogue. It is often difficult--and sometimes impossible--to get all my students to speak in class. The less they speak, the more I feel pushed to lead discussion and to ask questions rather than just sit back and moderate. But with CMC, I find more students are more likely to "talk" in class. Plus, with the discussion board, each student is forced to respond, requiring them to be active in class instead of sitting around waiting for someone else to answer the question. With the discussion board, I can assess all my students fairly, rather than having to call on each student for their response in a face-to-face discussion. At the beginning of a discussion board (the initial post from each student), at least, all students are equal. From then on, however, inequalities develop--some students reply more often than others, some initial posts recieve more responses and others' posts get ignored. Even so, I believe that using the discussion board or other asynchronous communication allows each student a voice that they may not have in a regular classroom setting.
I have not had as positive an experience with chat in an educational setting, however. Even though some students may feel more comfortable posting their opinions than raising their hand and saying them, the immediacy of chat makes it very similar to a face to face interaction. Some students take control, other student's comments get ignored (especially if the comments are too long to read, since chat moves very quickly), and everyone has to read fast--and type faster--to keep up. I find chat places students in a hierarchy once again--plus it moves so fast it's hard for a teacher to keep control! I don't see the use of chat while meeting together face to face, as it is easier to hold a live discussion than one online. So there are certain CMC technologies that can be helpful, but I would not group all of them together as being effective, as some of the readings mention.

--eliz25