Creating an environment to encourage effective, dynamic discussion can be a challenge in a traditional classroom. That challenge grows when we move discussion to an online environment. When we are in a face-to-face environment, we use a lot of non-verbal cues to pace the discussion. People raise their hands or maybe they just raise their eyebrows, and the facilitator, seeing the response, calls on them to state their point or ask a question. In a traditional setting, we also take cues from the tone of voice people use to tell if they are speaking truthfully or sarcastically, or if they meant what they said in a humorous vein. The combined effect of words, voice inflection, and body language serves to create a dynamic atmosphere in the classroom.
Can this same atmosphere be created in an online Chat environment where people cannot see and often do not know each other? Can the participants truly understand what others mean if they cannot hear them? Yes. By using some symbols and few guidelines, an instructor can set the tone for a successful discussion.
Chat can easily “run amok” if there are not some ground rules in place before the chat begins. Visions of my daughter chatting with her friends in an online chat room, with six different topics going at once and everyone trying to answer everyone else at the same time, kept me away from this valuable tool for a long time. I have since participated in a very successful chat where ideas were exchanged in a thoughtful and organized manner, and you could feel the “energy” in the virtual room. It was successful because the number of participants was limited (6-8 is a good number), the topics and some of the questions we would be discussing were posted a couple of days before the chat, and finally, because we were briefed on some symbols that would be used to facilitate our chat.
Those symbols include:
| Symbol | Means |
| ... | You are still continuing a thought. |
| --> | You are finished typing and are giving someone else the "floor". |
| ? | "I have a question." The speaker will then call on you. |
| A | "I have an answer to the question." |
| C | "I have a comment." |
In addition to these symbols, participants often used emoticons, words, or acronyms to express their emotion such as :), (smile), or <BG> for big grin. These, too, helped the discussion progress easily.
Below is an excerpt of a chat session that used the above symbols. Notice how smoothly it flows.
Bill>>what are some of the things you may want to do [to moderate a
chat session]?-->
Joe>> C
Bill>>joe?
Joe>>Limit the discussion topics…
Joe>>so everyone isn’t running all over the place.-->
Bill>>Yes that is a good idea…
Bill>>What techniques would you use to do that?-->
Lon>>A
Bill>>Lon?
Lon>>Set the topics before the chat begins….
Lon>>and try to keep people to those topics-->
Bill>>Exactly…
Rob>>C
Joe>>?
Bill>>any other ideas to keep people on task?-->
Bill>> Rob then Joe.
Rob>>Limiting the time and having…
Rob>>another follow-up, like this group and…
Rob>>moving over to discussion to summarize-->
Joe>>Can you cast someone out of a chat?
As you can see the ellipsis helps keep the conversation moving. It allows people to “see” what you are saying as you are saying it. This “speaking” in chunks speeds up the pace a bit and keeps others focused on what is being said. When people interject a ?, C, or A, they are in effect raising their hand and asking for their turn to speak or ask a question. The moderator then calls on the individuals in turn. From time to time, the moderator also summarized what had been discussed so far to help the participants stay focused, and would rephrase the initial question to illicit any new responses to the current topic before moving on to a new point. Finally at the end of the session, the moderator summarized the main points that had been made throughout the chat time.
The record of our chat was made public to the participants following the chat, so they would be allowed to refer back to it. Our discussion was held in WebCT, which automatically records chat discussions as a text document. D2L will also create an archive of the chat which is available for students. If not, an alternative would be for the moderator to post a summary of the discussion to a discussion board so everyone has a record of it.
I enjoy talking to people a great deal and I love face-to-face contact. The idea of communicating solely by the written word in this class had me a bit concerned. Would I like it? Would I learn as much? This experience showed me that a well-run chat could substitute for an in-class discussion quite nicely. I got the instant feedback I sometimes need, and a record of the discussion (something I often didn’t get in class as I was too “into” the discussion to take notes at the same time). The use of ground rules such as limiting the number of participants, posting the discussion topics beforehand, using proper netiquette (such as no flaming or SHOUTING), and the use of symbols to facilitate the chat did indeed create an environment where effective and dynamic discussion took place.
MN.INSTRUCT was an instructional technology support project funded through a MnSCU grant from 1999-2001.