Moderated e-learning environments
Computer mediated communication technologies
E-mailing list: one-to-many communication
Software that allows one-to-many communication via simple email communication.
Mailing lists are often used to support discussions or information exchanges
on a certain subject among a group of people who are subscribed to that mailing
list. Upon subscribing to the list, each subscriber gets every message that
is submitted to the list. A common form of a mailing list is as a newsgroup.
Inter-relay chat: one-to-one and one-to-many communication
Inter-Relay Chat (IRC) or talk is a way of communicating with people in 'real
time', that is, synchronously. In this mode, participants can send and receive
messages almost immediately. Users must be logged on at the same time.
Computer conferencing: one-to-many communication
Software that combines the functionality of electronic mail and electronic
bulletin boards. Messages sent to a computer conference are stored in a central
location rather than being distributed to individual mail boxes such as in
a mailing list. The participants in a computer conference are required to
actively access the central database of emails rather than simply being a
passive recipient of email messages. Once they are logged into the conference,
participants can read a response and act on it. This is asynchronous communication
because a participant can respond to a message or contribute to a discussion
at anytime and from any location. The messages sent to the conference are
stored on the host computer from where a participant can read it, possibly
reply to it, or start a new thread.