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We’ve all heard the horror stories of teen chat rooms, however there are many safe chat environments for classrooms. The easiest solution may be to set up a group chat with Instant Messaging tool and invite only those who are a part of the community. Secure chat rooms can also be set up so that they are password protected. Management of a group of students in a chat environment will take practice as conversation can take too many directions if ground rules are not established. A small group of 4-5 works best in this environment. It’s a good idea to save a chat for future reference.
Students: Many students can experience chat through a group session with a scientist, author, expert, or celebrity. A chat room can also provide a place for geographically diverse teams to meet or a place for a classroom group to work through content or issues with a teacher.
Colleagues: Set up a chat with some of your staff to show how to use the service.
Issues: Image of insecurity with unmoderated chat rooms. Administration may have set up filters to block any chat.
Resources:
- NASA Quest http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/about/index.html
- Author Chats http://www.authorchats.com/archives/?jrunsessionid=108127422931583948
- Chat Rooms for EFL/ESL Use http://www.tefl.net/magazine/2001-05.htm
- Chat Room Project http://www.ic.sunysb.edu/Stu/cshoemak/index_files/page0005.html
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