The most common interaction with the Web is through the ubiquitous browser using visual interfaces. Most search engines use traditional visual interfaces to interact with its users. However, for certain applications and users it is desirable to have other modes of interaction with the Web. Current interfaces limit the mobility of the user and…

There's no question about it: Spam is a scourge. This ever-increasing torrent of unsolicited commercial mass e-mail saps productivity and, for some, threatens the very viability of e-mail. The battle against spam, unfortunately, is creating problems of its own, with people sometimes unable to send legitimate e-mail and other times unable to…

Technology is allowing anyone with a computer, the ability to type, and an Internet connection to become a published author--of sorts. Web logs, or "blogs," are the latest way that students, businesses, and many others are publishing their musings. The term was coined in 1999, and today Webster's dictionary defines a blog as a "diary; a personal…

A blog is a Web page made up of a series of chronologically arranged postings. Blogs may take the form of a diary or journal, mini-essay, photo-essay, project updates, even fiction or non-fiction works. They are also excellent communication tools for families, classes, departments, or teams. This article describes several types of blogs, and…

This document discusses different options when running an online discussion group. Groups can either be moderated or unmoderated. Yahoo discussion groups are also described.

Higher education is moving closer to an online learning environment that captures the social vitality and collaborative spirit of the real-world campus. A growing open source community of learning researchers, software architects, visualization and simulation specialists, and user interface designers has taken up the challenge, lending their…

Adrian C. Lewis asked the author if he could write a poem using their e-mail conversation. That ordinary conversation was the source of the poem that came about as a result. And the poetry--a major voice of literature, especially Indigenous literature--came about simply as an act of community, simply as an act of empowerment.

Numerous computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools have been designed to facilitate group discourses on the Web. However, previous studies noted that participants did not value online conferencing as a method for conducting in-depth discussions, and instead considered this method as merely scratching the surface of the issues involved.…

A number of researchers in computer-mediated communication have pointed towards its potential to stimulate learner participation and engagement in the classroom. However, in many cases only anecdotal reports were provided. In addition, it is unclear whether the pedagogical set-up or the technology involved is responsible for changes in learner…

On a busy day when school is in session, discussion group members may receive more than 150 messages. If they don't routinely delete a lot of them, their mailboxes can become so full within a few weeks that it's impossible to send or receive messages. This article discusses how media staff can benefit from discussion groups without feeling…

This paper draws on Bernstein's (1996) notion of "framing" to examine the variables which control the communication made possible in on-line discussion in one school context, and the particular "forms of pedagogic consciousness" (Bernstein, 1996) that are produced as students and teachers negotiate meanings around a literary text. Using genre…

Research on asynchronous learning networks (ALNs) has indicated that there are problems with both the quantity and quality of online interactions that can undermine the aim of inquiry. The goal of this paper is to offer a new way of thinking about these problems in the context of knowledge building, a specific form of collaborative inquiry…

Interactivity is defined by Henri (1992) as a three-step process involving communication of information, a response to this information, and a reply to that first response. It is a key dimension of computer-mediated communication, particularly in the one-on-one communication involved in an electronic mentoring program. This report analyzes the…

This paper reviews the literature related to gender and communication in CMC environments. A brief summary of gender related literature concerning general communication patterns in CMC is outlined first, to set the stage. Then, a review of literature in gender and CMC with a specific focus on conflict and harassment is presented. Comments upon…

This article deals with federal E-rate program's support of school leaders' Blackberry habit. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has cleared the way to allow money from the $2.25 billion program of subsidies for school technology to apply to e-mail service for mobile, wireless devices, such as the BlackBerry, which are increasingly…