Abstract
The increasing range of options provided by two popular conferencing freeware products, Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger, are discussed. Each tool contains features designed primarily for entertainment purposes, which can be customized for use in online education. This report provides suggestions for optimizing the educational potential of the two products: e.g., generating automated statements for conference moderators to use in controlling conference sessions, and for all participants to use in overcoming the high-bandwidth obstacle of online video transmission.
Highlights
Earlier in this series, the authors summarized the wide range of software tools available for online collaborative work, with emphasis on conferencing techniques, whiteboard, and polling tools
Once participants have gathered in an online conference room, the Yahoo Messenger (YM) and MSN projects both provide an expanding range of features that teachers can customize for educational purposes
Commercial conferencing packages typically provide a range of automated options for use in determining the order of speakers (e.g., a ‘hands-up’ option to indicate the wish to speak). Such moderator control features can be created free of charge in YM, by modifying the ‘emote’ options, by which conference participants can send automated statements to one another in the conference text-box by a simple click on a menu item (“X smiles at Y”; “Z laughs out loud”; etc.)
Summary
Earlier in this series (see Report #21), the authors summarized the wide range of software tools available for online collaborative work, with emphasis on conferencing techniques (text/ audio/ video), whiteboard, and polling tools. Other reports in the series (e.g., # 4, 6, 15, 18, 35, 45) have indicated that the most popular messaging tool among distance education (DE) students is Yahoo Messenger (YM) This software combines audio, video, and text-chat features within a free and installed download package, and has recently acquired mobile telephone integration and automated entertainment functions. MSN Messenger (MSNM), discussed in reports # 6, 14, has developed similar features since our 2003 review, and its use among the authors’ DE students and colleagues is increasing substantially, owing to its inclusion in Microsoft’s standard Windows packages. Each of these tools has the flexibility previously only available in costly commercial products. The current report discusses a set of freeware messaging features of particular use in DE, and ways in which they can be harnessed in order to optimize these products’ educational value
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