During our experience with conferencing, the following characteristics have emerged. A new level of academic communication. Conferencing appears to tap a new level of communication. The communication which is carried on often appears to be parallel to that which is carried on in class. It is not unusual to have communication being carried on at the conference level which never surfaces consciously in class discussions and vice versa.
Many students use the conference to reveal personal information about themselves.
The phenomenon must be treated carefully and ethically. While personal discovery can be beneficial, indeed even therapeutic, bother instructor and participants must realize that this is probably not the main reason for the conference and that self-revelation carries with it public risks. Opportunities for closure. Computer conferencing provides remarkable opportunities for closure. First, each student can summarize his or her thoughts about every one of the topics of the conference.