Synchronous Web-based Communication
[c]
'Synchronous' communication is a term often used to describe web-based technologies such as MSN Messenger, Skype etc. where all participants are logged on and participating in the online discussion at the same time. This style of communication is useful for research teams that are dispersed across the UK, or even internationally, although when setting a meeting time thought would need to be given to team members working in different time zones. What are the biggest problems with synchronous communication?Problems that arise in synchronous communication are:
Some participants find that these problems implicitly censor the discussion. How do I solve these?The solution is for the person initiating the discussion to have a prepared set of questions, subjects to discuss, etc. and to set up a fixed order for responses. Spend the first part of the chat session carrying out the following activities:
What if I want the session to be a bit more spontaneous?If you feel that this limits the spontaneity within chat, then you can return to the open time at points within the chat, but this needs to be alternated with the cycles of set responses. What if I want the comments to be a bit more considered?You can circulate participants and ask them to prepare statements or questions before the chat session starts. How do I make moderating a chat session easier?To reduce pressure on yourself during the chat session, prepare the running order, structure of the session, explanations, questions, etc beforehand in a Word document, and keep this Word document open at the same time. The prepared text can then be copied and pasted into the chat at the appropriate time. This also enables you to record particular points that arise that you may wish to return to. Simply copy and paste the points from the chat window into the Word window to keep a running set of notes. How can I make use later of the material discussed in the chat?Save the transcript of the chat session. If the software does not do this automatically, copy and paste the transcript into your open Word document. This can often be a useful resource for future work, particularly for the next time you run the session. How do I deal if participants lose their connections?You may encounter problems if the participants are working from home via dial-up modem, rather than broadband, which may result in loss of connection for brief periods. Waitiing for them to be reconnected and then recapping the discussion can be time-consuming. If you have recorded the chat (see above) the discussion can continue and those who have missed it will be able to fill in the gaps later. |