Further Information: A variety of synchronous and asynchronous online communications between learners is encouraged.
One of the major benefits of e-Learning is the vast number of opportunities it offers learners and tutors to communicate.
Synchronous or real time communications involve both the tutor(s) and learner(s) being online at the same time. An example of this would be an Internet telephone conversation. Unlike traditional telephone conversations, online calls offer many additional features such as:
- document sharing
- video conference
- text chat
- records of conversations
One of the most popular Internet telephone systems is Skype. This can be freely downloaded onto a domestic computer, though restrictions in the workplace may prevent its use on Intranets.
Asynchronous communications include email and community networks. They enable a wide range of media to be posted online by the sender and picked up at a time convenient to the receiver(s). Communications include photographs, video, pod casts along side text and voice messages. It is impossible to describe all types of asynchronous communication tools but some of the most popular include Face Book and My Space.
The emergence of Wikis (quick web site builders) allow people with basic ICT skills to build web sites that include web pages with lots of plug-ins such as calculators, photo albums or comments boxes.
Wiki members can upload files to share and edit the web site from any computer.
Security is a concern for those delivering courses and holding the details of learners. A formal learning programme may want to restrict communications between tutors and learners to a Managed Learning Environment. This gives extra security and also tracks all communications relating to learning.
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