The utilization of Computer Mediated Communication for case study collaboration

Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) can be used as an effective tool for student communication and collaboration. First-year, first-semester dental hygiene students self-selected groups to develop dental hygiene process of care treatment plans, written reports, and oral case presentations based on assigned clinical cases. In consultation with the University of Michigan (UM) Digital Media Commons Collaborative Technologies Teams, CMC options were identified. Two chat rooms were established within the UM's Course Management System (CTools) to provide opportunities for synchronous (simultaneous, real-time) communication. One course blog site and 8 case blog sites were developed to provide students and instructors with electronic asynchronous (nonsimultaneous) communication formats. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of these technologies during group case study projects. CMC has the potential to provide an effective means of collaboration and communication when the technologies align with the purpose of the project and compliment the dynamics of student groups.