In the classroom

Using a chat room can be an exciting and relatively easy way to extend the walls of your classroom. Running a successful chat room that improves learning outcomes needs careful planning. It can be an environment where students in particular feel very comfortable. Some social chat practices need to be discussed with students and not used in an educational chat room.

You could have your whole class online or choose a select group or even a few students to participate and report back to the class.

Read some examples of how chat has been used in the classroom.

Prior to the chat - the planning stage

• Make sure you have a Learning Place username and password.
  Request a Project room for your students to use. Once you receive the project room, set up a chat room and discussion forums to suit your purpose. You can change the name of the forums and set a password.
  
  
• Use chat to improve or enhance learning. Once a purpose has been decided and perhaps a guest invited to chat, discuss with your students how the chat will be best undertaken. Let the students help decide the ground rules. For example - chatiquette, whispering and the role each student takes during the chat are issues that need to be discussed in advance. Do a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) with students on educational chat .
  
  
• Allow students to practice before the event. Discuss with them chat room limitations and the purpose of the chat. Discuss the difference between an educational chat and a social chat.
  
  
• Allow time for each student or group to research the topic and develop good questions. Discuss these questions prior to the chat. This is important if a guest has been invited.
  
  
• Organise a data projector if there are more than 3-5 students per computer.
  
  
• Arrange groups so each has a reasonable typist. If students are young or require help, plan to use aides or parents. Other student jobs may include a reader, a questioner, a reporter.
  
  
• Encourage students to approach the topic from different 'points of view'.

During the chat

• Students should enter the chat on time and introduce themselves.
  
• Be at a computer yourself and if possible have moderator status. Have a student or aide help students where needed.
• Stop the chat if things get out of hand.
  
• Make sure you get a copy of the chat archive by clicking the print button at the top of the chat window. The chat help provides more information on how to create an archive.

Post chat

• Use the archived chat for class discussion, activities and follow-up research.
  
• Students write to thank the online guest.
  
• Share the outcome with your peers.
  
• Plan your next chat.