Chasing the Dragon's Tale

For a writing instructor, I can just imagine the horror and red ink that is spawned from the sight of IM (Instant Messaging) shorthand on a writing assignment. From the goal of leading students into the world of communicating intelligently, IM looks something like a plague attacking all that is academically acceptable and proper. From a parent's perspective, there are a plethora of issues. From the perspective of encouraging students to think, to be creative, and to increase keyboard skills IM looks more like constructivist learning with a big smiley, :), permanently attached. Good Read by Robert Farmer, Mount Saint Vincent University, Canada : Instant Messaging ? Collaborative Tool or Educator?s nightmare! I asked a college administrator recently what he thought about Instant Messaging...and he responded that email is a fact of life and that he was not sure that describing it as instant was applicable.