Asynchronous Discussion.  

Asynchronous discussion means that you can join in at any-time and from any-place where there is a computer with internet access.  There are lots of benefits to this including:

• You can join in when you want / are able to.  You are not working to someone else's time table.
• You have time to think about what someone has said and about how you want to respond.
• You can check your spelling, grammar, facts etc. before you send your message - no pressure on you to do it quickly.
• When you are ready to respond to a message or an activity your response will be put in sequence so you will still be part of the discussion thread.

The group tasks below are, however, more time pressured because we are going to be opening, reading and submitting responses over a short period of time and coming to a group conclusion.  These tasks could easily take place over a week......

Synchronous Discussion  

Synchronous discussion means real-time chat (RTC).  Several of you will already be experienced in this from working in MSN Messenger which is a common application / tool.

The benefits of real-time chats include:

1. You can get an immediate response to a question or comment.
2. A real-time chat can be either formal or informal.
3. You can use emoticons or abbreviations to reinforce what you are saying e.g.   or   or <lol> (lots of laughter)
4. You can keep the transcript if you want to keep a record.

There are , however, some drawbacks to real-time chats including.

1. They can be 'fast and furious' which makes it difficult to keep up with.
2. When you type fast you can make lots of typing mistakes.
3. It encourages people to take shortcuts in sentences e.g. " when can I c.u. again?". which may not be appropriate for some programmes (e.g. literacy  or ESOL).

We are going to have a group discussion on the whether you prefer synchronous or asynchronous discussion OR how you could use synchronous or asynchronous discussions in your work.  (Choose either discussion or pop in and out of both).

Resources  

Here is a selection of resources which you may like to view at your leisure.  This will continually grow so looking back from time to time will reap rewards.