Chat
Unlike all the other tools you will be using in WebCT, Chat is a synchronous tool. It does require that you and your students be online at the same time. Its function can be varied, depending on the structure of the course. Among the uses are...
  • The review of materials from the lesson that week or unit
  • The teaching of new materials at the start of a week or unit
  • Presentations by the students
  • Case Studies
  • Project work

This list is not all-inclusive. The more we work with Chat, the more uses we discover for the sessions. This is the one time that you and your students are present at the same time online. Generally the size of the group is eight or less since having a large group discourages student participation. This means you may be doing the same chat session more than one time.

TEXT CHAT

Two forms of Chat are used here at Concordia. The first is built into WebCT and is based on a text engine. It is very similar to instant messaging. What you type in will show on the screen for all to read. The same is true of what the student posts.

In the left box you will see all the messages that are posted. You type your message in the small box on the lower left and press Enter to post the message. In the right box you will see the list of participants attending the chat session. The system does keep a transcript or log of the session. This log can be posted for students to review after the chat session is over.