IM article misses the boat on Jabber and Gaim
I am disappointed with the article about instant messaging (IM) in the most recent Educause Review (Instant Messaging: IM Online! RU?). The author, Robert Farmer, writes about the different types of IM networks but when giving examples, he fails to mention Jabber, an open (as in open standards) IM protocol that offers an alternative to the big three: AIM, Yahoo! Messenger and MSN Messenger. The omission is a little more striking now that Google has come out with Gtalk, which is based on Jabber technology. Well, gtalk is pretty recent, so let’s chalk that up to timing. In any event, if an institution is looking at running an IM network, I suggest Jabber should be in the mix.
Yahoo! and MSN’s announcement that the two networks will soon work together is also absent due to timing, I assume.
While Farmer does mention Trillian as a client that can connect to the various protocols, he leaves out Gaim, which many of us linux geeks end up using on Windows and Mac, too. With Gaim you can connect to every IM system I’m aware of; however, you still need accounts on each of those systems.
Finally, one of the IM “issues” mentioned is that IM acronyms and slang are making their way into students’ formal writing. I have heard this from various sources but never seen any accompanying evidence. Is this really a problem or just an “educational legend?” Farmer nails it, though, when he says that we “need to clarify and remind students about writing expectations.”
Our library offers help via IM, and our developmental ed person has expressed an interest in offering math and English help via IM. Farmer suggests admissions offices use it, too. I’d love to hear about how schools are currently using IM to reach students.
