Practical considerations for using chat

Here are some things to keep in mind when using chat:

• Plan and organize your chat.
• State your objective(s) and directions for the chat clearly.
• If your class size is relatively large, consider dividing your class into groups for the same chat topic.
• Have some short text prepared in a word processing program that you can copy and paste into your chat (i.e. an introduction, some questions, and a conclusion).
• Send students a critical question before the chat session, and encourage students to think about answers prior to the chat.
• Set rules for your chat sessions. Here are some examples:
  • Students must wait until the instructor asks a question before they can type.
  • Students must click the raise hand icon and be acknowledged by the instructor before they can begin typing.
  • Students must type an ellipsis (...) to indicate that they have more to contribute in a post.
  • Student answers can only be a maximum of two lines.
  • Students should not worry about spelling and grammar.
• Use the chatroom for a brainstorming activity for a lesson, then record the chat for everyone to see.
• When necessary, such as during group work, encourage students to save a record of the chat text for themselves.
• Begin and end your chat on time, and don't let latecomers interrupt you.
• Perhaps most importantly, understand that chat is a synchronous activity, which means it is done in real-time. Be selective about giving assignments in which students have to to use the chatroom; one reason they chose to learn online was probably because they wanted to do their assignments any time of the day in an asynchronous manner.