[Technical] Using IRC for student development collaboration

[Con Zymaris]

On Tue, Aug 23, 2005 at 11:39:39AM +1000, Jim Maunder wrote:
> At 10:53 PM 22/08/2005, you wrote:
> 
> >In the open source world, IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is often used by
> >dispirate (and often geographically distant) developers as a form of
> >collaborative programming, real-time/low-cost interaction and information
> >sharing.
> 
> 
> I kind of like the idea of using 'forum' software for this kind of 
> thing. The advantages are as far as I (a non-teacher(thank goodness)) 
> can see are:
> 
> - everyone can see what the students and teachers write,
> - the forum can be moderated,
> - the teacher can set up forum threads or topics beforehand,
> - the medium allows for more considered posts and responses

Forums are fine for some activities - less so for real-time communication
in a lab or class setting. If I have a problem with VB or JavaScript
syntax, I can't wait 2 hours for someone else to respond with a post. By
typing it into the IRC server, I have a chance that someone who knows will
tell me the answer in 2 minutes, which keeps me motivated and keeps my
momentum as a student up. And everyone who's watching the IRC server now
also learns that answer too.


-- 
___________________________________________________________________________
Con Zymaris <conz at cyber.com.au> Level 4, 10 Queen St, Melbourne, Australia 
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