I first started chatting online probably sometime in 1994 or 1995. Now before you think that I've spent the last fifteen years wasting time behind a computer, well, I probably have. At least a little anyway. The only excuse I really have is that conducting research is a very lonely business, and when you're stuck behind a computer eight hours a day, you will do anything to alleviate your boredom. So over the years, I have logged an impressive, and somewhat depressing, number of hours in various BBSes, forums, and social networking sites, and have accumulated at least four active email addresses. Thanks to the miracle that is technology, I thus have a vast archive of saved emails, some of which go all the way back to the 1990s (in case you were wondering, yes, I am one of those neurotic packrats who will keep very important emails in an archive, so be careful what you send to me, I may actually keep it). When I look back over the years, the one thing I've noticed is that my online mannerism haven't changed a whole lot. I may use bigger words now than I did then, and write about different things, but I still use the same abbreviations, smiley faces, and expressions. I think I first used ROTFL in 1995, and I still use it today. I like to include lots of :) and ;) in case I get taken too seriously, and I am definitely the queen of the understatements, and run-on-sentences.
So shat's so interesting about all this that I would devote a whole blog to my online behavior? Well, when you teach online, you are forced to have weekly online chats. These bascically serve as virtual office hours, where you are available for your students in a special chatroom. It's a greart idea, but to me, it just feels very weird. It doesn't help that I'm identified by my first name, instead of my last name, either. I can't help writing the way I always do, with a lot of "LOLs", smiley faces, and little jokes. That combined with the fact that my students act as though they're on MSN too, means I feel as though I'm 25 again, secretly chatting with friends in class. But I'm not. I'm supposed to be all professional, aloof, and definitely not funny. And yet I can't talk like that in an online setting. It's so very strange. I think my students really like it, but still. Somehow it doesn't feel right. Too personal. Perhaps I need to take an "how to chat professionally" class. What do you think?
3 comments:
Does that class about how to chat professionally really exist???
As long as your supervisors (or whatever they are called) don't tell you to "professionalise" your online language, just continue the way you are doing. Your students will like your class more and I think their success rate will increase when you keep it informal.
Ha ha, I'd be the same way! I was a beta tester for MSN in 1995 and ever since I use lots of emoticons. I have to restrain myself from using them in my blog, which to me is supposed to be "serious" prose, LOL (there I go again!).
I like the idea of an informal learning environment, as long as the students are manageable and understand that learning still has to take place. I wonder if they take it less (or more) seriously since it's online?
Sounds fun, nonetheless. Yay for summer!
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