Chat Session
Chat sessions appear to provide avenue for student and faculty interaction and to reduce e-mail traffic. However, most students do not bother attending the chat sessions. How could this medium be used for effective communication given the perceived short coming.
I had not considered the idea of having a student be required to attend one of the Live Chat sessions. It would be beneficial for both the instructor and the students, as I am going over the assignments and doing a lot of hands on demonstration (which is the coolest and best part in my opinion).
I teach small specialization courses, where I may only have 1 or 2 students in attendance. They seem to really love the chats.
Austin,
This is a great question. I too have chat sessions, and for the longest time I had poor attendance. What I started doing is marketing it. I post reminders in the discussion board, I post announcements reminding students, and I send e-mails to them. I have seen my attendance improve greatly from doing this.
Bernadette,
Chat sessions can be beneficial. How many students do you usually have in class? Just wondering because I teach over 200 per class and I wouldn't be able to find a common time. I set 4 dates at different times/days and then require students to attend one. That works for me.
I think the chat sessions are helpful depending on the the type of course you are teaching. In my experience I usually email students at the beginning of the course to see if I can get a time range that is beneficial to all, and I will then set my time based on the responses...Not everyone is satisfied of course, but I let them know I am concerned and will attempt to be flexible to accommodate everyone's busy schedule.
Joe,
I'm sure the examples you give are very helpful. Keep it up
Thanks!
I have begun to use chats to speak directly to the assignments and give instruction related to the assignments. I will give examples and even work through some of the components of the assignments. this gives the students an incentive to participate. I also feel it is good instruction to teach to the assessment to make sure the students are getting the information needed to be successful.
Steven ,
Ah - good point. We want to expand the course content beyond an assignment. Thanks!
I purposely cover topics during the live chat sessions that are not covered anywhere else in the course assignment. I try to make it worth while to attend by having them learn something new every session.
Janelle,
Have you thought about just doing one per week and are they "required" to attend for participation credit or anything? Just wondering. Thanks!
I hold two chat sessions a week. Typically, there is great attendance for the first chat and then it tapers for the remainder of the course. I have implemented a few strategies to improve attendance. Live Chats are not required for students so I make them very interactive and this has proven to improve the amount of students that attend. I also mention to students that attending Live Chats can improve your grade drastically. I also make sure that I extensively review weekly assignments and don't mind interrupting lecture material if a student has a question. I surrender the Live Chats to students so that they feel as if it is their classroom while also guiding the conversations and keeping us on task for the hour.
Thomas,
Have you tried setting (for example) 6 synchronous chats are varying times and dates and then requiring students to attend 2 or 3? Then, recording the live chats for those who were not in attendance, but use the attendance as participation points for the 2-3 they are required to attend? That works for me and I've had classes with over 200 students. Hope this is helpful.
The problem with any synchronous tool like chats is that most students who take courses online have busy schedules that prevent them from taking on ground classes at a specific time. As a result only a small percent will be available for any given chat time.
I find it is far better to just post a question thread in the discussion, or a separate one for major assignments. Students seem far more willing and able to use it and often I will find another student has already answered their question by reference to the course expectations, syllabus or other element of the course. At the same time any answers I provide to a question is also available for all to see so I won't need to respond to many separate students.
However its important to set one ground rule for the question discussion thread and that is to remind students that student specific questions will not be answered online because of FERPA. Instead a student with specific questions on why they received a grade or penalty must email me directly.
Austin,
I use synchronous office hours (sort of like chat sessions) and I also have "synchronous nights" when I describe a big project or assignment and go over everything. I record these so the students who were absent can watch them later. I have also in the past had participation grades connected to coming to chat sessions. I scheduled 3-4 during the course and students were required to come to 1-2. I would schedule them at various times and give the dates/times to the students the first week of class so they could plan ahead and attend the required number of sessions. That worked for me. Hope this helped.
