"The point of all this is accessibility. Overwhelmingly, my student evaluations have shown that students appreciate the fact that I am willing to be accessible to them. They feel that it shows my commitment to their learning. I believe this is also reflected in the quality of work they produce and their commitment to the class. When they feel that I care enough to be accessible, they work harder."
The continued integration of Internet technologies into university instruction has resulted in the advantage that students and instructors can often do productive work away from the classroom or office. A well-equipped laptop computer can be used as a 'virtual office' allowing access to instructional materials from almost anywhere. As a result, the concept of the 'classroom' is evolving in much the same way that the concept of the 'office' evolved during the past 5 years. Where both classroom and office once specifically meant a physical location, today they are defined by information resources and communication channels. The goal is to make learning more convenient for the student and instructor. Having been involved in this effort for the past 15 years, I can testify that we have come a long way.
However, some problems have also arisen. The move from physical space to virtual space means that it is harder for a student to 'drop in' to an instructor's office for a quick chat or question. Students are instead confined to asking questions before or after class, during scheduled office ours (which may not meet the students schedule), or through electronic mail. Although telephone contact may be possible, in general this is not a good solution when the instructor or student is working from home. Few instructors are willing to publish their home telephone numbers. Also, if a modem is used for the network connection, it may occupy the sole telephone line into the users home.
A lovely solution to this problem has emerged in the form of Instant Messaging (IM). This is a technology similar to chat systems, but with an important twist. With IM, an instructor need only sign onto the IM server - regardless of their physical location. Other users may then contact the instructor by knowing their IM userid. The instructor does not have to sit idly in a chat room, once they register with the server they may proceed to do other work. They will be notified by the system when a user is calling them.
I have used the AOL Instant Messenger system with my classes (IST-110, IST-250 and LA-283) for the past 2.5 years. I began using it when it became apparent that (a) many students already knew how to use it, and (b) it was less obtrusive than using a chat room.
Today, almost all of my students have AIM userids. It is a service that they use frequently to stay in touch with their friends and family. On a typical day, I will have 3-5 contacts from students through AIM. The majority of these contacts are for the purpose of asking a quick question about an assignment, exam or other class-related topic.
An example is the following transcript, used with permission:
In this example, I was working from home at night. The student had a question to help them focus their studying. Without IM, the student would have had to resort to electronic mail -- which might have meant that they would not get an answer until the next day.
The point of all this is accessibility. Overwhelmingly, my student evaluations have shown that students appreciate the fact that I am willing to be accessible to them. They feel that it shows my commitment to their learning. I believe this is also reflected in the quality of work they produce and their commitment to the class. When they feel that I care enough to be accessible, they work harder.
The use of IM also adds to my satisfaction as an instructor. It gives me an opportunity to have more contact with students, and to be more of a mentor than a 'sage on the stage.' I encourage students to drop in and say 'Hi' if they wish. I have found that students will still seek my advice even after the class has concluded, sometimes even after graduation. As an educator -- this is particularly rewarding.
But what about the downside? Is it possible to become overwhelmed by the volume of IM traffic? Can it become an impediment to productivity? The answer is yes, but there are ways to manage it. I offer some guidelines from my own experience:
In summary, instruction is really a communication process. Instant Messaging is a technology that can be used to enhance that process, and therefore support instruction. Try it with your classes. I will bet that you will find it a most useful addition to your network toolkit.