Megan Storti EdTech 522

Introduction Advantages of Chat Disadvantages of Chat Best Practices for Chat Meeting Learning Objectives References

Chat is a synchronous form of communication on the web, used on many websites, courses and for a variety of purposes Chat in a classroom can be used for:
Office hours Facilitating a discussion Group work Guest speakers Personal feedback

Chat can help students create a sense of community (McInnerney & Roberts, 2004) Chat can increase student participation in asynchronous activities, like message boards (Spencer & Hiltz, 2002) Students can have questions answered immediately (Dawley, 2007) Chats can be recorded for other students or future review (Dawley, 2007) Can create a more engaging experience between students (Dawley, 2007)

Students may not show up; instructor feels like time is wasted (Spencer & Hiltz, 2002) Difficult to schedule for students in asynchronous environment (Spencer & Hiltz, 2002) Moderation and advance planning are required to produce successful chats (Dawley, 2007) Students may perceive chat negatively before trying it (Spencer & Hiltz, 2002) Instructors and students must respond quickly (Ko & Rossen, 2010)

Chat can provide personal feedback during office hours or one-on-one meetings with students (Ko & Rossen, 2010) Chat works best in small groups of 3-5 or in heavily moderated larger sessions (Dawley, 2007) Instructors should create chats for a specific purpose (Dawley, 2007) Instructors should create rules or netiquette for chat sessions (Dawley, 2007) Chat can be used for peer or group work or peerto-peer feedback (Dawley, 2007) Foreign language students can use chat to practice translation (Dawley, 2007)

According to Dawley (2007), objectives from knowledge through synthesis and evaluation can be met through chat Examples include:
Knowledge: Have students come to chat and be prepared to answer questions. Comprehension: Ask students to discuss the reading in small groups with guided questions Application: Give students roles in the chat, such as facilitator, summarizer or coordinator Synthesis: Assign students job of locating materials on topic to share and discuss Evaluation: Students can discuss current events and make connections between those events and their everyday lives

Dawley, L. (2007). The tools for successful online teaching. Hershey: Information Science Pub. Spencer, H. & Hilt, S. (2003). Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Sprague, R. H., & IEEE Computer Society. Proceedings of the 36th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences abstracts and CD-ROM of full papers: 6-9 January, 2003, Big Island, Hawaii. Los Alamitos, Calif.: IEEE Computer Society Press. Retrieved from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/servlet/opac?punumber=8360 Ko, S., & Rossen, S. (2010). Teaching online: a practical guide. New York: Routledge. McInnerney, Joanne, & Roberts, Tim. (2004). Online learning: Social interaction and the creation of a sense of community. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 7(3), 7381.