Interesting ‘gator fodder this morning. I love that they’re discovering the utility of ten year old technology:
When IM Is the Best Way to Stay on Top :: Inside Higher Ed :: Higher Education’s Source for News, Views and Jobs
t’s tough to keep up on your workload, whether you’re a faculty member responsible for several classes or a student juggling a full schedule. The logistical dance becomes even more daunting for those learning remotely — from computers hundreds of miles away, or another campus in the same college system.
Of course, they *have* to use the expensive system that integrates with their learner management system and will, therefore, close the door on all the students who are no longer enrolled, cutting teacher and learner off from each other on the last day of classes - terminating the friendships among the learners - and costing the system thousands of dollars for the privilege.
But hey, that’s not important. It’s only money.
August 29th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
Funny how you can take something that is free for all to use and then make your own verson and sell it to make a bunch of money.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
The last day of class need not be the cutoff between teacher/student interaction. contact can be maintained, if so desired, especially in the electronic world. I taught at Powell County High School in 2006/2007, and thanks to myspace and facebook, I still maintain regular contact with several of my students. All that needs to take place is a divergence from the existing pathways of communications.
August 30th, 2008 at 12:52 am
Absolutely! You and I agree here.
But the article (you did read the source article yes?) specifies that the communications are linked to the LMS and reconciles the student/teacher buddy lists with people who are enrolled in the class. When the class is over, what do you think happens to those buddy lists? When your IM is linked into your LMS, it doesn’t bode well for contact after the class is over.
Of course you could THEN link up using the tools like we do in our class — outside of and independent from the LMS, but the school dictates that while the class is running, you have to use the (expensive) in-house system.
August 30th, 2008 at 11:10 am
I like the principal behind their idea of having students IM, but it is a little ridiculous that this school is paying for an IM program when there are several free ones that work just as good. If they would use a program like Yahoo, AOL, etc then the students could remain in contact with their classmates and professors when the class is over. I prefer instant messaging over email because well it’s instant and I think that you get quicker responses. Most of the time when my computer is on I have instant messaging on so it is easier to stay in contact with people because I don’t have to stop what I am doing to log into email. IM’s also provide a way to get answers about a quick question that you may have in class and I have IM’d previous professors when the class is over to ask them a question.
August 30th, 2008 at 11:25 am
So, the question is “Why do they do it this way?”
The answer is significant — even if it is speculative.
August 31st, 2008 at 8:54 am
Using IM that terminates when class is completed is another way of using technology “when and how” the instructor(establisment) wants to use it. Leaving the option to extend the IM relationship beyond the calendar class is leaving the option for an ongoing learning community to develop. It also speaks to giving learners the opportunity to learn more about what they are engaged in….
August 31st, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I don’t use IM very much, but can see the importance of using it in the case of online classes. However, I think that a free program will work just as well as a program established for a specific school. This will definitely keep the “friendly communication” open between teachers and students after classes are over.