SYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION AND IMMEDIACY 1 Synchronous Communication and Immediacy in the Online Classroom: A Call for Research and Practice Kris M. Markman, Ph.D. kris@krismarkman.com Lori Stallings, MA lstllngs@memphis.edu Paper presented at the ‘Innovation in Higher Education: building a better future?’ preconference of the International Communication Association annual meeting, Seattle, WA, May 22, 2014.