Alex Little, Chris Denham, and Marc Eisenstadt

Editor: Patrick McAndrew (Open U., UK)

Reviewers: Robert Schuwer (Open U., NL) and Patrick McAndrew (Open U., UK)

Alex Little, Chris Denham, and Marc Eisenstadt (2008). MSG Instant Messenger: Social Presence and Location for the "Ad Hoc Learning Experience". Journal of Interactive Media in Education. http://jime.open.ac.uk/2008/02/

Abstract: "Elearning2.0" promises to harness the power of three of today's most disruptive technologies: social software, elearning, and Web2.0. Our own work in this disruptive space takes as a starting premise that social networking is critical for learning: finding the right person can be more important than "scouring the web for an answer" particularly when hand-holding or other explanatory services are required. Moreover, it "feels good" to know that others are around! With this in mind, we have taken our older BuddySpace tool, and created a new tool we call MSG, which is simpler, available as Open Source, and integrates cleanly with a number of other services, including Moodle and Google Maps.

Keywords: Social presence, location, elearning, social networking, presence, enhanced presence, presence discovery, Openlearn, BuddySpace, MSG