Exercise 1: Communication models

Chat rooms have expanded our notions of electronic communication. Instead of relying on written messages alone (e-mail), chat rooms include opportunities for voice-to-voice communication, and some of the newer chat rooms have 3D characters that will act and speak in sync with your voice.

Find one example of a form of electronic communication that illustrates each of the four models of communication: action model, interaction model, transaction model, and constructivist model. If you cannot find an electronic example of one of these models, explain why you believe the model cannot be illustrated in the current configurations of information technology.

Exercise 2: The history of the communication discipline

Before you took this course, were you familiar with the discipline of communication? What do you know about the discipline now that you did not know previously? Using multiple search engines such as google.com, mamma.com, yahoo.com, and aol.com, determine as much as you can about the history of the discipline of communication. When did it begin? Who were the founding fathers and mothers of the discipline? Is communication related to other disciplines?