Schools and Society - Essay Example

Mastery of course material in the virtual classroom is equal to or superior to the traditional classroom Virtual classroom students report higher subjective satisfaction than with the traditional classroom on a number of dimensions, including access to their professors and overall quality of educational experience Students perceive their learning experience to be group learning rather than individual learning and that the more they judge the experience to be collaborative, the more likely they are to judge the outcomes as superior to the traditional classroom (page 47).

Instructional technologists, educational psychologists, and educators have spent much time developing strategies to use computer-mediated communication as a way to enrich and empower student learning. By continuing to explore uses for older technologies and by developing plans to employ new technologies, education professionals are creating an environment where CMC tools are now simply a part of the learning space. They are tools to be used at the point of need and technologies to support multiple learning theories and styles.

(Alavi, M., & Leidner, D. E. (2001 p 2).What are the social implications of CMC Does communication via a network impact how people interact with each other Does the quality of that interaction change whether we are at home, at work, or at school The answer is a resounding maybe. ((Alavi, M., & Leidner, D. E. (2001 p 2).In summary, it can be said that computer-mediated communication for social purposes has developed along with its growth of technologies. One major question is whether true social communication is possible over networks (e.g., in email or bulletin boards).

Does communicating through text make CMC low in "social presence" without necessary social contextual cues like eye contact Social presence theory contends that CMC is incomplete compared to face-to-face communication in social context cues like facial expressions, posture, dress, social status indicators, and vocal cues (Sproull & Kiesler, 1991). However, some researchers (Hiltz, 1978) found that CMC was primarily honest, creative, and positive.