Week 7-2 Asynchronous and Synchronous communication

What is the difference between asynchronous and synchronous communication?
Asynchronous communication is communication that occurs at different time. Synchronous communication is communication that occurs at the same time. Asynchronous communication does not require that all parties involved in the communication need to be present and available at the same time. Some examples of electronic asynchronous communication are email, discussions, and mailing lists. Synchronous communication is simply communication that happens at the same time, immediately, a give-and-take. Some examples of electronic synchronous communication are chats and videoconferencing. We use mainly asynchronous communication in our online class. We use our blogs to communicate with each other. We email each other with questions and answers. Dr. Wang emails us the assignments each week. One of the advantages of asynchronous communication is that you can complete assignments when it is the best time for you. It allows you to have a flexible with your schedule. You can complete your class work while the kids are sleep, on your lunch break, or while you are waiting for breakfast. One of the advantages of synchronous communication is that you can interact with other students and instructors. You can ask questions when the information is fresh on your mind.

Name and describe the Internet communication that fall into each category.

Electronic mail is a form of asynchronous communication. E-mail is key communication tool provided in the networked environment. The author compares email to mail delivered to the post office. The inbox of your electronic mailbox is the same as the mailbox at the post office. You can sign in and check your mail. When you sign in, it is like using your key in your post office box. Your log-in name is unique to only you. Your log-in name is how the server knows which mailbox to open. Other people can send you mail, and you can check it and respond at your convenience. You can delete any of the messages that you do not want to keep. You can create folders to save you important messages.

Discussion is another form of asynchronous communication. Sometimes discussion is called a bulletin board, club, conference, or forum. Discussion allows one user to communicate with many users. In this class we created this blog, which is a form of a discussion. Discussion can be private or public. If a discussion is private, a user can only participate if he or she is invited to join. Public discussions are available to anyone.

Mailing lists are a form of asynchronous communication. Listserv is a mailing list. This tool automatically delivers emails to those who subscribe to the list. The messages are sent to an umbrella email address of the list itself and then appear on in inbox of all the subscribers. The list can be set up to where everyone on the list can post messages that will be emailed out to every other person on the list or set up so that only the administrator can list personal email messages.

Chats are a form of synchronous communication. A chat is a service offered by some ISPs and some other Internet sites that set aside a space in which two or more users can meet in real time. This space is called a chat room. The participants type their message and it is post for all the participants to see. This allows other participants to respond to the post in real time. The user can download the chat software on their computer to participate. Chats can be private or public. Instant messaging is a form of chat that is commonly used.

Videoconferencing is a form of synchronous communication. Videoconferencing software allows users at either end of a synchronous connection not only to hear each other but to see video images of each other also. You must have a video camera connected to the computer. Most laptops come with a web cam. The quality of the video is based on the internet connection. Because the video is transmitted through the internet, the quality is only as good as the speed of on the download from the internet. As the bandwidth and speed increase, the quality will get better.