Communication: Asynchronous or Synchronous?

Communication: Asynchronous or Synchronous?

Asynchronous
–adjective
1.
not occurring at the same time.

2.
(of a computer or other electrical machine) having each operation started only after the preceding operation is completed.

3.
Computers, Telecommunications. of or pertaining to operation without the use of fixed time intervals (opposed to synchronous).
Dictionary.Com

Online Examples: Email, Bulletin Boards, Forums, Blogs, and Wikis…

Synchronous
–adjective
1.
occurring at the same time; coinciding in time; contemporaneous; simultaneous.

2.
going on at the same rate and exactly together; recurring together.

3.
Physics, Electricity. having the same frequency and zero phase difference.

4.
Computers, Telecommunications. of, pertaining to, or operating using fixed-time intervals controlled by a clock (opposed to asynchronous).

5.
Aerospace. geostationary.

Dictionary.Com

Online Examples: Online conferences, meetings, chat, etc.

Tappedin provides a wealth of online meetings for all types of educators. Join, login, and check out the calendar on the opening tappedin campus map page. It is located on the tab section (top left) on the tappedin campus map page. You can pick something that you want to attend synchronously and then attend at that time. Additionally, request to join groups by clicking on group folders that interests you. On the left hand side of any page you will see a list of options, one of the options is discussion. If you click on the discussion it will link you to the forum for that specific area where you can read and leave posts. My advice about tappedin is to start navigating the site and to use the conversation box if you need help. Usually, someone is available to help from 8am-8pm PST. A great tutorial for joining tappedin is located HERE.

Skype is another example of how individuals are communicating synchronously via the Internet. Moreover, groups are starting to skypecast the globe. Vicki A. Davis AKA the Cool Cat Teacher has a great post and video about Skype and skypecasting. Click Here to view her video. Unfortunately, I haven’t tried Skype as of yet, but it is on my list of things to do…Also, ironically enough, Vicki’s current post “Where we are going with chat” highlights a Techcrunch post entitled The Six Biggest Ideas in Chat and chat after all is the synchronous communication of the day…

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William Bishop (Bill)

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