Virtual Office

A frequent question is usually asked of me each semester, “What is a Virtual Office?” I’ll attempt to address the question…

The “virtual office” is a concept I have used for years to describe how I use Instant Messaging to communicate with students in the classes I teach at Lansing Community College.

Every semester, I post my office hours on the web which shows students when I will be in the on-campus office. During those on-campus times, I am also in the “virtual office” — logged on to the many IM services available today. This allows for fast, real-time communication with students who cannot attend on-campus hours.

While on one of my Mac’s, I use AdiumX as a multi-protocol IM client. While on the other computer, I use Miranda-IM. Both are great software packages for both platforms and are free.

In addition to the office hours I have posted, I am logged onto the Internet 6-8 hours per day and will periodically login to the IM services to allow for additional time with students. All that is needed is an account with one of the major IM providers: AOL, ICQ, Yahoo!, Jabber, .Mac, Google Talk, or MSN. Many students already have an AOL, GMail, Hotmail or Yahoo! e-mail account, after that, just download the software for the specific account (click on the links above).

I encourage students to use this medium to interact with me as it is very helpful for those that have used it.