When first hearing about having the opportunity to do an online chat as part of our class, I got excited and looked forward to the session. I've taken many different online classes and never had the chance to actually chat with the entire class. Although I think it could be used effectively, I think it would be very difficult to manage and clearly assure that topics are discussed. Connection has to be taken into account, assuring that all participants are able to establish a definite, dependable/reliable way of logging into the site and participating in the chat. I noticed this caused problems for a few of us.
I found the Moodle chat to be rather slow, comparing it to other chats that I've used before (i.e. AOL). It tooks moments, sometimes minutes, for my messages to appear...and in order for it to be effective, messages need to appear instantaneously, especially when responding directly to other participants.
As I think to myself about the option of using the chat in my classroom, I truly do think it would add value to the students' education. I teach some rather introverted computer "nerds" (not to steroeotype) who would benefit by participating through chat vs. speaking out in class. I'll have to give it a try and see how it goes.
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