Just as you need to establish ground rules for discussion groups that provide guidelines and communicate the expectations for student performance, you also need effective chat sessions rules and standards.

Many of the concepts and recommendations presented for discussion groups are applicable to chat sessions. For example, it is essential to communicate the important details early in the course. Present a schedule of chat sessions and inform the students whether participation is required. Clear guidelines and protocols for participant behavior result in well-run chat sessions

The University of Idaho's Jeff Culbertson discusses the need to establish chat session rules early in his courses.

Culbertson on establishing rules early (:52)

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Communication Protocols

Communication protocols make chat sessions more efficient. For example, instructors should devise techniques that participants use to “raise their hand” or request permission to speak. Participants can enter a series punctuation marks such as “!!!!!”, “*****”, or “?????” to signify that they have a comment or a question. Students can use private messaging to let the moderator know they have a question or comment.

Here are some possible communication protocols to share with participants:

• Use abbreviations, such as participant initials, to communicate more quickly.
• Use emoticons, such as a smiley :-), to convey humor and emotion.
• When directing a question to another participant, be certain to include the person's name in the posting.
• If more than one subtopic is being discussed, begin the message with a reference to the topic.
• If posting a lengthy message, break it into parts, and include a “more…” statement at the end of the posting, signaling continuation.

Behavioral Guidelines

Specifying guidelines for desired participant behavior maintains orderly conduct in chat sessions and keep discussions on track. Examples of behavioral guidelines include:

• Small talk is acceptable only at the beginning of the chat session. Refrain from small talk after the discussion of the topic starts.
• Do not post a new question until the previous question has been answered or you have received a prompt from the moderator.
• If you arrive late, wait to join the conversation. Do not post questions asking for a recap of the group discussion. The moderator will privately summarize the discussion for you.

Before reviewing the entire destination, let's review about chat sessions.

Destination 5: 13 of 18