Forum Teaching with LAMS - experiences: Re: Re: Re: Experiences with chat in computer labs

By: James Dalziel

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We talk about chat as "synchronous" e-learning, but I think it is something more interesting than that - as Robyn notes - most chat is "near-synchronous" because you have a few seconds to decide whether or not to hit the "Say" button, or whether to change/delete what you've just typed. These few seconds of reflection make a big difference to being asked, face to face, to answer a question in a classroom. I think this is one reason chat is so popular - those few seconds for revision/rethinking.

Lately I've been quoting a phrase that, for me, captures the essence of why near-synchronous chat can be preferable to fully syncronous face to face communication - "I carried a watermelon". I only saw the film this comes from for the first time a month ago, and this line cracks me up every time. Imagine if this first impression had been via chat, with the chance to type this, then delete it just before "saying" it.

(The film is Dirty Dancing for those who don't know it - the scene is near the beginning when young and innocent Jennifer Grey ("Baby") first meets "uber" dancer Patrick Swayze (Johnny Castle)).

Posted by James Dalziel