In a nation where we strive to prepare our Children for their future, we must take into great consideration that two thirds of the United States is online. These figures were given by Thurlow, Lengel and Tomic in their 2004 book; Computer-Mediated Communication: Social interaction and the Internet (p.87). While the benefits of Computer Mediated Communication, hereto referred to as CMC, are tri-fold in that they aid in the educational process, they enhance the educational process, and they prepare students for the future, I have found that the benefits of CMC in the context of education can exceed our pre-conceived notions.
First and foremost, CMC has benefited people with handicaps, such as deafness, in ways that were once unimaginable. Pandian explains in his introduction the reason for this great benefit; deaf students will more typically rely on technology in the workplace for communication than hearing people as well as the fact that teachers are left to find methods of communication for all the students in their classroom (2007). “Currently, around seventy-five percent of deaf and hard-of-hearing (hereafter referred to as "deaf") students are mainstreamed in public schools across the United States (Karchmer & Mitchell, 2003).” Results of research studies were explained by Pandian showing that the group of deaf (undergraduate) students had more well-balanced participation, greater learning outcomes, and the students felt CMC was an “enjoyable method of communication in the classroom (Pandian, 2007).”
Addis discusses the use of CMC in order to quench anyone, in any age brackets, thirst for knowledge. In other words, CMC has made education easily obtainable and limitless; it has lifted the confines of libraries, which are bound by walls, and institutions, which are bound by income and accreditation. Any individuals with access to the Internet now have the ability to educate themselves on a whim. “Multimedia applications, connectivity, and interactivity make technology a variable (not a means) whose effects enrich the experience and its value (Addis, p. 731).” Addis further cites Rheingold (1992) in stating “the application of new technologies to edutainment in fact reinforces the convergence between education and entertainment (p. 731).” The use of technology transforms the message in two ways: first, because the message is contemporarily perceived by the individual with more than one sense (Kinney, 1995), and second because the applications of technology can give a new form to the content and can easily enrich it without making it too heavy and difficult to learn, thus combining education and entertainment.
Edutainment has become a key feature for enhancing the educational process. Part of the “edutainment” factor of CMC is the communities that are formed; Thurlow, Lengel and Tomic explain that when people when people “describe their CMC as ‘communal’” one of the variables is having “shared goals and/or producing and using shared commodities’ (p. 112).” These communities seem to emerge from social processes in four ways: “forms of expression (e.g. our talking about our communities), identity (e.g. our sense of shared group identity), relationship (e.g. our connections and interactions with others in the community) and norms (e.g. the rules and conventions we agree to live by together) (p.111, Thurlow, Lengel & Tomic)” “Studies of computer-assisted social networks have shown that the stronger the ties and the more multiplex the activities, the more like a community a network will be (p. 113);” for instance, the strength of the tie may be determined by the social positions, whether it is student to student or student to teacher, in addition to factors such as frequency of contact and diversity of information (Thurlow, Lengel & Tomic, 2004).
Another part of the edutainment factor is discussed by the U.S. Department of Education on their website. Students “can manipulate it on the computer through graphic displays or controlled experiments in ways never before possible (2003).” They use the example of a biology lesson; rather than simply reading about blood flow and circulatory systems, students can now watch the processes and experiment with the effects of different homeostatic imbalances they may want to see imposed.
Many of the features that enhance the educational process, such as the community network previously discussed, also aid students in preparing for the future. McComb discusses her pedagogical aims utilizing the educational philosophers, Freire and Dewey, arguments that students’ minds will not count in the affairs of society through traditional instructional means alone. “Their education must engage their experiences, concerns and voices (p.159).” She further explains that this active creativity and use of their voice gives them a mode for experience. Furthermore, McComb discusses the motivation of the students (initiative) as well as a shift in that students work along with the teachers to drive their quest for knowledge. You can simply see the positive aspects of CMC in education in the shift of terminology being used; dialogue rather than lecture, collaborative rather than research agenda. “If learning is not mere knowledge transmission from teacher to student and if learning is triggered by students’ own experiences, the implication is that learning is not limited to the classroom (p.163)”
In addition to enhancing the students learning, just as Thurlow, Lengel and Tomic discuss regarding enhancing ties, CMC can enhance the instructors’ role, as well. McComb acknowledges the benefits of CMC in education can be as simple as a “an efficient “message center” for course announcements and information channel for questions and concerns and a forum for discussion (p. 160).” McComb gives a litany of reasons she has found CMC enhances education in college education along with detailed explanations of each; extends learning beyond the classroom (increased availability, demonstrates caring, includes outside experts), CMC balances power (increases student responsibility and requires initiative, responsibilities in conferencing), CMC is efficient (access to resources, facilitates quick assignment turnaround, keeps course records, focused participation) ( McComb, p.163-169). McComb further adds that another benefit to CMC is that instructors can work at their own convenience as well as be “available to students beyond institutionalized times and places” because of CMC’s asynchronicity (p. 163).”
Barnes acknowledges the cause-and-effect relationship technology has on our society and discusses how Technological Determinists interpret those transformations in society at various levels, such as institutions (Barnes, p.328, 2003). The U.S. Department of Education states on their website they “now know--based on decades of use in schools, on findings of hundreds of research studies, and on the everyday experiences of educators, students, and their families--that, properly used, technology can enhance the achievement of all students, increase families' involvement in their children's schooling, improve teachers' skills and knowledge, and improve school administration and management.”
References:
Addis, M. (2005, July). COMMENTARY: New technologies and cultural consumption - edutainment is born!. European Journal of Marketing, 39(7/8), 729-736. Retrieved April 14, 2009, doi:10.1108/03090560510601734
Barnes, S. B. (2003). Computer-mediated communication: Human-to-human communication across the internet. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
McComb, M. (1994, April). Benefits of computer-mediated communication in college sources. Communication Education, 43(2), 159. Retrieved April 14, 2009, from Communication & Mass Media Complete database.
Pandian, M. (2007, August). Cooperative Learning Incorporating Computer-Mediated Communication: Participation, Perceptions, and Learning Outcomes in a Deaf Education Classroom. Language in India, 7(8), 2-2. Retrieved April 14, 2009, from Communication & Mass Media Complete database.
Thurlow, C., Lengel, L. & Tomic, A. (2004). Computer-mediated communication: Social interaction and the internet. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.
U.S. Department of Education (n.d.) U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved April 20, 2009 from; http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/plan/national/benefits.html