To some, the phrases “LOL,” “j/k” and “TTYL” are part of an integral online language that is second nature. To others, it’s jargon.

A recent AP-AOL survey found an “instant messaging gap” between teens and adults that may be pushing the two generations further apart.

Many Ohio State faculty and staff members are taking steps to lessen this gap by incorporating new technology into their teaching methods and curriculum.

Andrew Hayes, an assistant professor of communication, created an AOL Instant Messenger screen name last year as an additional way for students to contact him with questions.

“I try to be available in as many modes as possible,” Hayes said. “It’s beneficial to students and me. Their questions can be answered while they’re multi-tasking, and it’s easier to keep the flow of work going.”

Hayes said the intrigue of instant messenger lies in students’ ability to ask a quick question without having to completely switch tasks. His experience with students instant messaging him is limited, but he said the few times students took advantage of it, were positive experiences.

“Students, as a whole, seemed to like it,” he said. “Instant messaging is certainly an interesting experience.”

Senior Michael Mansker was a student in Hayes’ Communication 660 class and appreciated the unique contact method.

“I can’t remember another professor who gave a screen name on the syllabus,” he said. “It makes him more accessible for students. A lot of people don’t like to go to office hours and this is a good solution for them.”

According to the AOL poll, 48 percent of teens use instant messaging – twice the percentage of adults who use it.

Hayes used to manage a personal Web site for his undergraduate classes, but now frequents Carmen, OSU’s course management system. The system allows him to update PowerPoint lecture slides from home and maintain a class discussion board.

“Everything’s up much earlier than it used to be,” Hayes said. “Things like that are very valuable to me.”

Another up-and-coming resource that defies the technological age gap at OSU is podcasting.

Richard Pogge, a professor of astronomy, said he followed a whim and began recording his lectures two years ago.

“One of my students asked if I had ever recorded my lectures,” he said. “I thought, ‘None of the students will download them,’ but it just exploded. I had hundreds of hits a day. I thought, ‘This has a lot of potential.'”

Pogge uses a digital voice recorder and microphone to record audio files of his Astronomy 161 and 162 lectures. He then converts the MP3 file into a podcast feed, tweaks it slightly and posts it on iTunes as an educational podcast anyone can download for free.

“Students can go to any point in any recording to freshen their mind or use it as a study guide,” he said. “Students have said in both e-mails and in final evaluations that they really love it.”

Pogge said his lectures are downloaded an average 1,000 to 5,000 times in a given month. Additionally, two-thirds of his students in Astronomy 162 said they listen to one or more lectures per week.

“Of all of the technology in the classroom, this has been the most surprising,” he said. “It takes two minutes to download the recording, and another minute of typing. This takes nearly zero time for me.”

In addition to helping students who must miss class for sports or an illness, these podcasts reach a global audience. Because the lectures can be downloaded for free on iTunes, people in every continent except Antarctica have found them.

“I get anywhere from one to three e-mails a day from people outside of OSU – retirees, long-haul truckers, high school students. It’s an outreach tool for life-long learners,” he said. “The odd thing is that it started out as a tool to help students, but it turned out to have this wonderful outreach aspect that is fulfilling a need. There are at least a few hundred people, who when they think of astronomy, they will think of Ohio State.”

Pogge was the first within his department to delve into the world of podcasting, but knows of an art history and an engineering professor who have also experimented with the new technology.

“When I started this, I had no idea what I was getting into. It’s actually been a real hoot,” he said. “This gets the quality of Ohio State into the larger world.”

Although the AP poll suggests adults are less likely to use instant messenger to conduct daily activities, ask quick questions and make plans than teens, OSU faculty efforts seem to be a step in the right direction.

“It’s cool that professors are starting to use a medium that’s more conducive to our generation,” Mansker said.

“I’m fairly resistant to new technology, but as I age I do whatever I can to stay hip,” Hayes said.