Ginger,
Yes, if that is what you want to use. I use them for office hours.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Mary,
True, I use chat the same way. I use it for virtual office hours.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Joanna,
What a great post. I think you make a very important point. When we take a f2f course we learn the nuances of an instructor. We learn by actions or cues by the instructors what is important. Students need to be able to learn those "nuances" in the online course. We as instructors need to help them develop that. For you the chats are the keys to success; student should know that!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Being a online instructor I use the chat room to answer any questions my students my have about the weeks' topics or answer any questions the students my have about the weeks' assignment.
I absolutely believe that traditional live chats are essential and still relevant. Frankly, as a science teacher, the vast majority of my students could not (and many do not) pass my class without attending or listening to the chats. This is their one opportunity to ask me questions "live" as a specific topic is being discussed. If they wait until office hours, many do not know specifically what questions to ask and often by then it is too late. Also, they often ask procedural questions related to the assignment, as opposed to knowledge or topic based questions at the office hours, where as the chats tend to be about the topic itself. Also, if we did not have the chats, why would skilled professors even be needed? We would not really be teaching, we would just be facilitating a self-study course, which I tend to find are typically not nearly as rigorous or detailed as a course led by an actual professor of the subject. I must admit that even as a life-long learner, the few distance learning classes I have taken, I did very well in and found them extremely easy, but I do not remember much in the way of the information that was taught. I do however, remember most of the information for classes that I had to work at, particularly those that were challenging and required me to take copious notes and not miss any of the classes, labs, homework assignments, etc. I tend to find that many of my students think that an online class is easier and that they don't have to show up to the chats, but then they miss vital information and don't put it in their homework assignments and then wonder why the scores are so low. So, yes, I do think that traditional chats are vital, not only because of the critical information that is presented, but because it is also part of their time management portion of the class. - J. Kroon
