Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
Current News
Awareness of Presence - Good or Bad Thing in a Working Tool?
2/12/2004
IM has pop-up recipient notification - it's kind of like a telephone that's in your face, has caller ID, and in addition, when it comes on you can already see, instantly what the conversation's going to be about.
IM has within-medium polychronic communication - polychromic communication means multiple communications going on at once, which we often do in other media, like listening to NPR on Saturday morning while chatting with your partner in the kitchen. Unlike jumping back and forth between two conversations on a single telephone with multiple lines however, IM allows you to view and juggle many discussions in the single medium. (My own personal record is seven current meaningful IM chats at a single time.)
IM has silent interactivity - that means that except for the clicking of the keyboard, it's relatively non-obtrusive to other things going on, like, say, a relatively boring staff meeting. (Although you quickly come to recognize the bursts of chattering fingers with a rhythm that tells you IM is happening.) Not only can you ask an assistant to bring you the document that you need but forgot to bring to a meeting, without interrupting the meeting and admitting that you forgot the document, you and one or two others can strategically analyze and even possible control the flow of a group discussion by "passing notes" via IM. (Been there, done that.)
IM has ephemeral transcripting - by this the authors mean that under ordinary usage there is no permanent transcript or record of the conversation. This is changing, with newer versions, especially of enterprise IM, that offer automatic recording and logging, but it's still part of the nature of IM to be ephemeral. I recall the first time I saw my own "chat" recorded by having been cut and pasted into someone else's e-mail message. And almost daily I forget and close a window that contained a phone number or an e-mail address someone had shared with me in IM, and have to ask them for it again.
So, with these five characteristics of IM, we have some terms for our ongoing conversations about it. I recommend reading the Rennecker and Godwin article, even though I disagree with their overall findings. Another article to read that discusses the need for "listening to the learner" about what learning technologies a learner wants is "The Impact of Technologies on Learning," by Kimberly Gustafson. A link to a PDF of that article, published online especially for readers of this column, is also referenced below.
I think we're just beginning, still, to see the tip of that proverbial iceberg with regard to transformation of our working and learning technologies. I saw a news item last week, and of course I've lost the reference, where two European cities each have a virtual communications kiosk. Users in each city can stand in front of the kiosk and see and hear each other as though the other was just "on the other side" of the apparently mirrored surface of the kiosk. They can then communicate with full audio and visual cues as though each is "present" in the other's space. That reminds me just a little bit of the "presence awareness" of IM, and I see a tantalizing glimpse in there of a floating presence that hovers around me and moves with me wherever I go in the future, linking me upon demand to anyone and any information, at any time.
Recommended Reading
- News Update :: Tuesday, August 26, 2008
:::::: NEWS
: Report: Green Efforts Improving on Campuses
: Polytechnic Institute of NYU Deploys Array Networks Equipment for Access Control
: Oracle Releases Student Administration Integration Pack
: Red Hat Hacked, Company Issues Security Advisory
: Sun Open Sources Mobile Toolkit LWUIT
: Vulnerability Management Needed for Security, Study Says
: Microsoft Details SharePoint-SQL 2008 Integration
: Higher Ed Growing into BI, Data Warehousing
: LectureShare Updates Free Course Management System - Campus Security :: August 22, 2008
:::::: CASE STUDY
: Corralling Identity Management
:::::: CAMPUS SECURITY NEWS
: Vulnerability Management Needed for Security, Study Says
: Wayne State Deploys Q1 Labs QRadar to Manage and Secure Network
: KU Medical Center Installs Real-time Beacon System
: Virginia Tech Tries 'Compliance Sheriff' To Improve Web Site Accessibility
: Microsoft, BearingPoint Team Up To Provide Risk-Based Compliance Solution
: Collaboration Key to Security, Microsoft Says
: IBM Unveils New Software Designed To Streamline eDiscovery
: Security Woes Up, as PHP and OSS Make the List - IT Trends :: Thursday, August 21, 2008
:::::: INTERVIEW
:: Higher Ed Growing into BI, Data Warehousing
:::::: IT NEWS
:: Microsoft Changes Virtualization Licensing Rules
:: Vorex Upgrades Web-based Data Collection Tool for Schools
:: AT&T 'Big Mobile' Grant Extended
:: U Illinois Implements New StorMagic SAN in 15 Minutes
:: OOXML Reaffirmed, ISO/IEC Reject Appeals
:: Butler U Deploys Virtual Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway
:: Linux Application Checker Brings Distro Help - SmartClassroom :: Wednesday, August 20, 2008
:::::: INTERVIEW
: The Power of Wikis in Higher Ed
:::::: NEWS and PRODUCT UPDATES
: Sakai 2.5.2 Gets Performance Boost; New Modules Released
: Georgia Virtual Tech Moves to Angel LMS for Web-based Instruction
: Video Spotlight: Campus Technology 2008 Keynote Address
: AT&T 'Big Mobile' Grant Extended
: Colorado State Launches New Online School - Web 2.0 :: Wednesday, August 20, 2008
:::::: THE BUZZ
: Digital Arrays for Evidence-Based Learning
:::::: WEB 2.0 IN ACTION
: "That Which Weaves Together:" The NSF Cyberlearning Report
:::::: PRODUCTS AND APPS
: Sakai 2.5.2 Gets Performance Boost; New Modules Released
: Vorex Upgrades Web-based Data Collection Tool for Schools
: Colorado State Launches New Online School
: Collexis' Lawriter Debuts Social Network for Law Students - News Update :: Tuesday, August 19, 2008
:::::: NEWS
: Video Spotlight: Campus Technology 2008 Keynote Address
: Report Finds Dip in Microsoft's Browser Share
: Butler U Deploys Virtual Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway
: VMware's Updates Cause Problems, CEO Apologizes
: Intel Releases Interface for USB 3.0
: Linux Application Checker Brings Distro Help
: Wayne State Deploys Q1 Labs QRadar to Manage and Secure Network
: SunGard HE Releases New Unified Digital Campus
: Higher Education Fertile Ground for 802.11n WiFi, ABI Reports
