Communicating with Google Wave

Communication Software: Google Wave

Communication software is a very important tool when using asynchronic e-learning. It is also critical when building collaborative teaching projects.

There are many types of software you can use to communicate, such as email, wikis, forums and chat.

Each of them has a distinct and unique set of main features.

E-mail is used by almost everybody. Conversations can be kept together and tracked. Wikis are documents that can be edited by more than one person. Forums keep messages and discussions together and allow editing by a coordinator. Chats allow real time discussion of two or more people.

Google has developed now a new tool that combines all of these in one application: Google Wave.

Every time you want to start a discussion you start a Wave. As with e-mail, you can add people you want to participate in the discussion. As in a wiki, everybody can edit the main post, as in a forum you may respond to the main post or individually to an answer. As in a chat, if two or more people are connected to the Wave, everybody can watch what the other persons are writing.

See below a Wave started by me:

Following is Gaby's answer:

Now I have added (edited as a wiki) inside my first post something Gaby will want to comment on: “Gaby: Tomorrow we are leaving at 6,30 am because I must arrive early to the hospital. “

So she adds her comment directly inside my post : “Can we leave at 7,30”

Something very useful about inserting comments is that you can collapse them clicking on the blue balloon where the comment was inserted. See the collapsed comment in the next image:

You may find more information on Google Wave at http://google.wave.com/

You may find the help files at: http://www.google.com/support/wave/bin/topic.py?topic=25155

You may also watch an introductory video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6pgxLaDdQw

You may find examples on uses for Wave at:http://wave.google.com/help/wave/using-wave.html

Good luck surfing the Wave!