Michael made a very good case for synchronous online classes and communication, talking to us on
Yahoo Messenger. Always within the context of blended learning, it was pointed out that synchronous
communication encourages more immediate involvement in the learning process, makes the social aspect
of learning more satisfactory and enhances the sense of community among learners. If used appropriately,
synchronous environments can offer a wide range of motivating activities, often in a more convenient,
practical manner than a face-to-face class. Despite the technological requirements synchronous learning
requires - in terms of skills and equipment - using such environments can be both rewarding and effective;
at least, that's been my own experience with synchronous online teaching so far :-)
How do you start a conference and invite guests at Yahoo Messenger?
On the top bar in Yahoo Messenger you click on Actions. From the drop-down menu select Invite to Conference.
A window opens and you have a Messenger List. Choose who you'd like to invite and add to the box on the right. Finally, click on Invite.
On the top bar in Yahoo Messenger you click on Contacts. From the drop-down menu select Message Archive.
A window opens and you can click on the olgs you want to save. Then you click on the Save icon on top left and choose
where in your local disk you want to have it saved, from the Save in menu.
I'm sure there are more than one ways - this is how I usually do it:
I choose one of my contacts from the left-hand column. Before I click on Call, I click on Add People, which is next to
the Call / Video Call button. A window opens and I click on a contact in the left-hand box, click on Select at the bottom
and the contact appears in the right-hand box. I repeat the process with all the contacts I want to add. If I want to remove
a contact from the right-hand box, I just select the contact and click on Remove. When I'm done, I click on Add on the bottom
right. The window disappears and I can click on Call Group.