Aim For Better Student Learning: Best Practices For Using Instant Messaging And Live Video To Facilitate Instructor Student Communication

As bandwidth continues to expand, and wireless connections propagate to the point of becoming ubiquitous, the nature of communication, both formal and informal, is undergoing a real transformation. This transformation is reflected within the student bodies of colleges across the nation as text messaging, live personal video and internet voice communication become more evolved technically and entrenched in the psyche of our students. Student comfort levels with instant messaging, documented by these authors in previous papers, is only one sign of the coming wave of communication tools and attitudes which will truly blur the line between actually there and virtually there. In this paper, the authors document their experiences with instant messaging, video-based oneon-one student instruction and internet telephony. Further, best practices are recommended for the use of these technologies in the engineering classroom. In general, the authors have found that students are extremely comfortable with these technologies, that using these technologies has become radically easier in just the last 18 months, and that student learning and excitement can be greatly enhanced through the judicious use of chat, one-on-one video conferencing and internet telephony. These have also allowed us to expand the reach of instructors at USMA, with one-on-one teaching across great distances becoming simple and efficient.