We have been analyzing chats for communicating ideas.
Some positive aspects are: equal access to input. That is everyone gets a chance to explain their ideas. I have noticed that when we do an oral classroom discussion, many people don't participate or some talk most of the time. Do we notice this less in chat discussions? Everyone has equal access because you are writing messages. Even if you type slowly, you can still refer back to a question and you have a chance to turn the discussion.
According to Clark and Brennan's theory of communicative grounding, which means that people respond differently based on the medium of communication. Honeycutt, 2001, found that students felt that comments written in emails were more serious than comments written in chats. Do you agree? What accounts for this perception? Is it the nature of chat which is quick, short response?
Please analyze your impressions on chatting and how useful they are in providing feedback and the quality of feedback as compared to emails.
