Digital Blog Post #F

Three Concepts to Reflect

For this blog post, I found myself back in the coffee shop reading the chapter and decided on what topics to write about. In the chapter, Communicating and Collaborating with Social Media, what instantly caught my attention was the term "computer-mediated communication". As a VPK teacher, I have many possibilities of integrating technology into my classroom, and electronic communication, also known as computer-mediated communication, "encompasses many different kinds of information exchanges between people" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). Even though this is just an introductory term, I still found it insightful to the chapter and a good introduction for me as a student. I want to improve my technology communication skills with my students.

The second topic I found interesting is two terms used to create engaging activities. Synchronous communications "occur in real time, as will cell phone observations or text message exchanges". Asynchronous communications "involve a time delay, as with email messages, online discussions, or blogs. Communicators wait for replies to their statements" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). These were foreign terms to me because I never knew they were split into categories. I do believe it allows for creativity. For example, teacher could do instant polls in the classroom that involve students texting a number and the teacher can take a poll. The teacher can use asynchronous communication by asking students to email projects.

The third and final term I am mentioning today is Wikis. I thought this was interesting because of the group Wiki project we are doing in the class. A wiki "is a website or blogspace that is collaboratively edited and maintained by a group of people" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). It can be used for organized. I liked being able to see this defined in the textbook while I am also learning and exploring how it works for the group project.

Here is a little asynchronous and synchronous communication joke:
https://www.bitstrips.com/user/JJ784S/read.php?comic_id=J74N3&sc=1

References
Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.