Think of a public bulletin board in the local supermarket where anyone can post a message about any topic. Any user of a Web-based bulletin board can post a message that can be read by anyone who accesses the bulletin board. The main historical difference between listservs and bulletin boards is that listserv messages are automatically sent to subscribers' email inboxes, while bulletin board users must generally go to a location on the Web to read and post messages. However, some bulletin boards now provide the option of receiving copies of postings via email. In a threaded discussion, messages about a particular topic are grouped together, making discussions easy to follow.
Users are able to reply and associate their message with a specific message already posted.
Chat A good analogy for an Internet based chat is to think of a meeting in which the participants may be physically located anywhere in the world, but are able to communicate almost instantly by typing text which immediately appears on the screens of all participants in the chat. Supplied here is an animated sample of how a chat session for online office hours might progress. This session is manageable because only two students show up. If you have more than 5 students in a chat sesssion, you'll have to think up some ways to manage the session. Matching Tools to Activities.