Reflection; ICT as a communicative tool

The communication between a teacher and the student is made easy through the use of different communicative applications. Discussions on a certain topic between teacher and student or amongst students can take place beyond the physical barrier either by space, time or both of the classroom.

Some of the most used applications for communication by teachers and students nowadays are:

1.     Google classroom

2.     Zoom

3.     Wechat

4.     Google hangouts

5.     E-mail

There are also other wonderful applications and virtual platforms that enables the communication between students and teachers. These includes;

1.     Facebook

2.     Skype

3.     Chat

4.     VLE(virtual learning environment)

5.     Blogs and so on.

These communication tools can be categorized into two types of communication, Synchronous and Asynchronous.

1.     Synchronous communication

This type of communication is said to be taken place real-time, in which users must be simultaneously connected. This type of communication;

ü  enables real-time communication

ü  are used for instructional activities that require higher degree of interaction

ü  helps solving urgent problems and issues

2.     Asynchronous communication

This type of communication doesn’t require the people communicating to be logged on the internet at the same time. It is appropriate for activities that require more time in thinking before responding.

            The above mentioned examples can fall under both the types of communication as it can be synchronous as well as asynchronous as it depends on the people who are using it.