Analysis of no formal interactions of master degree university students using instant messaging

Technologies have become basic elements that contribute to the learning of university students, who use them in their academic work both to interact with their peers or to carry out group work (i.e., non-formal collaboration context). This article presents the results of an investigation into technology-mediated collaboration through instant messaging in a non-formal context of graduate students. In order to describe their use of instant messaging, a non-experimental evaluative research was developed, based on a mixed methodological approach and a single case design. During a whole academic year, the messages exchanged by students in five instant messaging groups were classified by means of content analysis and the different communicative intentions of the students were analysed. The instant messaging groups were spontaneously created by the postgraduate students, with no interaction at all by their teachers. The results show that instant messaging is mainly used to ask for help from classmates about doubts in general and, in particular, those that arise when carrying out course activities. Through instant messaging they respond to these doubts, share academic information of interest, express their opinions and share their complaints related to the course, the activities or the teaching staff, although the latter are in the minority.