A preference for synchronous, non-text based communication also emerged as a theme in studies of online students conducted by Stodel, Thompson and MacDonald (2006) and Kim, Liu and Bonk (2005). Stodel et al. found that some students missed the non- verbal cues, physical presence and informal social interactions afforded by face to face communication and thought the asynchronous discussion boards were slow and lacking in spontaneity whilst the synchronous chatroom was too reliant on speed typing. Kim et al. (2005) similarly reported that some of.
