The communication landscape grows increasingly complex with each passing year. Since teaching is, at its root, communication, it is essential that we understand the available technologies and the implications of each new mode as it emerges. In this paper, the authors examine the complex and evolving communications opportunities provided by a variety of technologies, paying particular attention to the emergence of Instant Messaging (IM) and its cousins. Uses and misuses of this suddenly

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... s technology are discussed, and student attitudes are surveyed. Student use profiles and communication preferences are discussed as well as anecdotal cases from a recent semester where e-communications were used extensively as a means of student -professor interaction. Lastly, the appropriate uses of a number of communication modes (i.e. phone, e-mail, in-person, etc) are discussed and the advantages and disadvantages of each are compared and contrasted with regard to meeting the learning goals and accommodating participant locations.