Sunday, June 26, 2011

Thing 10: Instant Messaging

AW: Hey! How's it going?
SL:  Good. How are you?
AW:  Great.

IMing is something I did CONSTANTLY when I was in high school. It was what everyone did. Back then, I used AIM (AOL instant messaging). It was a convenient way to talk to several friends at one time. Now I don't necessarily use an Instant Message program, but I do occasionally talk to family and friends through Facebook's instant messaging.

I think instant messaging is a good thing. It's a way to keep in touch with friends and family from anywhere in the world. It's instant access (no waiting for a return email). It's simple to use; just log on and chat. Mostly when I think of instant messaging I think of personal use; however, I think it could also be a good tool at work.At work, it could be used for brief messages, questions or even teacher-to-teacher conferences. For students in school, I think it would be very tricky. There would be issues of security (controlling who the students could talk to), as well as a need to monitor what is being talked about (nothing inappropriate, nothing off topic, no bullying, etc.). Something like Today's Meet chat room (http://todaysmeet.com/) would probably be more appropriate because it's a monitored environment where the students could only talk to other students in the class.

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