Instant messaging is a very popular way of communicating and staying in contact with people from all over the world. This covers a range of networks, including; web based chat offered by ISP's, or portals such as Yahoo or MSN, website-based chat offered by anyone with a site - often used to solve problems on a specific topic, whether professional or leisure or chat rooms using SMS on mobile phones. Instant messaging allows you to interact with others in real time, being more private than chat rooms, with the users being able to determine who they want in the conversation. Simple forms of messenger allows just two participants, however more advanced allows multiple users, exchange of images, files and other forms of media. One popular service of this is MSN Messenger. Unlike email, chat and IM require the participants to be online in real time, probably why its so popular with young people, the symplicity of the messages sent, and the instant nature.
Instant messaging is more of a social tool, however there have been some attempts to use it in education. For example the LETTOL (LEarn To Teach Online) course run by Sheffield College has learning sessions where students are able to chat with other student and their tutor about topics, and keep these in their portfolio.
No comments:
Post a Comment